So this is why Riley Green went solo to the ACM Awards… fair enough.
Last night, he took home the trophy for Musical Event of the Year award with Ella Langley for their song “Don’t Mind If I Do,” which is a solo write by Riley that was the title track to his 2024 album and became a hit single. Riley was nominated for four ACM Awards this year in Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe), Artist-Songwriter of the Year and Music Event of the Year for “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella Langley.
Riley also performed his current single at country radio “Change My Mind,” and the show was hosted by Shania Twain, and I’m sure the ladies will be happy to know that Riley didn’t bring a date, after recently taking influencer Bryana Ferringer as his guest to the CMA Awards in November of last year, though he later said she was “just a friend.”
But it sounds like he had someone else he was on the lookout for, and that would be none other than Mrs. Twain herself, as Riley explained in an interview with ExtraTV that he wasn’t going to bring a date with her there:
“No, no. Well, Shania Twain’s here… so I’m not bringing a date.”
He went onto explain just how much she means to the country genre, adding that she’s in rare company with the likes of Dolly and Reba who have become pop culture icons and “larger-than-life” figures outside of country music too:
“Oh my gosh. The level of stardom that she got to… and you know, it’s tough for a female artist. You’ve got all these guy country singers out there, and for her to get to the place she was, there’s not a lot of larder-than-life figures, Dolly, Reba, Shania’s up there with them. So it’s awesome that she’s here to be a part of this. We kind of re-shared some of that with the younger generation that’s watching.”
Interviewer Alecia Davis told Riley:
“You’re the man.”
And of course, he brought it back to Shania and told her that he “about fell out” when Shania said his name at rehearsals earlier:
“Well, that’s a sweet thing to say. Tell Shania that… I’m sure, yeah. She said my name earlier in rehearsals and I about fell out.”
It all makes sense now… and I can’t say that I blame him:
@extra_tv #RileyGreen is a big #ShaniaTwain fan: “She said my name earlier in rehearsals and I about fell out.” 😍☺️ #ACMAwards @Riley Green @ACM Awards ♬ original sound – ExtraTV
Here’s Riley’s performance of “Change My Mind”:
