Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' Earns 17th Week At No. 1—Surpasses This Mariah Carey Smash

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Ella Langley’s smash “Choosin’ Texas” earned a 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, Billboard announced Monday, solidifying the country hit as the fourth longest-running No. 1 of all time while surpassing a Mariah Carey hit that held the record for decades.

Key Facts

“Choosin’ Texas,” which first reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in February, earned a 17th non-consecutive week at No. 1, Billboard said Monday, also placing No. 1 on Billboard’s digital song sales and streaming charts.

The song’s 17th week at No. 1 breaks its tie with Mariah Carey’s “One Sweet Day,” which ranked No. 1 for 16 weeks between 1995 and 1996 and held the record for the longest-running No. 1 for more than two decades, until Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” surpassed it in 2019.

Billboard said streams of “Choosin’ Texas” were down slightly this past week, but its audience impressions on radio rose 4% while digital sales surged 9%.

“Choosin’ Texas” also leads the Hot Country Songs chart for a 35th week, making it the third-longest leader in that chart’s history behind Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which led for 45 weeks, and Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant To Be,” which led for 50 weeks.

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Whether “Choosin’ Texas” can continue its reign and surpass the three songs that have led the Hot 100 for a longer stretch. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” have both led the Hot 100 for 19 weeks, while annual chart-topper “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Carey is the all-time leader with 22 total weeks in the top spot.

How Did “Choosin’ Texas” Become A Smash?

Langley, who has been a rising country star since she scored a few minor hits with her first album in 2024, released “Choosin’ Texas” in October. The song, co-written and produced by Miranda Lambert, debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 39 and took a few months to really take off, finally reaching No. 1 in February. Through that time, Langley’s profile rose: She won a leading five awards at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May, where “Choosin’ Texas” was crowned song of the year. “Choosin’ Texas” also became a hit on TikTok, where it has been used in more than 1.3 million posts while Langley’s following has surged to nearly 5 million. Ashley Gorley, a country songwriter who has written for Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen, among others, told Billboard the song is so successful because it is an “instant country heartbreak classic” with “no wasted notes or lyrics; it sounds completely authentic.”

Is “Choosin’ Texas” The Song Of The Summer?

“Choosin’ Texas” ranks atop Billboard’s songs of the summer chart, and multiple publications have suggested the country hit is this year’s summer-defining smash. Some critics, though, have said “Choosin’ Texas” doesn’t feel particularly ubiquitous, which some have blamed on the rise of streaming services and hyper-personalized listening habits. “What’s really happening is there’s hits in what we call subcultures,” New York University adjunct professor of music business Clayton Durant told CNN last week. “If you’re not involved in a particular subculture, or your feed isn’t giving you that particular subculture, you as a consumer may not feel that there’s an actual hit or sort of like a massive moment happening,” Durant said.

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Langley also ranks No. 7 on the Hot 100 this week with “I Can’t Love You Any More,” a collaboration with Morgan Wallen, and No. 10 with “Be Her.”

key background

“Choosin’ Texas” is leading the charts amid what Billboard has called a “commercial boom” for country music. Last week, the genre achieved a historic first when all of the top five songs on the Hot 100 were country songs. Leading the charge in the genre’s commercial renaissance is Wallen, whose song “Last Night” led the Hot 100 for 16 weeks in 2023. Wallen has spent more weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s country albums chart than any other artist, with 234 collective weeks at the top, a staggering feat considering he first topped the chart just six years ago.

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