Riley Green Pays Tribute To Toby Keith At Nashville Predators Game

Toby Keith passed away on February 6 at the age of 62 while surrounded by his family following a battle with stomach cancer. Since then, many artists have paid tribute to the country icon, including the most recent, Riley Green.

Keith’s track, “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” was the lead single to be featured on his debut studio album, Toby Keith, which was released in 1993, and "Courtesy of Red White And Blue," was among the tracks included on his 2002 album, Unleashed.

One of Green's collaboration partners, Luke Combs, also honored Keith with a performance during a private show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last week." You can click here to see additional tributes among other memories of the legendary Toby Keith.

Green recently opened up to Backstage Country about knowing how lucky he is today. His home in Alabama allowed him to be very close to his family and loved ones for the majority of his life and he considers himself fortunate that his tight family connection keeps him grounded, and that’s essential to his music.

“I think fans are always going to be able to tell when something’s real or not. You can’t fake where I grew up at. It’s just how it is down there, and it’s somewhere I draw a lot of inspiration when it comes to songwriting,” Green said.

Green will kick off his headlining 2024 Ain’t My Last Rodeo Tour on February 22 in Pikeville, Kentucky with Tracey Lawrence as a supporting act across select dates and Ella Langley across all dates.

Riley Green is one of country music's most talked about up-and-coming superstars. He released a new album dubbed Ain't My Last Rodeo on October 13. The 12-track project is named after a song on the album, "My Last Rodeo." The singer wrote the song following one of the final conversations he had with his late Grandaddy Buford while in the hospital.

Riley attributes his Grandaddy for his musical appreciation, education, and inspiration. Riley said, "I was fortunate enough to grow up within about three miles of my grandparents, so they were a huge part of my growing up and who I am—and this album is a lot of who I am. This is really the first time I was able to really take my time, write, and record songs that really felt like a cohesive album."

He added, "I'm really proud of it and want to thank the fans for all of their encouragement—I hope y'all enjoy it."

Green also has a song with Jelly Roll on the project as well as a cover of Tim McGraw's "Damn Country Music."

The new album also includes Riley's current single, "Different 'Round Here (feat. Luke Combs)." He told me of being on Luke's stadium tour in 2023, "I certainly learned a lot. It's a different show. You know, I think I am a lot more drawn to the smaller acoustic venues and the more intimate setting. It's completely different, so there is a lot I had to learn to fill up a big stage like that and to appeal to fifty-thousand people."

He concluded, "I definitely learned a lot about a live show, and it really put me in front of a lot of new potential fans. It was a great opportunity. I think me and Luke have a lot of the same fans."

As Green's star continues to rise in country music, we gathered five songs of his that we think everyone should know.

This song was released in June of 2018 as his debut single and the first from Riley's debut studio album, Different 'Round Here. The song is a story about various women's impact on the narrator's life. The music video for the song was filmed with the help of screaming fans at a club show Green was performing at in his home state of Alabama.

Riley [inlink id="riley-green-jelly-roll-team" text="told me of the collaboration"] with one of country music's most popular guys, "I wrote the song 'Copenhagen and a Cadillac.' It was just a fun title and a fun song, kind of light-hearted. I really wasn't planning on cutting it for this record, and then I did a show with Jelly Roll somewhere, and I thought of him when I came across that song, so I texted it to him, and he called me immediately and loved the song and wanted to be a part of it."

He added, "It worked out great, and I think it's a collaboration that I think probably people aren't expecting, so I'm excited about people hearing that."

This song went all the way to number one on the country charts and was co-written by Rhett and his father, Rhett Akins. Thomas suggested adding Riley Green as a duet partner because the two had become friends after hunting together. The song is about a man who wants to consume alcohol instead of tending to his everyday chores.

Green told me how the collaboration with Combs came about, "I wish I had a really cool story about it; I just texted him and said, 'You want to be a part of this song?' It was always a really big song for me, and the fans have always screamed that song to me at shows when I play it. I told him I thought it might be the next single, and fortunately for me, he wanted to be a part of it."

The song that brought Green to the country music dance. Riley had written the song and performed it on tour before adding it to the tracklist of his debut album. He was persuaded to record the song by Brad Paisley. The song is a tribute to Green's grandfathers, who are also credited as co-writers on the song.