Riley Green On The Honor Of CMA Nominations and Performing ‘Worst Way’ [Exclusive]

Riley Green is feeling grateful and honored as he heads into the 2025 CMA Awards a four-time nominee and a highly anticipated performer.

The country act, alongside fellow Alabama native Ella Langley, is up for Single, Song, and Music Video of the Year for their hit collaboration “You Look Like You Love Me.” The pair is also nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Don’t Mind If I Do.”

For someone who has been watching “Country Music’s Biggest Night” for about as long as he can remember and going from a fan at home to being a big part of the show is something Riley Green will never take for granted.

When asked if the shock of his multiple nominations has settled in yet, Green honestly told Country Now, “Not really.”

He continued, “I mean it’s something that you grew up watching and still being just a big fan of country music, it’s such a cool thing to be able to go to these award shows to be nominated and getting to perform, it’s going to be great.”

Fans were very excited to learn that the Alabama native will be taking the stage at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 19 to perform his chart-tipping, self-written hit, “Worst Way.” Although, he joked that there are no plans to recreate the steamy music video live on stage.

“I mean it would be hard to top that one…my mom’s gonna watch,” he joked, referring to the sexy scenes of the visualizer.

Green stated that his mom won’t be joining him on the red carpet this time around, but he is confident that she will have a good seat in the house.

“My mom was in my house this weekend in Nashville with her sister and my uncle and they’re all hanging out. I never know what they’re doing. They might have a better seat than me.”

As for what he will be wearing while making his grand entrance to the event, viewers might get to see the country superstar rocking some suspenders. And of course, his look wouldn’t be complete without his signature cowboy hat.

“I tried some stuff on today. I think I’m going to try to make some suspenders work that seems fun.”

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Riley Green joined the latest round of performers announced ahead of the star-studded night. Also on the lineup is Kelsea Ballerini, Brandi Carlile, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Patty Loveless, Old Dominion, The Red Clay Strays, Chris Stapleton. BigXThaPlug, Luke Combs, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Shaboozey, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore, Lainey Wilson and Stephen Wilson Jr.   

Hosted by Lainey Wilson, the CMA Awards will be broadcasted live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday Nov. 19 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC and is available next day on Hulu. 

Following his big night among his peers of the country music community, Riley Green will deliver his final shows of the year. He is currently set to perform throughout Lincoln, Nebraska, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Little Rock, Arkansas, and more.

He will wrap things up with back to back nights in Las Vegas during the much-anticipated NFR week.

“I’m not a big gambler, but it’s always nice to play Vegas when it’s the NFR,” he said of the upcoming run of shows. “There’s so many country music fans out there. It’s like a real western town takes over Las Vegas. So looking forward to those shows and kind of wrapping the year up and then getting to spend some time at the house with the family a little bit.”

Following his brief break, he will kick off the new year with a trip to Mexico in January for Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa and then launch his 2026 headlining Cowboy As It Gets Tour.