Riley Green and Theo Von decided to break down one of the country star’s biggest hits: “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” As you might imagine, it was quite entertaining.
The country music star has plenty of No. 1 hits to his name, but the one that really helped put him on the map is a song that explores the perfect world where grandpas – and grandparents in general – never passed away. It’s an emotional song, and a heart-string-tugging tune that many can relate to.
But have you ever stopped to think about what would actually happen if grandpas truly didn’t ever die?
Theo Von has, and he decided to do a deep dive into it when Green joined him on his This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast. In classic Theo fashion, he delivered a comical line in a completely deadpan way:
“What if Grandpas never did die? You ever think about that? There would be some side effects of it.”
Riley Green couldn’t help but smile after that question.
The country singer admitted that their would be some side effects, or drawbacks, to that, as well as to many of the other things he mentions in the hit song:
“Everything in that song, there are side effects to. If every road was named Copperhead, it’d be really hard to get anywhere. It’d be confusing. If coolers never ran out of beer, people would have alcohol poisoning. If high school home teams never lost, everybody would be .500 at the end of the season. There are problems, if you want to pick apart the songs that I write, we can.”
Theo Von was then quick to point out that he wasn’t trying to pick apart anything, and that “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” was one of his favorite songs. But he couldn’t help but notice that there’d be some issues that would arise:
“It’s one of my favorite song. I do think, if they never died, first of all, inheritance would never start. That’d piss some people off.”
Green countered by saying there would be some positives, like grandparents having a longer time to pass down things like work ethic.
And that wasn’t the only time that “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” came up in conversation. Later in the interview, Green said that he’s always caught off guard when fans starting fighting each other at his concerts… mainly because of the songs they choose to throw hands during:
“It’s always girls. Girl fights are always way more serious than guy fights. And I’m always surprised too at the song they get in a fight during. There’s been a couple videos I’ve seen of people getting in a fight during ‘I Wish Grandpas Never Died.’ Or I’ve got a song called ‘Jesus Saves.’
I’m like… how do you emotionally go to (trading) blows?”
How could you fight another person when “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” or “Jesus Saves” comes on? Theo Von had a few ideas, and you can hear what else he had to say in the latest episode of his podcast.
This Past Weekend with Theo Von – Riley Green
Oh, and if you want to get out there and hear “I Wish Grandpas Never died” performed live, make sure to check out Riley Green’s tour schedule for the next couple of months.
Riley Green Tour Dates
July 16th, 2026 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center#~•
July 23rd, 2026 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre#~•
August 6th, 2026 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater#/•
August 7th, 2026 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center#/•
August 8th, 2026 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live#/•
August 13th, 2026 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#/•
August 14th, 2026 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre#/•
August 15th, 2026 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheatre#/•
August 21st, 2026 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford#$*^
August 22nd, 2026 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Engelstad Arena#$*^
#Justin Moore
~Drake White
$Mackenzie Carpenter
•Hannah McFarland
*Adam Hood
/Zach John King
^Not A Live Nation Show
