Riley Green Shoots His Shot at a Duet With George Strait (Kind Of)
Every country artist likely dreams of collaborating with George Strait, as the man’s a living legend. Case in point: Riley Green. In a recent interview during an event at the…
Every country artist likely dreams of collaborating with George Strait, as the man’s a living legend. Case in point: Riley Green. In a recent interview during an event at the GRAMMY Museum (via Whiskey Riff), Green was asked who his dream duet partner was.
Without missing a beat, he said Strait’s name. Green immediately followed it up with a response that highlighted his sense of humor.
Riley Green: “Has He Thought About It?”
The Alabama-born singer also mentioned that he would love to collaborate with Alan Jackson. He said, “Just, you know, The King, George Strait, I guess that’d be pretty good. Or I’d settle for Alan Jackson if I had to. Either one of them would be fine.” Green’s response, which he did not make as a disrespect to Jackson, although he was inclined to be partial to working with Strait. Now that’s what we call shooting your shot… politely.
When he was asked why the collaboration hadn’t happened yet, Green replied, “I think the problem is, has he thought about it? You know what I mean? I’ve thought about it a lot. When he starts thinking about it, that’s when it’ll happen.”
The “There Was This Girl” singer explained his answer a bit and shared that he respects both Strait and Jackson and hoped to even reach a fraction of the success they accomplished as country music icons: “I’m just such a big fan of those guys, and when you think about it from my point of view, I’m fairly early in my career, even though I’ve been doing it a while.”
He added, “When you’ve done it as long as they have, that really says a lot, because this is a grueling lifestyle. You know? You’ve got to really love it to do it for that amount of time.”
He also lauded Strait and Jackson’s energy to still be touring, something he thinks he couldn’t do when he reaches their age. Still, he hopes that he will have a long career like the two greats. “I hope that I can write songs that people relate to. If I can keep writing songs that people feel something from listening to, I think I’ll do it as long as I can do that.”
For now, while he’s still on the road, Green has several shows lined up through the end of the year. You can catch him live by checking out his tour calendar here, which also lists his upcoming 2026 dates.
