Riley Green has a new title, and he’s had a bit of practice with this kind of thing.
Riley is a country singer from Jacksonville, Alabama, and a coach on NBC’s “The Voice.” Last week People magazine featured him in its 2026 Sexiest Man Alive issue as “Country’s Hottest Cowboy.” It’s his second year in a row in that issue. In 2025, People named him its “Sexiest Country Star.”
But the most interesting part of the interview wasn’t about looks at all. It was about family.
Riley is on the road more than 200 days a year. He knows that kind of life makes it hard to settle down, and he said so. “So my lifestyle has just got to change a little bit.” He hasn’t ruled out getting married and having kids one day.
Home, for Riley, is the family farm in Jacksonville. He even dug a lake there. “My sisters are sending me pictures of their kids swimming in the lake or fishing or whatever,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “I think that that’s my sanity, is that place.”
Country Living paid him a visit there, and it’s worth a look to see the place he calls his sanity.
Riley Green shows off his family farm
So when People asked him about having a son someday, who did he think of?
His nephew, Joe.
“Yeah, I mean, if I like my son near as much as I like my nephew Joe, I think we’ll get along great.”
Joe is the one who keeps Riley going while he’s far from home. “I think that what gets me by now, without having those things that I’m hoping for, is I get to FaceTime my nephew and see what he’s doing and watch him play sports and catch up with my family.”
Then he added a line any pet owner will understand. “But I haven’t seen Carl, my dog, in a month.”
Poor Carl.
There’s another layer to this family story. Riley has two older sisters, Lindy Currier and Casey Green Maples, and they still give their little brother advice. Asked what his sisters taught him, Riley answered, “To know that I’m not right about everything, and that there are some things not worth arguing about.”
And how did those arguments go growing up? “I didn’t win a lot of arguments.”
He’s clearly proud of how close they’ve stayed. “We’re all still really close,” he said. “They make it bearable in a pretty hectic lifestyle right now.”
You can see where all that family warmth comes from. His mom, Karen, sat down with the Got It From My Momma podcast to talk about raising him, and hearing her side of things is a real treat for fans.
Riley’s mom, Karen, talks about raising him
Riley’s schedule isn’t slowing down anytime soon. He’s also got his first big acting role this season, on CBS’s “Marshals,” the “Yellowstone” spin-off.
So for now, he’ll keep checking in by FaceTime, watching Joe play sports from wherever the tour takes him. And Carl will have to wait a little longer.