Who Is Cooper Riley? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

Full name – Cooper Riley McGhee
Birthdate – 02/04/2004
Hometown – Memphis, Tennessee
Current city – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical influences – John Mayer, Chris Stapleton, Randy Travis

Current Single – “Outta Time”  (as of date of article: 09/14/2026)

Today’s spotlight artist has had music in his life for as long as he can remember. Cooper Riley chatted with us about his love of music, his upbringing, and of course, his current music. With family roots in Arkansas and the Memphis area, the rising singer-songwriter grew up surrounded by country and blues music.

“I guess I have been around music my entire life,” he shared. “My mom’s side of the family’s from Arkansas, and so they all play blues music and country. I’ve just been kind of around that my entire life and always loved it.” Despite his early love for music, becoming an artist did not necessarily feel like a realistic career path. Growing up, he remembers looking at artists on stage and assuming that somehow they were simply chosen to be there. “I just kind of never really saw it as a reality,” he shared.

Around twelve or thirteen years old, he began playing piano, after dabbling with guitar when he was younger. As a fan, the singer grew up listening to artists like Keith Whitley and Randy Travis, as well as John Mayer, an artist that was played often on his mom’s side of the family. Today, artists like Chris Stapleton, Kameron Marlowe, and Cody Johnson have also influenced his sound.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that pursuing music started to feel like something he needed to try. After spending roughly two weeks in the hospital, the singer found himself with plenty of time to play guitar and think about what he really wanted. “I had nothing else better to do than kind of mess with music and play my guitar and stuff like that,” he shared, adding, “That’s kind of what made me decide that I was just gonna give it a shot and see what I could do with it.”

Around the same time, songwriting became another creative outlet. The singer remembers being about seventeen years old, playing guitar with friends in his parents’ backyard when an idea popped into his head. He disappeared for thirty to forty-five minutes and came back with his first song. “I’m not saying it was the best song,” he joked.

Still, it was the beginning of a songwriting style that continues to influence his music today. “I want to kind of keep it as personal as possible, but also keep it to where people can relate to it in some sort of way,” he shared.

The Turning Point:

Before making music his full-time focus, the singer was working at a boat dealership, selling surf boats and teaching people how to wakesurf. While he admits it was a pretty cool job, between that experience and his time in the hospital, he began thinking more seriously about what he really wanted for his future.

“I was 18, 19 years old and I was like, ‘I’m young now. I might as well do this because I don’t want to be 50 or 60 years old wishing that I would have done it,’” he shared. With the support of his parents, he took the leap and made the move to Nashville.

While in Nashville, Riley connected with a producer through a family friend before eventually working with other producers and slowly learning more about both his music and the industry. “It was definitely a process, a very confusing process,” he shared. “Whenever I first got here, it’s kind of one of those things that you want it to all happen immediately. Honestly, I’m kind of grateful that it didn’t happen that way, just because if it did happen that way, I wouldn’t know all the things that I do now.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, and it’s truly just the beginning for Riley. The singer-songwriter recently released his new single, “Outta Time.”

The song was born from an honest conversation during a writing session. At the time, he was going through a low point and struggling with the feeling that his career wasn’t moving quickly enough. “I was like, ‘Dude, I was kind of at a low point, I guess, and I was like, you know, I just feel like I’m wasting time in a way,’” he recalled. That feeling became the inspiration for the track.

“In this music industry, you feel like all you’re doing is watching the time ticking in front of your face,” he shared. “It’s just like you’re waiting for that moment, you’re waiting for that break or whatever it is,” he shared, adding, “If you spend more time meeting people and writing good music and working on things that you need to be working on instead of just waiting around, I feel like you’ll be more successful that way.”

Much like the songs he set out to write when he first started songwriting, “Outta Time” is personal to his own experience while still leaving room for listeners to relate to it in their own way.

Moving forward, fans can expect plenty more from the rising artist. While he couldn’t share too many details just yet, more new music is already on the way, along with more live shows throughout the year. “There’s definitely gonna be some more music coming this year, which I’m actually very, very excited for.”.

Stay tuned!

Connect:

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To keep up with Cooper Riley, follow him on Instagram and TikTok.

Cooper Riley’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.