Riley Green has a Top 5 hit with “Don’t Mind If I Do,” his second collaboration with Ella Langley. The two recently won three CMA Awards, for their first single, “You Look Like You Love Me,” a song Langley and Green wrote with Aaron Raitiere. Green wrote “Don’t Mind If I Do” by himself, as he did with “Worst Way,” his most recent No. 1 single.
For Green, there isn’t a formula or secret to his success.
“I don’t think I’ve ever written a song the same way twice,” Green shares. “Sometimes it’s something that comes to me, and I write it in 20 or 30 minutes. Sometimes it’s an idea that I think, ‘Man, this is a great idea.’ I’ll mull it over for a month and a half, and then it takes a while to write it. Sometimes I write with other people, on a scheduled time and day. I think for me, the songs that are the easiest to write, certainly the ones I like the most, are ones that are about something I’m passionate about, something that’s going on in my life.
“‘I Wish Grandpas Never Died,’ I wrote when my granddaddy passed away,” he adds. “It was a really personal song for me. I think people find a way to make the lyrics about their own life.”
Green admits he is surprised by the success of all of his songs, but especially “Worst Way.”
“I didn’t think any of those were hits. I thought ‘Worst Way’ was way too dirty. And it turns out, that’s what people like. So I guess I’ll write dirty songs,” Green says with a laugh.
@everythingnash @Riley Green talks about wining 3 #cmaawards with @Ella Langley. #countrymusic #rileygreen ♬ original sound – EverythingNash
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What Riley Green Says About “You Look Like You Love Me” With Ella Langley
No one is more surprised than Green at the success of “You Look Like You Love Me.” Not only did the song become a No. 1 hit, but it just won Video of the Year, Single of the Year, and Song of the Year at the CMA Awards. The song also gave Green and Langley a CMA Award in 2024, for Musical Event of the Year.
“Ella may have known it was a hit, but I sure didn’t,” Green concedes. “I thought talking verses was a little too traditional. I thought it was a cool thing. I thought the chorus was catchy. It stayed in your head. We played it on the road, and it became a thing. You couldn’t open your phone without hearing it. It became a radio hit. ‘Don’t Mind If I Do’ was kind of the same way. I had no idea it was going to be that. So I got to watch fans’ excitement when Ella would come out on stage, when we were on tour together, and we would do those songs.
“It doesn’t happen much, to have two artists to have two really big songs together, while they’re touring together,” he adds. “We got to do that for the better part of two years. So, definitely, fans have ownership in this, because they made those songs.”
Fortunately, with two successful duets together, Green says he is open to doing another duet with Langley.
“It would be really difficult not to try to do another song with Ella because that’s really worked well,” he says.
Photo Credit: CMA / Erika Goldring
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