The sum of random variables (RVs) appears extensively in wireless communications, at large, both conventional and advanced, and has been subject of longstanding research. The statistical characterization of the referred sum is crucial to determine the performance of such communications systems. Although efforts have been undertaken to unveil these sum statistics, e.g., probability density function (PDF) and cumulative distribution function (CDF), no general efficient nor manageable solutions capable of evaluating the exact sum PDF and CDF are available to date. The only formulations are given in terms of either the multi-fold Brennan's integral or the multivariate Fox H-function. Unfortunately, these methods are only feasible up to a certain number of RVs, meaning that when the number of RVs in the sum increases, the computation of the sum PDF and CDF is subject to stability problems, convergence issues, or inaccurate results. In this paper, we derive new, simple, exact formulations for the PDF and CDF of the sum of L independent and identically distributed α-μ RVs. Unlike the available solutions, the computational complexity of our analytical expressions is independent of the number of summands. Capitalizing on our unprecedented findings, we analyze, in exact and asymptotic manners, the performance of L-branch pre-detection equal-gain combining and maximal-ratio combining receivers over α-μ fading environments. The coding and diversity gains of the system for both receivers are analyzed and quantified. Moreover, numerical simulations show that the computation time reduces drastically when using our expressions, which are arguably the most efficient and manageable formulations derived so far.