Riley Green Didn’t Think “You Look Like You Love Me” Would Be A Hit – “I Thought Talking Verses Were Too Traditional”

In many ways, “you like you love me” has simply been the gift that keeps on giving for Ella Langley and Riley Green.

Beyond its massive streaming numbers (239 million on Spotify alone) and virality online, the song netted the duo three ACM Awards back in April for Single, Music Event and Visual Media of the Year. Additionally, it’s been one of the most-played songs on Billboard’s new TouchTunes Frontline chart, peaking at #6 throughout the second quarter of 2025. Couple all those accolades with a 2x platinum certification from the RIAA and a #1 spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart back in December, and you have yourself one of the most successful songs of the past few years.

Despite all of its success, it seems as if no one ever thought the track would be a hit.

Back in September 2024 on The Bobby Bones Show, Langley revealed that the song was never even supposed to be recorded, originally being written as a joke with co-writer, Aaron Ratier:

“The song was never supposed to leave my audio recordings. I wrote it as a joke with Aaron Ratier first, and then the label heard it and loved it and then Riley asked us on tour. And him and I just kind of being from the same area, growing up on the same kind of music, I was thinking maybe we could do it out on the road. That’s why I asked him to do it, and I was like, ‘Hey, just kind of write the second verse how you would respond to a girl coming up to you like that.””

Flash forward to today, and Green recently made an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. In between talking about the backstory behind “Jesus Saves,” the surprise success of “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” and even his wild conspiracy that people who sell mirrors on Craigslist use it as a dating site, the Alabama native dove into the creation of the smash hit.

Reiterating what Langley told Bones last year, Green noted that the “weren’t for the wind” singer pitched the song to him before going out on the road with him on his Damn Country Music tour:

“Ella was about to go on tour with me, I believe. And she had this song, and somebody played it for me. I don’t know if she was gonna plan on cutting it, but they were like, ‘What do you think about it?’ I said, ‘Man, there’s something catchy about that.'”

Despite it being catchy, the “Worst Way” singer never thought “you look like you love me” was going to be a hit simply due to it being too traditional. He’d reveal that he thought it was going to be nothing more than a song the pair performed out on the road together:

“I didn’t think it was a hit because I thought talking verses were way too traditional to work. But I thought, ‘Well, it would be cool to have a song that we could do together on the road… I thought it was fun; I thought it was something that kind of stayed in your head a little bit. But again, [it] just goes to show you I don’t know because I had no idea it would be the big hit that it was.”

@zachsangshow @Riley Green didn’t think his song “you look like you love me” with Ella Langley was a hit at first #rileygreen #ellalangley #youlooklikeyouloveme #zachsangshow #fyp ♬ original sound – Zach Sang Show

Well, after 3 ACM Award wins, a #1 spot on the Billboard charts and a boatload of subsequent dating rumors surrounding the two, it’s safe to say that it was a pretty big hit. That’s pretty good for a song that was never even supposed to be released, if you ask me.

Riley Green Tour Dates

September 6th, 2025 – Niagara Falls, Canada – Misty City Music Festival %

September 10th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /

September 11th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /

September 12th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /

September 13th, 2025 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy Birmingham /

September 15th, 2025 – Manchester, England – O2 Victoria Warehouse /

September 16th, 2025 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow /

September 18th, 2025 – Belfast, UK – Waterfront Hall /

September 19th, 2025 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre /

September 26th, 2025 – Washington, DC – Washington Nationals Park

October 4th, 2025 – Winnsboro, SC – Field & Stream Festival %

October 10th, 2025 – North Charleston, SC – Riverfront Revival %

October 23rd, 2025 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern

November 1st, 2025 – Gonzales, LA – Boots on the Bayou %

November 6th, 2025 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena #~/

November 7th, 2025 – St Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena #~/

November 8th, 2025 – Kansas City, MO – TMobile Center #~/

November 9th, 2025 – Phoenix, AZ – The Hondo Rodeo Fest %

November 13th, 2025 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center #~/

November 14th, 2025 – Toledo, OH – The Huntington Center #~/

November 15th, 2025 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena #~/

November 20th, 2025 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena ~/

November 21st, 2025 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center #~/

November 22nd, 2025 – Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena#^$

December 12th, 2025 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World

December 13th, 2025 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World

May 30th, 2026 – Panama City Beach, FL – Gulf Coast Jam %

@Vincent Mason
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%Festival dateThe post Riley Green Didn’t Think “You Look Like You Love Me” Would Be A Hit – “I Thought Talking Verses Were Too Traditional” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.