Ella Langley

Hope Hull, a restrung guitar and a repossessed house

Elizabeth Camille Langley was born on 3 May 1999 in Hope Hull, Alabama, the third of four children in a family that sang. She was homeschooled in Montgomery through seventh grade and picked up most of her early music in Southern Baptist churches and at informal family jam sessions.

The guitar arrived at fourteen. After her grandfather died, her father handed her the old man's instrument, restrung; that same evening she looked up the chords to a Bob Marley song online and taught herself to play it. She practised facing the family's cow pasture, and did not perform in public until a Hooper Academy talent show in 2016.

The other formative event of that year was financial. Langley has said the family lost their house to the bank the day after her fourteenth birthday, and that she first heard Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" around the same time and felt it was describing her own life. The detail matters because Lambert would later co-produce her second album and sing on it. Langley went to Troy University first, then transferred to Auburn to read forestry.

Nashville, and eight years of groundwork

Her first recording, "Clear the Clouds", was co-written with her aunt and cut at Guest House Studios in Eclectic, Alabama, in 2017. A debut single, "Perfect", followed on 24 May 2018 and was later pulled from streaming services. She moved to Nashville in 2019, spent 2020 livestreaming through the pandemic, and signed a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing Nashville in 2021.

The touring apprenticeship started in early 2022 opening for Randy Houser. "Country Boy's Dream Girl" arrived on 28 October 2022. She made her Grand Ole Opry debut on 17 February 2023 and signed with Sony Music Nashville and Columbia Records a week later, on 24 February. "That's Why We Fight", a duet with the Texas songwriter Koe Wetzel, came out on 21 April 2023, and the EP Excuse the Mess on 19 May. Support slots with Jon Pardi and Riley Green filled out 2023 and 2024.

Hungover, and the song that broke through

Her first album, Hungover, was released on 2 August 2024 and entered the Billboard 200 at number 77, reaching number 11 on Top Country Albums. What changed her position was "You Look Like You Love Me", a spoken-and-sung duet with Riley Green that went to number one on Country Airplay, entered the Hot 100 at 53 and was certified platinum — she was the only woman to top the country radio chart that year. A deluxe edition, Still Hungover, followed on 1 November 2024 and pushed the album back onto the Billboard 200 at number 49.

"Weren't for the Wind" went to country radio on 2 January 2025, peaked at 18 on the Hot 100 and became her second radio number one; "Don't Mind If I Do", again with Green, made three. The awards followed the airplay. She took four prizes at the 2025 ACM Awards, including New Female Artist of the Year, and "You Look Like You Love Me" won Musical Event at the 2024 CMAs and both Single and Song of the Year at the 2025 ceremony.

Dandelion and a single that would not move

The lead single for her second album appeared on 17 October 2025. "Choosin' Texas", written with Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert and Joybeth Taylor and produced by Langley with Lambert and Ben West, reached number one on the Hot 100 on 9 February 2026 and then refused to leave: 22 non-consecutive weeks at the top, the longest run by any country act and a tie with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for the longest-running number one in American chart history. It is certified six-times platinum in the United States and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. The video, released on 1 April 2026 and co-directed by Langley with Wales Toney and Caylee Robillard, cast Luke Grimes alongside Lambert.

Dandelion was announced on 27 January 2026 and released on 10 April through Sawgod and Columbia: 19 tracks, 56 minutes, cut at Sound Emporium in Nashville between 2024 and 2026 with Langley, Lambert and Ben West producing. It entered the Billboard 200 at number one with 169,000 equivalent units and has since gone platinum in the United States and gold in Canada. Lambert sings with her on "Butterfly Season".

Reviews were strong rather than merely respectful. Metacritic aggregates six of them at 86. The Independent gave five stars and called the record a saloon-door-slammer of a country classic; Rolling Stone gave four. Writing in NME, Kayleigh Watson found "a poignant question mark around the 26-year-old as she attempts to pin down who she is now", and compared the warmth of her storytelling to Shania Twain's. Second single "Be Her" peaked at number two on the Hot 100, held off only by "Choosin' Texas" — making Langley the first female country primary artist to hold both of the top two places at once. "Loving Life Again" went to radio in July 2026, and a reissue added "I Can't Love You Anymore" with Morgan Wallen.

September 2026: the most-nominated artist in country

On 10 September 2026 the CMA Awards nominations were announced and Langley led the field with nine, ahead of Miranda Lambert on seven and Kacey Musgraves and Ben West on five each. She is up for Entertainer of the Year against Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson, with Album of the Year for Dandelion, Single and Song of the Year nods for both "Be Her" and "Choosin' Texas", Female Vocalist, Musical Event for "I Can't Love You Anymore" and Music Video for "Choosin' Texas". The ceremony airs on 18 November on ABC and Disney+, hosted by Lainey Wilson.

The rest of the 2026 shelf is already full: Artist-Songwriter of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and both Single and Song of the Year at the ACMs, Favorite Country Female Artist and Best Country Song at the American Music Awards, and Best New Country Artist at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. A new duet with Koe Wetzel, "Jaded", arrived too late in the eligibility window to be considered for CMA Musical Event. Away from music she was named American Eagle's "Denim Darling" in February 2026 and launched a "Be Her" fragrance with NOYZ in April.

The Dandelion Tour

Her first headlining arena run opened on 7 May 2026 at the Huntington Center in Toledo and ran 16 dates across 12 states to 15 August at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. On 22 June she added a second leg of 21 shows, from Green Bay on 20 August to Saint Paul on 31 October, taking in Red Rocks Amphitheatre on 7 October and two nights at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on 13 and 14 October. Openers rotate: Kameron Marlowe, Dylan Marlowe, Kaitlin Butts, Gabriella Rose, Laci Kaye Booth and Ernest.

The headline dates have been threaded around other people's stadiums. Through 2026 she has also opened for Eric Church's Free the Machine tour and for Morgan Wallen's Still the Problem run, playing Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on 9 May and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 18 July. Setlist.fm has logged 59 Langley performances in 2026, by some distance her busiest year.