It’s no stretch to say that Ella Langley is not only the hottest country artist on the planet right now but also one of the hottest artists in all of music. While many non-country fans may assume she’s appeared out of nowhere over the past few months, if you’ve been keeping up with the genre, there was an almost tangible feeling she was primed to be country music’s next female superstar since roughly the end of 2023. With early success on tracks like “Could’ve Been Her,” “paint the town blue” and her Koe Wetzel collaboration, “That’s Why We Fight,” all signs pointed to Langley blowing up into the stratosphere.
Then 2024 rolled around and she shattered all expectations with the monster success of her Riley Green collaboration, the viral “you look like you love me.” It’s hard to truly state just how popular the track was among both fans and critics at the time. Though it’s began to fall into “overplayed” territory as we sit in 2026, there’s simply no denying how much of a force to be reckoned with both the song and Langley have become. As for “you look like you love me” itself, the track has been nothing short of an award show darling, snagging a staggering 7 wins across categories at the CMA and ACM Awards in both 2024 and 2025. This isn’t even mentioning it scoring a #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, a 3x platinum certification from the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) and nearly 300 million streams on Spotify alone as of January 21, 2026.
Upon the release and eventual success of “you look like you love me,” it seemed nearly impossible for Langley to top it. Of course, this isn’t a knock on the Alabama native, it simply felt like the perfect storm of quality, virality and drama following the countless rumors surrounding her and Riley Green at the time of its release.
Just when you thought that “you look like you love me” would remain as Langley’s signature hit over the next few years, “Choosin’ Texas” was released on October 7th, and it’s become one of the biggest hits in country music we’ve seen this past decade. Most notably, she went #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 with the monster track. In turn, she became just the seventh female artist IN HISTORY to go #1 on the Hot 100 with a country song. Additionally, she became the first woman ever to triple up and score #1s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay and Hot 100 chart simultaneously.
In case you were wondering just how rare the feat was, Langley became just the seventh female artist IN HISTORY to go #1 on the Hot 100 with a country song.
As it stands today, Langley has procured an three #1s on country radio, an all-genre #1 hit on the Hot 100, four ACM Awards, four CMA Awards and a “Powerhouse Award” at the upcoming Billboard Women in Music Awards. Simply put, there’s a laundry list of major career accomplishments to pick from over the past two years that could potentially be her defining or “I Made It” moment.
With that being said, however, none of these aforementioned were as meaningful to the Alabama native as two particular nights back in November.
Earlier in the week, Langley, along with Vince Gill, returned to the Grand Ole Opry to reveal the Opry’s NextStage Class of 2026, which included Willow Avalon, Carter Faith, Vincent Mason, Tyler Braden, Jake Worthington, Hudson Westbrook, Emily Ann Roberts, Alexandra Kay and Graham Barham.
During the introduction ceremony, the “weren’t for the wind” singer sat down to give the upcoming class of young stars some advice with Gill. In the midst of reflecting on her journey as an artist, she’d reveal what she viewed as her “I Made It” moment to the Opry crowd, and it might not be what you’d expect.
For Langley, it wasn’t the #1s or the awards, but actually her back-to-back sold out shows at the Mother Church itself, Ryman Auditorium, on November 6-7, 2025.
“Two nights sold-out at the Ryman, that for me changed it. People ask what is my ‘I Made It’ moment. You can’t take that away from me. I mean, there’s awards. There’s all these things, but selling out that venue, watching people stand on their feet for the whole show two nights in a row? Yeah, that’s something that I’ll never gonna forget.
Beyond the fact that she sold out arguably the most historic venue in country music history other than the Opry itself, those back-to-back shows lead to some incredible moments. In addition to performing all of her past hits, Langley called on the likes of Morgan Wallen to perform his cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” Gretchen Wilson to team up on one of her signature songs, “Here for the Party” and Jo Dee Messina to perform her 1999 smash hit, “A Lesson in Leavin’.”
Given the otherwordly success she’s experienced over the past year, it’s safe to say that Langley will have plenty of opportunities to sell out the Ryman once again in the future.
Before you go, fire up the hottest song of the year, “Choosin’ Texas.”
The Dandelion Tour Dates
5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&)
5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&)
5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &)
5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &)
6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&)
6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&)
6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&)
6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&)
7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %)
7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %)
7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %)
7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %)
7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %)
8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &)
8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &)
8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &)
@ Kameron Marlowe
+ Dylan Marlowe
# Kaitlin Butts
& Gabriella Rose
% Laci Kaye Booth
