Country music<\/a> isn\u2019t just having a moment in the UK \u2014 it\u2019s booming. Once seen as a niche American import, the genre is now packing out arenas, topping charts and winning over new fans by the thousands.<\/p>\n The annual C2C: Country to Country<\/a> festival has cemented itself as a must-see fixture at London\u2019s O2, while last month, the Grand Ole Opry \u2014 Nashville<\/a>\u2019s legendary showcase \u2014 staged its first international show in its 100-year history at the Royal Albert Hall.<\/p>\n Country\u2019s mainstream revival owes much to crossover stars like Taylor Swift, whose roots in Nashville<\/a> helped bridge the gap between country and pop. Now, with Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Cowboy Carter,<\/a> which put a bold new spin on the genre, established country acts like Morgan Wallen, Shania Twain and the Zac Brown Band headlining BST Hyde Park, and next summer\u2019s newly announced Garth Brooks concert \u2014 his first UK performance in almost 30 years<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s clear the sound of country has gone global.<\/p>\n nto this surge steps Riley Green. The 35-year-old singer-songwriter from small-town Alabama has just completed his first UK headline tour, selling out venues nationwide after debuting here last summer as Morgan Wallen\u2019s support act.<\/p>\n Riley Green recently sold out his first headline UK tour (Carsten Windhorst)<\/p>\n \u201cI had never been over until we opened for Morgan Wallen, and the response was overwhelming,\u201d Green told The Standard. \u201cThis time we hit cities we hadn\u2019t played before and to have them all sell out and have the fans singing every song was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Based in Jacksonville, where he was born and raised, Green admits he wasn\u2019t sure what to expect from British crowds.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone told me how intently UK fans listen to music and want to know about the recording process. I was just thankful we spoke the same language!\u201d he joked. What impressed him most was how audiences embraced the deep cuts as much as the hits. \u201cThey really gravitated towards Jesus Saves, which wasn\u2019t a radio single for me, and Make It Rain, which had only just been released.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stetson-wearing musician first made his name with heartfelt tracks such as There Was This Girl and I Wish Grandpas Never Died, but it was his duet with Ella Langley, You Look Like You Love Me, that went viral. The song has gone double platinum, clocked millions of streams and become a social media phenomenon.<\/p>\n Riley Green put out a deluxe version of his third album Don\u2019t Mind If I Do over the summer (Hand Out)<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people of all ages gravitate toward this song and sing it loud at every show,\u201d he said. \u201cEven kids, which might not be the best idea, but I think the melody is so sticky that people remember and enjoy singing to it.\u201d<\/p>\n His most recent milestone came with Worst Way, his fifth career No. 1 and the first he wrote entirely solo. \u201cI only know how to write about simple things that I have seen or lived through in my life, and I don\u2019t think that will ever change,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving it go to No. 1 as a song I wrote completely by myself was special \u2014 that doesn\u2019t happen much anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n That grounded storytelling runs through the deluxe edition of his third studio album Don\u2019t Mind If I Do, released in August with six additional tracks. Green says deciding what makes the cut is always driven by the fans. \u201cBy the time we put an album out, I\u2019ve usually written another 20 or so songs. I like to tease them online and play them live to see what fans really connect with \u2014 that\u2019s always the best test for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Though recognised by the Academy of Country Music<\/a> and the Country Music<\/a> Association, Green insists awards aren\u2019t what keep him going. \u201cFor me it\u2019s about who shows up at the live shows and sings along. Awards are great, and we\u2019ll gladly accept them, but the fans are the real measure.\u201d<\/p>\n Raised on a diet of traditional country with his grandfathers and \u201990s stars like Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw and Clint Black, Green credits that golden era with shaping his sound. He even hosted The \u201990s Country Show for Apple Music, revisiting the songs that still inspire him.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t listening to old-school music with my granddaddies, it was \u201990s country,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd when I\u2019m driving around at home I still usually turn it to a station that plays \u201990s. I know those catalogues inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his growing profile, Green keeps his feet firmly on the ground. Life back home still revolves around family.<\/p>\n \u201cMy grandmother and parents live just down the road from me, and my sisters\u2019 kids come by when I am home,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been out a lot this year so I don\u2019t get to see them as much as I\u2019d like, but we\u2019re starting to wind down and the holidays are coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s that authenticity that has helped him cut through in the UK at a time when country\u2019s star is rising faster than ever. While Green is proud of his success, he insists his philosophy is simple: \u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019m the guy for words of wisdom, but I do think in a world where we don\u2019t agree on much, music brings people together. If we can keep doing that and giving fans a good time at shows, then I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Riley Green\u2019s Don\u2019t Mind If I Do Deluxe album is out now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Country music isn\u2019t just having a moment in the UK \u2014 it\u2019s booming. Once seen as a niche American import, the genre is now packing out arenas, topping charts and winning over new fans by the thousands. The annual C2C: Country to Country festival has cemented itself as a must-see fixture at London\u2019s O2, while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2070502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[22846,24320,316981],"class_list":["post-2070501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-country-music","tag-morgan-wallen","tag-riley-green"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/In-a-world-where-we-dont-agree-on-much-music.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2070503,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070501\/revisions\/2070503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2070502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span><\/div>\n
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