New “Voice” Coach Riley Green Receives Surprise Message From Kelly Clarkson
on May 11, 2026
Meet The New Country Coach Joining Season 30 Of The Voice
In case you missed the news…Riley Green has joined The Voice!
Season 30 of The Voice is set to start sometime this fall. Although we don’t know an exact premiere date, we do know the names of 3 coaches.
The first coach to confirm their involvement with Season 30 was Adam Levine. His return comes hot off the heels of his victory in Season 29 with Alexia Jayy.
“I will be back. I’m having so much fun doing it,” Levine told PEOPLE regarding his return. “Since I came back a few seasons ago it’s just been a blast and I’m super happy to keep it going as long as they’ll have me.“
A few weeks later, The Voice announced that four-time champion Kelly Clarkson will also be returning to her famous red chair.
Like Levine, Clarkson served as a coach during Season 29. Her team member, Liv Ciara, was the runner-up of the season.
Not long after Clarkson was confirmed as a coach, The Voice began teasing some big news. They shared two country-themed images on social media, with the first saying, “Something’s brewin’… and it sounds pretty country….“
The second image, which featured a duck in the background, was captioned, “A little country. A little chaos. More soon…“
The third teaser image made it pretty clear who the new country coach would be. A giant mustache was photoshopped onto one of the coaches’ chairs, with the caption reading, “Cue the boots, hats, and guesses below. New Coach announcement INCOMING.”
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While many country artists sport some recognizable facial hair, Riley Green is known for his mustache and is nicknamed “Duckman.” So many people assumed he was the new country coach on The Voice…and that assumption turned out to be correct!
Green shared the big news on Saturday (May 9), writing, “Guess y’all can start calling me coach… see ya this fall.“
Riley Green Reacts To Special Message From New Co-Worker Kelly Clarkson
Riley Green and The Voice shared a fun clip of him receiving a surprise voicemail from Kelly Clarkson. He smiled and laughed as he listened to his new co-worker say:
“Riley Green, this is Kelly Clarkson. That is officially the last time we’re gonna use each other’s full names, ’cause we’re not tools.”
Since Clarkson and Green have never officially met, she said she is “super stoked” to start working with him on The Voice since she is a “super fan” of his music.
However, Clarkson made it clear that she isn’t going to go easy on him just because he’s new to the show.
“Anyway, big fan. But needless to say, fan and all, it’s a competition….”
Clarkson said she sent him a “gift” to help him prepare for his new role. She joked that he’s “gonna need the practice, ’cause Team Kelly’s gonna whoop that a–.”
With a laugh, Green went to check out his surprise present from Clarkson. Turns out, it was one of the red chairs from The Voice. It had his name on the back and everything!
Hear Clarkson’s full message to Green in the video below, and watch him take his first spin in his Voice chair.
