She’s back and better than ever.
Last month, Ella Langley announced to fans that she would be taking the month of August off from the road to “rest and focus on health — mind, body, and heart,” which was part of a lengthy post on Instagram sharing the news.
She didn’t get overly specific as to her reasoning, aside from saying she’s been fighting sickness, explaining that, in general, she feels overwhelmed and needs some time off. She also quoted the Bible verse Matthew 11:28, which talks about being “weary and burdened,” so it seemed to me this might have had more to do with something mental and emotional, in addition to any physical sickness she might be fighting.
Of course, life on the road is very tough, and there could be many reasons as to why she made this decision, which I’m sure she didn’t do without a lot of thought and consideration because most artists will do anything before they cancel a show.
Ella has had a heck of a year already, and earlier this summer, she scored her second #1 hit with “Weren’t For the Wind,” following her mega viral hit with Riley Green “You Look Like You Love Me.”
In addition to all of her success with music, Ella has been dealing with rumors about her personal life, which really hit a fever pitch around the time of the ACM Awards in May. Rumors started swirling about what may or may not be going on between Ella and Riley Green, and while she obviously didn’t say anything about him or anything having to do with him in her statement, I’m sure all the fan theories are being concocted right now about how he might be involved.
Ella has been thrust into the spotlight this year, and she mentioned around the time of the ACM Awards, where she had a huge night, how hard it was for her mentally so I think there was a lot of factors that went into this decision, and you can read her full statement here:
She has been back on the road as of this weekend, with her first show back being at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
And during the intro to her song “Girl You’re Taking Home” this past weekend during her first full weekend back doing shows, Ella addressed her break and some of what she took away from it after a month off the road. She typically does a similar intro for this for this song, but this time it felt a little deeper and more meaningful, obviously because she’s clearly been through some sort of recent struggle.
Ella explained that she’s “very grateful” for her pain because it has shaped her into the woman she is today, specifically noting how she constantly asked her self “Why?” about, like “Why him” or “Why that situation.”
Again, she never directly addressed the specific reasons for her break, and I’m sure it was many different things that compounded over time, but it sounds like it was much-needed and she’s ready to get back to doing what she does best:
“I’ve never let myself try for the plan B, because I was never going to accept that. It was going to be this or nothing else. Thank the Lord… dropping out of school was scary. But I believed in myself and I believed in doing the thing that I was supposed to do. Not trying for anything else, and I’m so, so thankful that I did because I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Every day that I wake up, I know I’m doing the thing that I’m supposed to be doing, and I’m so grateful for that. And also what I’m grateful for is, the past version of myself. There’s a lot of things I think that I think about, like, why? Why him? Why that situation? Why didn’t you say that thing? You know, your shower thoughts. You’re in there having an argument, how it could’ve gone type thing. Recently, over my break, one of my biggest takeaways from it was, I’m so grateful for her.
I’m so grateful for the girl that went through those things, went through that situation. Because now, I’m the woman that I am because of her. So just know if you’re struggling with something today, God’s doing something in your life that’s gonna make you so grateful for the struggles that you went through. But in the moment, it still sucks. In the moment, it’s still not fun. In the moment, you don’t understand why. So this next song is, when I was in that moment, I didn’t understand why. I didn’t understand why he didn’t choose me.
I thought I had the idea. I thought I had the plan figured out for myself, and what I learned from the situation is, I don’t have to plan at all. I just get up and do the thing that I’m supposed to do every day and that’s all I can do. But when this next song plays, and when I sing it, I let that girl come out for a second and get that emotion out, get that anger out. Get the why’s out of the way. So I can be the woman that is standing here in front of you.”
It’s a great message, and obviously, it’s great to see Ella is in a better place and ready to be on the road playing music again. I’m sure people will have all sorts of theories as to what she’s alluding to, but while doing what she does for a living is very fun and has a lot of upside, it can be a really difficult thing too. And when you’re young like Ella and thrust into the spotlight the way she has been over the last year or two, it can be a tough transition and who knows what’s gone on in her personal life that has only added to that stress.
Sometimes you just need to take a step back and take a breathe.
You can watch the full video here:
@highecodesc “…God’s doing something with your life that’s going to make you so grateful for the struggles that you went through.” – @Ella Langley #ellalangley #girlyouretakinghome ♬ original sound – Wandering Wild Family
“Girl You’re Taking Home”
