Riley Green Reveals the Cowboy Hat Strategy He Hopes Will Give Him an Edge on The Voice Season 30

Fans may be surprised to see Riley Green sitting through much of The Voice Season 30’s Blind Auditions without his trademark cowboy hat. But its absence is deliberate.

The country singer, who is joining the NBC competition as a Coach for the first time, has revealed that the hat has become part of his strategy for persuading Artists to choose his team. Rather than wearing it throughout the auditions, Green plans to save it for the moments when he wants contestants to know he “means business.”

He will need every advantage he can find. Green enters Season 30 alongside fellow newcomer Queen Latifah and returning Voice veterans Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine.

Riley Green Has a Cowboy Hat Strategy for the Blind Auditions

Green discussed his approach during a July 2026 interview with Dayton, Ohio radio station K99.1FM.

Asked whether he had considered keeping his signature cowboy hat on throughout the Blind Auditions, Green explained that filming helped him discover another way to use it.

“What I found out is having the hat — whenever you’re trying to get someone to pick you for your team — when you can pull it out and put it on, they know you’re serious, you know what I mean?” Green said. “A little strategy you gotta play.”

For Green, putting on the hat during his pitch to an Artist sends a simple message: he is ready to compete for them.

The strategy has even influenced the design of his Coach chair.

His Coach Chair Comes With a Cowboy Hat Holster

Green’s oversized red chair will feature a custom addition suited specifically to its new occupant: a cowboy hat holster.

The specially fitted holder means Green can keep his hat within easy reach during the Blind Auditions and bring it out whenever he believes the moment calls for it.

Whether the tactic will actually convince Artists to join Team Riley remains to be seen, but Green will be facing serious competition.

Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson already have extensive experience as Coaches, while Queen Latifah will be making her debut alongside Green.

That gives Season 30 a mixture of established Voice personalities and newcomers looking to make an immediate impression.

Riley Green Still Can’t Believe He Became a Voice Coach

Green admitted that becoming a Coach was not something he had previously imagined for himself.

“It never crossed my mind,” he told K99.1FM.

Even after receiving the initial approach about joining the show, he struggled to believe it would actually happen.

“When they called me about [how] they were interested in me being on the show, I still thought, ‘There’s no way,’” he recalled.

His experience filming the programme has since changed that disbelief into enthusiasm.

“And it’s been such a cool experience,” Green said. “Everybody’s great; Kelly Clarkson, Queen Latifah, Adam Levine… I just can’t believe I’m on the show.”

Green Is Already Set for Another Season

Season 30 will not be Green’s only appearance as a Coach.

The “Think As You Drunk” singer is also set to participate in Season 31, The Voice: Celebrity, which will introduce a different version of the long-running competition.

That spin-off will feature celebrity contestants rather than the undiscovered singers traditionally featured on The Voice.

For now, however, Green’s attention is on navigating his first regular season and competing against Clarkson, Levine and Queen Latifah for the strongest Artists.

And when the competition for a particular singer becomes especially intense, viewers will know what it means when the cowboy hat comes out.

When Does The Voice Season 30 Premiere?

The Voice Season 30 premieres Monday, September 21 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Episodes will also be available to stream the following day on Peacock.