“‘WAIT… DID RILEY GREEN JUST TURN THE ACMs INTO THE HOTTEST ROOM IN COUNTRY MUSIC?’ — AND FANS ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED MID-PERFORMANCE.” 🔴👇 Riley Green may have stepped onto the ACM Awards stage to sing one of his latest hits — but what unfolded quickly felt far more intense than a typical awards-show moment.

Still-rising country hitmaker Riley Green took the stage at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night (May 17) to perform his latest hit, the bad-decisions ballad “Change My Mind.”

Wearing a typical black Stetson and muscle-baring denim shirt, Green delivered a smoldering performance of the hit song. The singer-songwriter took things to the next level on the bridge, as he walked out from the set he’d been playing in front of with his backing band — designed to look like the interior of a wood cabin — and approached a microphone on a side stage surrounded by the audience, where his no-doubt swooning fans could better appreciate the song’s slow-burning heat.

Green is nominated for four awards at the 2026 ceremonies: album of the year (for Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe)), male artist of the year, music event of the year (for “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella Langley) and artist-songwriter of the year (which he lost before the broadcast to his duet partner Langley). He’s a four-time career winner at the awards, including a win for top new male vocalist in 2020, and two awards for his and Langley’s first duet “You Look Like You Love Me” in 2024: single of the year and visual media of the year.

“Change My Mind” currently ranks at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 16), having spent 14 weeks on the chart and previously peaked at No. 27. The song already marks Green’s fourth top 40 hit on the chart, following the two aforementioned Langley collabs, and his own solo “Worst Way,” a No. 20 hit in summer 2025.

SOURCE: BILLBOARD