Looking for his seventh #1 hit. Over the past few years, Riley Green has been nothing short of dominant. Between the success of both “Worst Way” and his feature on Ella Langley’s “you look like you love me,” the seemingly never-ending dating rumors surrounding him and various artists and his popularity on social media last year, he kept that momentum and them some throughout 2025. Of course, he continued to score some major hardware throughout the year with Langley for “you look like you love me,” bringing home a staggering six trophies at the CMA and ACM Awards, including Single and Song of the Year at last month’s CMAs. With that being said, however, Green and Langley made even more history with their second duet, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” going #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. With the chart topper, the pair became just the second duo ever to score two collaborative #1s on the chart (including “you look like you love me”) after Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani led in 2020 with “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere. Additionally, Green became the first artist since Taylor Swift to score back-to-back solo-written #1 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, given “Worst Way” also topped it for two weeks back in June. With all that being said, it’s safe to say the “Jesus Saves” singer had another huge year in 2025, and he’s looking for an even bigger one in 2026. Today, it was reported by US Radio Updater that he’ll be kicking off the new year by sending one of Don’t Mind If I Do’s standouts, “Change My Mind,” as his next single to country radio on Monday, January 5th. .@RileyGreenMusic’s “Change My Mind” will officially impact US Country Radio on January 5th (via Nashville Harbor) pic.twitter.com/j0eNY1YTts — U.S. Radio Updater (@USRadioUpdater) December 29, 2025 Given the fact that “Change My Mind” was released back on October 18, 2024, the song has already garnered a healthy 56.9 million streams on Spotify alone, which is second behind the aforementioned title track. If its success on streaming is any indication of how it’ll do, it looks like Green has primed himself for his seventh-career #1. Green is also looking to go 3/3 with #1 hits off of Don’t Mind If I Do, since both “Worst Way” and the title track have already scored the Alabama native consecutive chart toppers on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart throughout 2025. Presumably, “Change My Mind” will be the final single off of Don’t Mind If I Do and the last single before his new project, which is set to arrive “early” next year. For now, we’ll have to wait and see, but it looks like Green has another big radio hit on his hands with “Change My Mind.” “Change My Mind” Riley Green Tour Dates April 16th, 2026 – Southaven, MS – Landers Center#~$ April 17th, 2026 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center#~$ *ON SALE 10/3 April 18th, 2026 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena#~$ May 7th, 2026 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion#~• May 8th, 2026 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre#~• June 18th, 2026 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center#~• June 19th, 2026 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center#~• June 20th, 2026 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater#~• June 25th, 2026 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center#$* June 26th, 2026 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake#$* July 16th, 2026 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center#~• July 23rd, 2026 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre#~• August 6th, 2026 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater#/• August 7th, 2026 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center#/• August 8th, 2026 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live#/• August 13th, 2026 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#/• August 14th, 2026 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre#/• August 15th, 2026 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheatre#/• August 21st, 2026 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford#$*^ August 22nd, 2026 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Engelstad Arena#$*^ #Justin Moore ~Drake White $Mackenzie Carpenter •Hannah McFarland *Adam Hood /Zach John King ^Not A Live Nation ShowThe post Riley Green To Send “Change My Mind” To Country Radio As His Next Single first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Garth Brooks giving a little bit more insight into one of his big hits from the 90s. It’s always interesting to peek into an artist’s mind and see how a song came to be. Some songs are probably obvious (beer drinking songs are often inspired by… drinking beers), but others with more depth can always leave the listener wondering, “How did this one come together?” If you’ve ever asked that question about Garth Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers,” he actually included the story that inspired this song in the liner notes of his 1994 compilation album The Hits. The track, which was included in his sophomore album No Fences, was co-written by Garth, Pat Alger and Larry Bastian. And as Garth explained, his co-writers had a big role in bringing the song to life: “Pat Alger and I worked on this song quite a long time without a hook, without the line. We passed it by Larry Bastian, and it was as if it was meant to be. Larry, his wife Myrna, and I were taking a walk down 18th Avenue, and he looked at me and said, ‘Oh, that’s simple. This song should be called ‘Unanswered Prayers’ because some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.’” The hit song from Garth explains God working through unanswered prayers by telling the story about a husband and wife running into the man’s high school sweetheart. The husband realizes that if the Lord would have answered his prayers to keep he and his high school love together, he wouldn’t have ever met and married his wife. As made evident in the chorus: “Sometimes, I thank God, for unanswered prayersRemember, when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairsAnd just because, he doesn’t answer, doesn’t mean he don’t careSome of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.” It’s an interesting way to tell the story, and Garth describes it as the “truest song” he’s ever penned: “This is probably the truest song I have ever been involved with as a writer. This actually happened to my wife and me when we went back home to Oklahoma. Every time I sing this song, it teaches me the same lesson… happiness isn’t getting what you want, it is wanting what you’ve got.” In a 1995 radio special, Garth went into more detail: “Man, ‘Unanswered Prayers’ was a big part of my heart that went out on that record. A true life thing that happened to Sandy and myself. In October of ’89, I saw my old high school flame. And I can say this now at the time I couldn’t. For the first two years of my married life, I really thought the girl that was for me was still that girl that was in high school. And now man just the realization that what you have is the best for you, and the best you could ever do in your lifetime. It sure makes you sleep well at night.” The only problem? Garth Brooks wrote and released that song while he was with his first wife, Sandy Mahl. They divorced in 2001, and Brooks later married Trisha Yearwood in 2005. So maybe the song doesn’t match up perfectly with the romance in Garth’s own life? Then again, maybe Brooks was always meant to be with Yearwood? That’s all unknown, but what is known is that “Unanswered Prayers” was a massive hit for the country music star. It was a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1991, and helped Garth’s No Fences album stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts for over 30 straight weeks. Fans really connected with the song, and the hit helped propel Garth Brooks into country music stardom. Ironically, it sounds like “Unanswered Prayers” may have been an answered prayer? “Unanswered Prayers” by Garth Brooks The post “I Saw My High School Flame” – Garth Brooks Explains How His Early ’90s Hit, “Unanswered Prayers,” Came To Be first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Officials have said that one person died, and another is in critical condition, after a devastating house fire at the North Carolina home of Denny Hamlin's parents. Continue reading…

Dierks Bentley has one, expensive closer. The “Cold Beer Can” singer – and some very talented friends – embarked on a 30-stop tour from May all the way to the end of August this past year to celebrate and share his 11th studio album: Broken Branches. Those “talented friends” joining Dierks just so happened to be duo known as The Band Loula, and the young country music star on a meteoric rise: Zach Top. Bentley recently joined 102.7’s Backstage Country to talk about how the tour came together, and how much thought and work he puts into it on the front end to make sure that his fans have the best experience: “Well, we don’t mess around. We put so much time into the tour. When we launch a new tour, it’s all new stage stuff. It’s new video content, new video look, and walls. I mean it starts with just a set list. Me and the band just going over every song we wanna keep in. Do you wanna do ‘I Hold On’ the same way? Do you wanna change it? What new songs do you want to get in there? How do we incorporate Zach Top into the show? How to incorporate The Band Loula into the show?” And while we’re speaking of incorporating other artists into Bentley’s show, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the legendary ’90s country group that no one heard of until the mid 2010s: The Hot Country Knights. The band, which always takes on the encore at Dierks’ concerts, consists of Douglas “Doug” Douglason, Trevor Travis, Marty Ray “Rayro” Roburn, Terotej “Terry” Dvoraczekynski, Barry Van Ricky, and Monte Montgomery. They might look a whole lot like Dierks Bentley’s regular road band… but they are completely different. Dierk Bentley said for a ragtag group of country artists from the 90s, they are quite the expensive component when it comes to planning out the tour: “The Hot Country Knights take up half the production budget.” But it all makes sense when the audience goes nuts for Dierks Bentley in a wig and sunglasses. Whoops, I mean DOUG DOUGLASON. When the crowd goes wild for Doug… that’s what I meant to say. Dierks was happy with what the Hot Country Knights cooked up to finish his Broken Branches shows, and it sounds like he’s heavily involved in the band’s decisions, even though he is just the one that goes on before them: “We got a great ending to the show this year with the Hot Country Knights. The fans have kind of come to expect the craziness to happen there. So that’s a lot of work. It’s just a lot of work, but it’s fun work.” Anything that the Hot Country Knights are involved in is fun. Have you caught up on their latest hits? I’m still holding out hope that we get more original music from the Knights, but until then, make sure you are caught up with the retro band’s most recent contributions: “Herassmeant (feat. Darla McFarland)” “Midknight Rodeo” The post Dierks Bentley Says The “Hot Country Knights” Take Up Half Of His Tour’s Production Budget first appeared on Whiskey Riff.