Country music star from Alabama ready to coach on ‘The Voice’: ‘See ya this fall’

Country star Riley Green is set to join Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine as a coach on “The Voice” during Season 30.(Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

We know Riley Green can sing. After seeing him on the CBS series “Marshals,” we know he can act. But can the country hitmaker choose, advise and champion a winning contestant on “The Voice”?

Reality TV fans will find out in the fall, when Green, 37, joins the coaching panel for Season 30 of the NBC reality series. The Alabama native, one of the most famous names in country music, will be looking for talent on the show alongside Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine. (A fourth coach for Season 30 has yet to be announced.)

“I guess y’all can start calling me coach … see ya this fall,” Green said Saturday night on Facebook and Instagram, posting in tandem with “The Voice.”

Social media posts also featured videos showing Green listening to a voicemail from Clarkson, who welcomes him to the show and warns him that Team Kelly is ready to kick his butt.

“I am super-stoked to coach alongside you,“ Clarkson says in her voicemail. ”Welcome to ‘The Voice.’ I was stoked whenever I heard you were going to be a coach because I actually am a super fan of your music. Man, you’re so good. You probably know that, because I’ve covered your songs. Anyway, big fan. But, needless to say, fan and all, it’s a competition. So I, as a future friend, I sent you something, a little gift, a little something while you’re out on the road doing shows and getting your head in the game for ‘The Voice’ coming up. Because I think you’re gonna need the practice, because Team Kelly’s gonna whoop that ass.”

Green can be seen walking out of his tour bus and finding a big red chair on stage with “Riley” on the back. He’ll sit in a chair like that one on “The Voice,” of course, listening to singers in the Blind Auditions and turning around for the hopefuls he wants on his team.

“I could get used to this,” Green says in the video, looking entirely comfortable in the iconic chair from “The Voice.”

It’s decked out for him with a cowboy hat and duck calls, referencing Green’s “Duckman” nickname. (He’s an avid outdoorsman and duck hunter, with a signature duck call bearing his initials and a bar, Riley Green’s Duck Blind, in Nashville.)

“The Voice” had teased Green’s new job on “The Voice” for a couple of days on social media, via posts showing a “Voice” chair in the countryside, with a duck flying past, and another chair on the “Voice” stage adorned with a super-sized mustache.

“Cue the boots, hats, and guesses below,“ a Saturday afternoon post said. ”New Coach announcement INCOMING.”

Green is no stranger to reality TV, appearing on two seasons of the CMT series “Redneck Island.” He made his debut on the hard-partying show in 2014, then aced the competition during his second try in 2016, winning a $100,00 prize with his partner, Becky Andrews.

Riley Green, from Jacksonville, made his debut on “Redneck Island” in 2014. Two years later, he returned to win the competition and a $100,000 prize. Green had a little help from his partner on the show, Becky Andrews.(CMT)

But coaching on “The Voice” requires a different set of skills, as the celebrities identify promising singers, offer supportive guidance and teach the vocalists how to stand out on television. Green will have to make some tough calls, as well, cutting hopefuls from his team as the competition progresses.

Just as important: He’ll have to entertain viewers as a coach, bantering with the other stars, coaxing in-demand singers to join his team and appearing in “Voice” skits.

Green, born and raised in Jacksonville, is the first Alabama musician to nab a coaching position on the NBC series. (Lionel Richie, a Tuskegee native, serves as a coach on ABC’s “American Idol.”)

Green has appeared on “The Voice” once before as a guest artist, singing “Jesus Saves” in December 2025 on the Season 28 finale.

Before he became a country star, Green attended Jacksonville State University and played quarterback for the Gamecocks from 2008 to 2010. He left college when his music aspirations took hold, and initially earned a measure of fame for EPs such as “Bury Me in Dixie,” “County Line” and “Outlaws Like Us.”

Green’s breakthrough came with his first studio album, 2019’s “Different ‘Round Here” on the Nashville Harbor Label. He built on that momentum with 2023’s “Ain’t My Last Rodeo” and 2024’s “Don’t Mind If I Do.”

Riley Green and Ella Langley perform on the main stage during CMA Fest 2025 at Nissan Stadium on June 05, 2025, in Nashville. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Now he’s a household name in the country world, winning four Country Music Association Awards over the past two years with Ella Langley. Green also has earned four awards from the Academy of Country Music, including New Male Artist of the Year in 2020.

He’s nominated for four ACM Awards in 2026, as well as an American Music Award for Best Male Country Artist.

Green’s hits include “There Was This Girl,” “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” “Different ‘Round Here,” “Worst Way,” “Damn Good Day to Leave” and “Change My Mind.” Green also earned acclaim for his collaborations with Langley on “You Look Like You Love Me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do.”