Ella Langley faced the wrath of liberals and defied the odds, setting a new record while rewriting country music history. Her song “Choosin’ Texas” logged a 23rd week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated September 26, 2026, surpassing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to claim the longest run ever by any song atop the chart since it launched in August 1958.
Carey’s holiday perennial had accumulated 22 weeks at No. 1 across multiple Christmas seasons beginning in 2019, a mark that had seemed nearly untouchable. Langley’s breakout country single cleared it by one week and is still climbing.
Why Did Democrats Try To Cancel Ella Langley?
In April 2026, country singer Ella Langley faced online criticism and calls for a boycott from social media users after several details about her career and personal accounts circulated online. Critics targeted Langley after discovering that her TikTok account followed The Charlie Kirk Show, a prominent conservative program.
The backlash intensified due to her musical collaborations, specifically her duet titled “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with country artist Morgan Wallen, and her scheduled appearances at Kid Rock’s 2026 Rock the Country festival tour. Some users on platforms like X and TikTok used these associations to label Langley as “MAGA” and criticize her political alignment, while supporters and industry defenders countered that a social media follow or industry collaboration does not equal an official political endorsement.
How ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Climbed to the Top
“Choosin’ Texas” debuted on the Hot 100 on November 1, 2025, as Langley’s fifth career entry on the chart. It cracked the top 10 in January 2026 and first reached No. 1 in February, setting off a run that has shattered multiple chart milestones along the way. According to Ella Langley’s Hot 100 record run, the track tallied 21.8 million official streams, 58.3 million radio airplay audience impressions and 6,000 copies sold in the United States during the tracking week of September 11 through 17.
The song also holds at No. 1 on Streaming Songs for a 23rd week and has reached a new peak of No. 2 on Radio Songs. It has now led Hot Country Songs for 41 weeks and Digital Song Sales for 18 weeks, tying BTS records for the longest reign in that chart’s history. Langley co-wrote the track with Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert and Joybeth Taylor.
Langley on What the Song Has Meant
Langley spoke to Billboard News earlier this year about the magnitude of the moment. “It feels surreal,” she said. “I think this has been the biggest moment for me, where I’ve seen where fans can change your career. For so long, you’re like, ‘Alright, one song at a time, one record at a time.’ But with this one song, and they’ve done it continuously for me, but really with ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ man, have they taken ahold of it. It’s wild.”
She admitted even the songwriters cannot fully explain the track’s grip on listeners. “I don’t know. I really don’t,” Langley said. “Those of us that wrote it, we talk about that. We love this song. I don’t know if it’s because it’s an honest point of view. I tried to add some groove into this record, big singing choruses and big melodic guitar licks that you can remember. I don’t know if it feels nostalgic or sounds like something they hadn’t heard before.”
Where the Record Stands and What Comes Next
Choosin’ Texas” now leads the all-time Hot 100 rankings ahead of Carey’s Christmas classic at 22 weeks, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” both at 19 weeks, and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at 16 weeks. The song is released on SAWGOD/Columbia Records, with Triple Tigers promoting it to country radio.
With the chart still dated ahead and the song continuing to perform across streaming, airplay and sales, the record could grow further. Langley also holds a second song in the current Hot 100 top 10, with “Be Her” sitting at No. 10 this week after peaking at No. 2, signaling that her commercial momentum extends well beyond a single historic hit.
