A full-circle moment, indeed.
This past weekend, Ella Langley returned to her alma mater, Auburn University, to play two sold-out shows at Neville Arena on campus. She visited her former sorority while back home, and also visited with one of the people who first helped her get into country music.
Of course, she’s currently on a historic run, as her mega hit “Choosin’ Texas” is now the longest-running non-holiday #1 hit in the history of the Hot 100. With the 20th week atop the chart, the megahit now stands alone as the second-longest running hit in the chart’s history, passing Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” (19 weeks). In turn, it has now officially become the biggest country hit of all time, as far as Billboard chart data is concerned.
Additionally, Langley and “Choosin’ Texas” are now just the second song and artist in U.S. HISTORY to notch 20 weeks on the chart. Of course, she is still behind Mariah Carey’s holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which holds the all-time record at 22 weeks.
It doesn’t seem like all that long ago Ella was putting out her first songs like “Country Boy’s Dream Girl” and her Excuse the Mess EP, but long before that, Ella was just a teenager with a dream in Hope Hull, Alabama before moving to Nashville to follow her dreams
One of her earliest mentors is a man named Maury Popwell, better known as “Coach Pop,” who has been a teacher for 57 years, spending 22 of them at Hooper Academy in Hope Hull, Alabama, where Langley is from. She was one of his students, and during that time, they realized they had a lot in common, especially in terms of their love for music.
That turned into a Friday morning tradition where Ella would come to school early with her guitar and they would play together, Coach Pop told WSFA 12 News:
“We got to the point where she would bring her guitar on a Friday morning and we would play before school.”
He would bring his own guitar to play with her, and Ella loved the sound of it, and when Ella told him she was moving to Nashville to pursue her country music dreams, he gave her that guitar and the rest is history:
“When I found out she was going to Nashville, I called her right before school started and I told her come by the school today and she did. I gave her that guitar. So she took it with her.”
It made a lasting impact on Ella, and the two of them have stayed in touch over the years, and during her show in Birmingham a while back, Ella actually had him come out on stage. Coach Pop remembers Ella telling him all those years ago she was going to make it as a country star, and he says it’s been like watching “a grandchild”
“It affects me like she is my grandchild. I’ve caught myself with a tear in my eye watching her go up and receive these awards. It’s like she’s part of my family. And she is.”
He says he feels like he played a “small, small part” in her career and he will remember it forever:
“Still feel like I played a small, small part. And I hope she remembers that. I will. I’ll remember it.”
And during Ella’s recent show at Auburn, she once again invited her longtime mentor to see how far she’s come, and she even returned the gesture he made years ago by presenting him with a custom guitar as a thank you for all of the support he gave her long before she was anybody.
It’s cool to see Ella honor the people who helped her get where she it today, clearly she hasn’t forgotten where she came from and it’s a beautiful gesture and something I’m sure Coach Pop will treasure forever:
Here’s more from Coach Pop on a young Ella Langley:
