Ella Langley should have read the room on this one. Obviously she can’t put on a concert without singing her massive, record-breaking hit – “Choosin’ Texas.” But singing it in Knoxville, Tennessee, ahead of the Volunteers’ ranked match up with the Texas Longhorns this weekend? That’s brave.
One of the biggest matchups of the college football weekend (if not the biggest) will take place at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday – as the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns ride into town to take on No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers. Just a couple of days before that, Ella Langley was in town at the Food City Center Arena to bring her Dandelion Tour to her fans in Knoxville.
I don’t think she could have foreseen how “Choosin’ Texas” wouldn’t go over well in Rocky Top.
If the Volunteers weren’t taking on the Longhorns on Saturday, the fans in attendance probably wouldn’t have thought much of it. But with the big game circled on the calendar, fans were not happy when Langley broke into “Choosin’ Texas,” which admittedly does have a lot of “Texas over Tennessee” theming to it.
Once Ella got to the “his heart still belongs to the Lone Star State,” she and her band let the moment breathe a bit, and boos started pouring down from every seat in the arena. It appears she even put up a thumbs down, while most of the Food City Center Arena booed and did the ol’ “Horns Down” taunt to really stick it to the Longhorns.
It was all in good fun, and Langley looked like she got a kick out of the moment:
Langley might need to check the college football schedule next time she’s laying out her Knoxville, Tennessee tour dates. As long as she doesn’t pen a song in the future about the Alabama Crimson Tide, she should be able to stay in the good graces of Tennessee fans.
This isn’t the first time a country music star has hurt the feelings of their crowd during football season. Riley Green (hope the Ella fans don’t get mad at me for mentioning him in this story) also got a not-so-warm welcome playing in Knoxville one time. He sang his hit, “Hell Of A Way To Go,” and if you need a reminder, there’s a line in there about Alabama beating Tennessee in football:
“I’d be sittin’ on a lake like glass
Catchin’ Largemouth Bass
Just my boy and me
Or maybe on a fifty-yard line
Watchin’ Alabama whoop up on Tennessee…”
He even changed the lyrics up the second time through the song to “Alabama get’s their a** whooped by Tennessee” to please the fans. I don’t think Ella could have modified “Choosin’ Texas” to work in Tennessee’s favor… but maybe she’ll consider tweaking the song a bit next time she’s in Knoxville.
Langley’s Dandelion Tour rolls on, and it doesn’t look like she should run into any more college football boo birds (maybe in Oklahoma?) based on her tour dates:
Dandelion Tour Dates:
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
@ Kameron Marlowe & Gabriella Rose
% Laci Kaye Booth
