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Country singer Riley Green is enjoying the perks of fame, but he says that for him, it's not reality.
Green, who reached a new career high with three CMA Awards wins last month, said that all the work he's been putting into becoming a country star has been just that – work – while his "real life" is the time he spends farming and hunting back home in Alabama.
"I don't have to remind myself too much," he said on the "Like a Farmer" podcast when asked about what he does to stay humble. "Having my place back in Alabama is all I need. When I go back there … life just moves slower."
Riley Green said that for him, fame isn't reality. (Terry Wyatt/WireImage)
He continued, "Keeping in mind that what we do for a living is not reality. People chanting your name before you go on stage is not real life … going and doing late-night television, all that stuff, it's cool, it's cool to get to go do, but it's building for a brand, which is me touring and being a country music artist."
"Me in real life, I'd rather be on my bulldozer on a farm, or hunting somewhere."
Green, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Alabama, told a story about how his uncle always told him when he came home that the waitress at the local Waffle House had a daughter who was a fan of his, and for his uncle, that was "his measure of my success."
"It didn't matter that I was on a late-night show the week before, I won three CMAs or whatever," he said. "And that's very humbling, when you go back and you remember that. It's like, OK, yeah, it's not that big of a deal."
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Green has a farm in his hometown in Alabama. (Erika Goldring/Getty Images for BMI)
The "Worst Way" singer also spoke about the spike in interest in "the rural lifestyle" on the podcast, saying that as a country star, he's now playing shows in places like Europe and Australia – places where his style of music hasn't always been as popular as it is back home in the South.
"I've seen that period of growth be over a long period of time, but it's really happened quick in the last few years," he said. "But, you know, I just think people are really loving the down-home country lifestyle that we grew up on."
But the rising star is thankful that the country music boom, as well as his own personal success, started when it did.
Green performs on the main stage during CMA Fest 2025 at Nissan Stadium on June 5, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
"I think if I would have had any type of success similar to this when I was in my early 20s, it'd have been ugly," Green, 37, admitted. "I think you get a little bit mature and you kind of can step back from things a little easier as you get older. I was really fortunate that my success was really gradual."
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Green also took a moment to share his highlights of 2025.
Professionally, he said that his best moment was the CMA Awards, when he won awards for song of the year, single of the year and music video of the year for his hit duet with Ella Langley, "You Look Like You Love Me."
Riley Green and Ella Langley perform onstage during The 58th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 20, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
As for his best personal moment, after pausing to consider, he said, "Deer with my bow in Kansas, maybe?"
"Personally, it's been a great year," he explained, "but there's a lot of things that you get to do that are cool and great moments, but they don't live as long as … I can always go back to a hunt in my mind and there's nothing else that matters. When that deer that you're hunting walks out and you got a bow, and he's 20 yards or closer, and you're having to do everything right, that's the biggest disconnect I have."
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