Riley Green was viciously booed while in Knoxville on Friday night. The 35-year-old country music artist suggested that Alabama will beat Tennessee on the Third Saturday in October and received a very unkind reaction from 20,000+ Vols fans at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Green knew it was coming and the boos were out of love, but that did not make them any less loud!
One particular lyric in ‘Hell Of A Way To Go’ sparked the disagreeable response from those in the crowd. The song is about Green’s memories with his late grandfather— from hunting and fishing to watching college football on Saturdays. It serves as a special reminder to cherish the time you spend with loved ones, and aspire to live a life that brims with meaningful experiences.
Green grew up in Jacksonville, Alabama and his grandpa chose Crimson Tide fandom over the Auburn Tigers. Thus, the chorus sings:
I’d be sittin’ on a lake like glass
Catchin’ Largemouth Bass
Just my boy and me
Or maybe on a fifty-yard line
Watchin’ Alabama whoop up on Tennessee
Naturally, that last line was not going to go over well in the home of Big Orange… Alabama is Tennessee’s biggest rival. There is a lot of hatred between the two SEC schools.
He covered his face with his hat while the crowd let him hear it, but Green sang it anyway!
And then, in an incredibly cool moment for Green, the boos promptly halted in time for the entire arena to belt out the final line of the chorus in unison.
And a song on a radio, would be a hell of a way to go…
It will give you goosebumps!
Green also refused to make the same mistake twice. He switched things up for the second chorus and sang “Alabama gets their ass whipped by Tennessee” with a big smirk on his face.
You could feel the crowd waiting to boo him before it exploded into cheers.
Green is one of the most authentic, fun-loving artists in music right now. He has a great feel for his fans and he refuses to be anyone but himself…
Except for in this instance— where he traded his hand-me-down Crimson Tide fandom to embrace the Vols for just one night in East Tennessee!