Riley Green Reveals That Ella Langley Originally Wasn’t Going To Appear On ‘Don’t Mind If I Do’ – “Very Accidental”

A blessing in disguise.

As we all know by now, Riley Green and Ella Langley have quickly become the “it” duo in country music over the past two years. Despite them not dating (much to the chagrin of thousands upon thousands of fans), the pair have been seemingly everywhere together recently, going on tour together and recording not one but two songs.

Of course, the pair released “you look like you love me” last year, which was nothing short of a smash. Beyond its massive streaming numbers (250 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, along with a Single and Song of the Year nomination at the upcoming CMA Awards in November. 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 the success, it’s been fairly well-documented that “you look like you love me” was never supposed to be released with Langley originally writing the song as a joke with co-writer, Aaron Ratier, and Green saying he didn’t think it would be a hit due to it being too traditional.

They would then follow it up with the release of “Don’t Mind If I Do,” the title track to Green’s third studio album, just three months after “you look like you love me.” Though it didn’t quite reach the heights of their previous single, it was still wildly successful. On top of fanning the flames of the dating rumors, the track would score the pair a Top 20 hit on both Billboard’s Hot Country and Country Airplay chart, along with another platinum certification from the RIAA and a CMA Award nomination for Music Event of the Year.

Ironically enough, just like “you look like you love me,” “Don’t Mind If I Do” was another song that didn’t quite turn out the way Green envisioned it.

In a recent interview with Absolute Radio Country, one of the U.K.’s largest country stations, the “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” singer revealed that Langley was never supposed to appear on the song.

As Green recalls, he wrote the track as a duet. After completing the song, he’d reach out to Jessi Alexander (co-writer of Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma, Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk”) to record a demo with the female vocal. When Alexander was busy, he’d then ask Langley to fill in. Showing up in her pajamas, the “weren’t for the wind” singer would lay down the vocals, and the rest was history.

“[It] was very accidental. I wrote ‘Don’t Mind If I Do.’ And I wrote it as a duet, and I was trying to figure out who I was going to get to sing the female part. I called a songwriter friend of mine, Jessi Alexander, to the studio, so I could get a female vocal on it, just because I needed to hear it. She was busy, so I texted Ella. And she showed up in her pajamas and sang it. And that’s what you hear on the record. She did that.”

Considering the fact that both Green and Langley’s platinum-certified smash hits have been written with the intention of never being released and with an entirely different vision in mind, it’s starting to feel like the pair are simply destined by a higher power at this point to keep releasing collaborations. Call it luck or call it a blessing, the fact that both songs have similar backgrounds is pretty incredible.

Watch here:

@absoluteradiocountry When @Riley Green stopped by, he spoke to @Baylen Leonard about his collabs with @Ella Langley and how he feels about those dating rumors. . . . #RileyGreen #CountryMusic #DontMindIfIDo #EllaLangley #YouLookLikeYouLoveMe ♬ Don’t Mind If I Do – Riley Green

“Don’t Mind If I Do”

Riley Green Tour Dates

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
#Jamey Johnson
~Drake White
$Lauren Watkins
-Preston Cooper
?Mike Ryan
Josh Ross
/Hannah McFarland
^Dustin Lynch
%Festival dateThe post Riley Green Reveals That Ella Langley Originally Wasn’t Going To Appear On ‘Don’t Mind If I Do’ – “Very Accidental” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.