Thomas Rhett and Riley Green rang in the New Year with a performance of their chart-topping collaboration, “Half Of Me,” during New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.
On Saturday evening (Dec. 31), the pair of country superstars took to the stage at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row in Downtown Nashville to perform “Half Of Me,” a tune that appears on Rhett’s latest album, Where We Started.
While strumming acoustic guitars, Rhett and Green belted out the lyrics to the fan-favorite tune, which was co-written by Rhett alongside his father Rhett Akins, William Bundy, and Josh Thompson.
“Half of me wants a cold beer / Yeah, that’s the cold hard truth / And with the ‘frigerator stocked full of ’em / Tell me what’s a boy to do? / I ain’t even tryna fight it, it’s already been decided / The sky and the mountains are blue / Half of me wants a cold beer / And the other half does too,” the pair sang on the chorus.
Half of us is partying along with @ThomasRhett and @RileyGreenMusic and the other half is, too. 😂#CBSNashvilleNYE pic.twitter.com/sOPbNOSqpP
— CBS (@CBS) January 1, 2023
Rhett previously shared the story of how “Half Of Me” came together while he was on tour.
“‘Half of Me’ was I think the quickest song that I’ve ever written,” Rhett explained to his record label, Big Machine Label Group. “I remember being on the road with my dad, Josh Thompson and Will Bundy. And it was right after we had written the song called ‘To the Guys that Date My Girls,’ and we were debating, do we wanna go get lunch? I remember Josh walkin’ off the bus. I was like ‘Man, I might get a quick workout in if you want to work out with me.’ And Josh was like, ‘Man, half of me wants to drink a cold beer and so does the other half.’ I remember it was like, ‘We have to go write that right now.’ So, we went on the bus and we literally sat there for 35 minutes, and this song just fell out.”
The Georgia native knew Green was the guy for the duet as soon as he heard the tune.
“The first time I heard this song, I just kept seeing Riley Green being a part of this song, and I’ve gotten to know Riley pretty good over the last couple years. We’ve become good hunting buddies and just a good friend to know,” he previously explained to New Country 96.3. “And he drove up from Alabama and put his vocal on this song, and we had a good time cracking up about vocals, and I think he nailed this thing in like three takes.”
Green was all in once he got the call from Rhett to join him on the track.
“When Thomas called me about doing ‘Half Of Me’ I remember the first time I heard the song, I thought it was an awesome summer song, a beer drinkin’ song. I was kind of sold from the first moment,” Green shared. “Thomas Rhett always puts out great songs, and I was excited when he asked me to sing on this one. It’s going to be a fun beer-drinking song for the summer.”
This isn’t the first time Rhett and Green performed the tune on television. In fact, the superstar delivered the live debut of the chart-topping hit during the 2022 CMT Music Awards in April of 2022.
The 5-hour New Year’s Eve special also featured 50 back-to-back performances from Jason Aldean, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, King Calaway, Sheryl Crow, Riley Green, Wynonna Judd, Elle King, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, The War And Treaty, and Zac Brown Band.
A star-studded list of collaborations also took place during the broadcast, including Jimmie Allen And Flo Rida, Kelsea Ballerini And Wynonna Judd, Sheryl Crow And Ashley McBryde, Steve Miller With King Calaway, Thomas Rhett With Riley Green, as well as Zac Brown Band With The War And Treaty.
The performances took place throughout Lower Broadway in bars such as Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar, The Stage and more. While Ballerini, King, Brooks & Dunn, and Zac Brown Band’s performances took place at Bicentennial Mall in Nashville, Tennessee.
New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash was co-hosted by Jimmie Allen, Elle King and Entertainment Tonight’s Rachel Smith.
“When I got the call to host New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, I was super excited and started looking forward to it right then,” Allen shared. “I was part of the show last year as a performer, so being able to co-host it this year with Elle King & Rachel Smith and see all the great performances that are lined up — it’s going to be awesome.”
Allen continued, “Hosting is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and to do it on CBS is a big deal. I get to represent not only Nashville and country music but my home state of Delaware — primetime television on New Year’s Eve! Let’s bring this new year in right!”
“New Year’s Eve has always been one of my favorite nights to celebrate because we get to reflect on the year we’ve had while getting a fresh start,” King added. “Nashville has been so amazing and welcoming to me this year and I can’t wait to see what next year brings. I am so excited to be hosting the festivities live from Music City!”
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The New Year’s Eve concert special aired LIVE from Music City on Saturday, December 31 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET and 10:30 PM-1:30 AM ET via CBS Network. The show also streamed live and on demand via Paramount+.
