Ella Langley has admitted to being shocked by the success of “Choosin’ Texas,” and something tells me that surreal feeling will only increase now that Matthew McConaughey has laid down a cover of the crossover hit.
Simply put, Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is inescapable at this point. She released it back in October of last year, and once it caught fire in 2026 (and began collecting “Ella Fellas” from every corner of the world), it has stayed ablaze. It’s not even a stretch to call it one of the biggest country hits of all time.
“Choosin’ Texas” currently holds the record for longest-running No. 1 hit by a female artist this century. Ella’s catchy tune has stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a staggering 17 straight weeks, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Things like beloved movie star Matthew McConaughey covering the track should only help her cause.
The actor, author, business owner, minister (of culture) and philanthropist can add “bluegrass front man” to the long list of his accomplishments. He’s evidently been working on his mandolin picking lately, because this is actually the second time in the past week that he’s popped up on stage to play a little country music.
Those who are familiar with McConaughey know that music is one of his favorite ways to let loose (ever heard the story of him getting arrested for playing the bongos a) naked and b) too loud?), so it wasn’t a surprise that, during his latest movie premiere for The Rivals of Amziah King, some live performances were a part of the celebration.
However, it was a bit of a surprise when McConaughey got up on stage with The Last Bison: the band whose services were called upon for the premiere. They ended up playing an Avett Brothers song called “Talk on Indolence” before the band from Virginia played an original of theirs called “Quill,” with Matthew McConaughey on the mandolin.
With hindsight, that may have just been a warm up for McConaughey and The Last Bison’s Tonight Show appearance. While the Academy Award-winner was there to promote his new film, he and the band had Jimmy Fallon join them for a bluegrass rendition of Ella’s “Choosin’ Texas.”
If you ask me… I thought it was alright, alright, alright:
Sure, Matthew McConaughey might just be playing one chord on the mandolin… but the bluegrass cover of Ella Langley’s smash hit is still impressive.
It’s just another thing that the most interesting man in Hollywood Austin has added to his arsenal. Could he touch up his vocals, and maybe throw a few different chords in there? Sure. But the stage presence is already there, and social media users couldn’t get over the surprise performance of the hit country song:
“Safe to say that Fallon and McConaughey are officially Ella fellas.”
“Where’s the ‘c’mon baby?’ McConaughey could’ve pulled that off.”
“This kinda goes harder then it should!”
“When a buncha Ella fellas get together for a jam sesh.”
“If I wrote a song that became popular and then I saw a video of Matthew singing it, I’d cry.”
I’d imagine Ella Langley is feeling that way this morning.
