Out of touch doesn’t even begin to describe these reactions.
It’s hard to argue that there’s a bigger artist, not just in the genre but music as a whole, than Ella Langley in 2026. In case you haven’t been keeping up with her and “Choosin’ Texas’” success, it just spent its 21st week at #1on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. As it stands today, “Choosin’ Texas” is the longest-running #1 hit by a female artist THIS CENTURY, the only country song by a woman to triple up and go #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Hot Country and Country Airplay charts simultaneously and is now set to tie Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” for the longest-running #1 EVER on the Hot 100 next week.
In case that wasn’t enough, thanks to the success of her sophomore album, Dandelion, which debuted at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and sold 169,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week, Langley became just the second woman in history to hold the #1 album and song in the U.S. simultaneously with a country song/album.
She would also capture other records on the Hot 100, such as becoming the first country artist IN HISTORY to hold the Top 2 songs in the United States simultaneously for more than one week and the first female country artist to score three of the Top 4 hits on the Hot 100 in a single week, becoming one of only nine artists in any genre to accomplish this feat.
Simply put, she has been everywhere. Whether it’s selling out arenas across the country on her own Dandelion Tour and opening up for Morgan Wallen on his potentially record-breaking Still The Problem Tour or scoring collabs with major brands such as American Eagle, Shiner Bock beer, Noyz perfume and more.
It’s been nothing short of a phenomenon here in the States, staying at #1 every single week since July 4th, capturing Billboard’s Song of the Summer yesterday and remaining the popular digital jukebox, TouchTunes’ #1 most-played song of 2026 throughout all three quarters of the year. Of course, this doesn’t even mention the fact that you truly cannot not hear the song at any bar or restaurant from coast to coast in the U.S.
And when I say “Choosin’ Texas” has been everywhere, I truly mean everywhere — not just in America. This week, she’s #1 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In case that wasn’t enough, she once again slotted in all the way to #2 in the WORLD on Billboard’s Global 200 chart.
Despite all of the data present that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Langley and “Choosin’ Texas” have been the biggest artist/song of the year, it didn’t prevent an absolute breakdown by pop fans on X (formerly Twitter) this week.
Upon “Choosin’ Texas” securing its 21st week at #1 yesterday, the popular pop-culture news outlet, Pop Crave, took to X to report that Langley and “Choosin’ Texas” were just one week away from tying the long-standing Billboard Hot 100 record set by Carey and “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Immediately upon posting, the replies began to be flooded with what I can only describe as the most out-of-touch, biased music “fans” I’ve ever seen.
These replies include the likes of accusing Langley of using AI to bot streams, using payola on the radio (despite the fact that the song would still be #1 this week based purely on streams/sales alone), being an industry plant (she’s been releasing music since 2021) and claiming they’ve never heard of her.
One particularly clueless user mixed up Langley and Stella Lefty and accused Langley of having billionaire parents. Of course, it’s Lefty, whose father is Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, who comes from a family with a net worth just shy of $6 billion.
In case the Langley-Lefty mix-up wasn’t egregious, one user managed to get Langley and Kacey Musgraves confused, thinking that it was the “Choosin’ Texas” singer who made headlines recently with Musgraves’ “disco balls” prop at her concerts.
Of course, you can feel however you want about Langley, for better or worse.
One thing that cannot be denied, however, is the fact that she is simply dominating the music industry by every single metric imaginable. Her rise to fame isn’t a coincidence. It’s not “payola,” and it’s certainly not AI and/or botting. She’s not a billionaire nepo-baby or an “industry plant.” It’s years of hard work in the industry paying off by catching what can only be described as lightning in a bottle with “Choosin’ Texas.”
In most cases, someone claiming they “don’t know” the most popular song and artist of the year by every metric is simply a sign that they are either straight-up lying or completely out of touch. And if this isn’t the clearest example of that sentiment, I don’t know what is.
Dandelion Tour Dates
9/10/26 Newark, NJ Prudential Center (#, &)
9/11/26 State College, PA Bryce Jordan Center (#, &)
9/12/26 Charleston, WV Charleston Coliseum (#, &)
9/17/26 Oxford, MS SJB Pavilion (@, %)
9/18/26 Athens, GA Akins Ford Arena (@, %)
9/19/26 Jacksonville, FL Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena (@, %)
9/24/26 Knoxville, TN Food City Center Arena (@, %)
9/25/26 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center (@, %)
9/26/26 Moline, IL Vibrant Arena (@, %)
10/7/26 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre (@, &)
10/9/26 Tulsa, OK BOK Center (@, %)
10/10/26 Lubbock, TX United Supermarkets Arena (@, %)
10/13/26 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre (@, %)
10/14/26 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre (@, %)
10/29/26 Des Moines, IA Casey’s Center (@, &)
10/30/26 Lincoln, NE Pinnacle Bank Arena (@, &)
10/31/26 Saint Paul, MN Grand Casino Arena (@, &)
Support Acts
# ERNEST
@ Kameron Marlowe & Gabriella Rose
% Laci Kaye Booth
