Sammy Kershaw has spent more than 50 years in country music. He has charted more than two dozen songs in the Top 40 of Billboard’s country chart, and the Country Music Association made him a lifetime member back in 1992. So when the 68-year-old Louisiana native learned in early November 2026 that the CMA would not let him walk the red carpet at the 60th CMA Awards with his wife, Mendy, the news hit hard. One of the first people to stand up for him was Riley Green, who did it twice: once with a comment, and once with a guitar.
The Message Sammy Kershaw Never Expected to Write
On Thursday night, November 5, Sammy Kershaw posted a long message to fans. He opened by saying he had just found out some disappointing news and that “it really hurts me.”
He explained that he and Mendy rarely get to attend events like this because of his touring schedule. This year he had made it work. He adjusted his tour dates and booked flights and hotels, and Mendy had been looking forward to the evening. Then, about two weeks before the November 18 ceremony, the request was denied. Kershaw wrote that he had been “strung along for several months.”
He called the decision “extremely hurtful, embarrassing and very disappointing.” Then he closed with a line that stung. He guessed the next time he attended the CMAs would be “in tribute after I’m gone, if I’m lucky.”
His management later said he did not meet the CMA’s updated red carpet criteria. He could still buy tickets, but the CMA could not promise he and Mendy would be seated with the other artists. At that point, Kershaw was no longer planning to go.
“If You Haven’t Earned the Right to Be There…”
Other artists reacted quickly. Jake Owen wrote that he was “team Sammy.” Carly Pearce said many of today’s artists would not be here without artists like him. Drew Baldridge offered to give up his own spot on the carpet. Mark Chesnutt and Doug Stone weighed in too.
Riley Green was among the first. Under Kershaw’s post, he wrote:
“If you haven’t earned the right to be there, then nobody has.”
He added that the decision was disappointing, to say the least. The comment drew thousands of likes. But Riley Green was not finished.
A Song From a Balcony in Maui
On Saturday, November 7, Riley Green posted a video from a balcony in Maui, Hawaii. Palm trees behind him and an acoustic guitar in hand, he sang Sammy Kershaw’s “Yard Sale.” The caption was short: “Felt like pickin’ a little Sammy Kershaw this evening.”
“Yard Sale,” written by Larry Bastian and Dewayne Blackwell, was released in 1992 as the third single from Kershaw’s debut album, Don’t Go Near the Water. It peaked at No. 17, but fans never let it go. It tells the story of a marriage ending, with everything a couple owned spread out on the lawn for strangers to pick through.
There was no speech attached. Fans in the comments thanked him for standing up for Sammy and for remembering where he came from.
A Song They Had Already Shared
The choice was not random. In February 2022, Sammy Kershaw opened a show for Riley Green in Southaven, Mississippi, and Riley Green posted his own acoustic cover of “Yard Sale” that same week to celebrate it. That year, the two also sang the song together on stage. So in Maui, Riley Green was not reaching for just any ’90s hit. He was singing the one song the two of them already shared.
The Night Alan Jackson Did the Same for George Jones
Longtime fans saw an echo of 1999. That year, the CMA invited George Jones to perform his nominated song “Choices,” but only in a shortened version. Jones refused and stayed home. During the broadcast, Alan Jackson started his own hit, “Pop a Top,” then stopped partway through and sang “Choices” instead. The crowd rose to its feet, and Jackson left the stage without a word. Riley Green’s video was far quieter, but the idea was the same.
The Apology
On November 9, the CMA released a statement apologizing to anyone who felt excluded by its red carpet decisions, explaining that the guidelines were meant to manage limited space and security. The next day, Sammy Kershaw shared an update. After what he called a “sincere and meaningful” private conversation with CMA leadership, he said he had accepted the apology, and that he and Mendy had been invited to walk the red carpet after all.
He also made clear what it had been about. “This was never about the red carpet,” he wrote. In his view, you cannot celebrate 60 years of country music without celebrating the artists who helped build them.
The Song Most Fans Think of First
For many fans, the name Sammy Kershaw brings back “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful.” Written by Bob McDill and Paul Harrison, it reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart in April 1993. It was his first No. 1, and it remains his only one. McDill, the writer behind classics like “Amanda” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” is now a nominee for the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2027.
On November 18, Riley Green is nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” with Carly Pearce. Nothing has been announced about any Sammy Kershaw tribute on the show. But under that Maui video, one fan had already left a request: “Sing it for him at the CMAs.”
Which Sammy Kershaw song would you want to hear on that stage?