Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has spent 21 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, setting the record for the longest-running non-holiday chart-topper in the chart’s 68-year history. The single, released in October 2025 as the lead track from Langley’s sophomore album Dandelion, surpassed Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” at 19 weeks each, and now trails only Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (22 weeks) for the all-time record across all categories.
Key Takeaways
- Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has accumulated 21 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running non-holiday chart-topper in the chart’s history.
- The single surpassed “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X (19 weeks, 2019) and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey (19 weeks, 2024) for the non-holiday record, and sits one week behind Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (22 weeks, 2019-2026) for the all-time mark.
- Langley, 27, became the first female artist to simultaneously top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts, and the first artist known for primarily recording country music to hold the top two spots on the Hot 100 for multiple weeks.
- The song has been certified six-times platinum and has spent 45 weeks on the Hot 100 since debuting on November 1, 2025.
- Langley swept all seven of her nominations at the 2026 ACM Awards on May 17, setting the record for wins by an artist in a single ceremony.
A 21-Week Run Built on a Non-Consecutive Path to the Record
“Choosin’ Texas” first reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated February 14, 2026, four months after its October 17, 2025, release on SAWGOD/Columbia Records. From that point forward, the single’s path to the record followed a pattern that has become characteristic of the streaming era: extended periods at number one interrupted by brief displacements from other artists, followed by returns to the top. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead,” Drake’s “Janice STFU,” Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” each temporarily dethroned “Choosin’ Texas” during the spring and early summer, only for Langley’s single to reclaim the top position within one or two weeks.
The non-consecutive nature of the run is not an asterisk. It is the defining structural feature of how number-one records work under the current chart methodology. Before the streaming era, a song typically had one continuous run at number one, and once it fell, it rarely returned. The integration of streaming data, radio airplay, and digital sales into a single composite metric created a chart environment in which a song with sustained, broad-based consumption can yo-yo between number one and number two for months. “Choosin’ Texas” has occupied the top position for 21 of the 30 weeks since it first reached number one, a dominance ratio that earlier chart eras simply did not produce.
By the tracking week ending August 27, “Choosin’ Texas” generated 24.2 million official streams (essentially flat week over week), 56.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 2%), and 7,000 digital and physical copies sold (down 9%). The three-legged consumption profile, strong across streaming, radio, and sales simultaneously, is what has sustained the single’s chart position against competitors that tend to spike in one metric while fading in others.
The Record Sits in the Context of Country Music’s Expanding Chart Presence
“Choosin’ Texas” did not arrive in a vacuum. Langley’s chart run is the latest in a sequence of country and country-adjacent singles that have dominated the Hot 100 in ways that would have been structurally impossible a decade ago. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spent 19 weeks at number one in 2024, tying the record set by Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” in 2019. Morgan Wallen became the first artist known primarily for country music to debut a single at number one on the Hot 100 in 2023. Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion in 2024 further blurred the genre line. Langley’s run extends this trajectory, and her distinction is that “Choosin’ Texas” is not a genre crossover in the traditional sense. The song is produced by Langley, Miranda Lambert, and Ben West. It was written by Langley, Lambert, Luke Dick, and Joybeth Taylor. Lambert provides background vocals. Tom Bukovac and Ben Flanders play guitar. The sonic profile is country in structure and instrumentation, with no featured hip-hop verse, no pop-dance production, and no genre-blending concession to mainstream radio formatting.
The chart mechanics that allow a country single to dominate the Hot 100 for 21 weeks have as much to do with platform economics as they do with listener preference. Country audiences have historically been among the most loyal and consistent streaming cohorts, generating high per-capita replay rates on both paid and ad-supported platforms. When other artists debut at number one for a week and then fall, a country single with a deep, habitual listener base can sit underneath them and return to the top the following week. “Choosin’ Texas” has done this repeatedly since February, converting steady consumption into cumulative chart weeks while flashier releases burn through their audience in a single tracking period.
Langley Set Multiple Simultaneous Records Across Billboard’s Country and Pop Charts
The Hot 100 milestone is the headline, but “Choosin’ Texas” has set records across several Billboard charts simultaneously. Langley became the first female artist in Billboard chart history to top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts at the same time. The song has also spent 20 weeks at number one on the Streaming Songs chart. On the charts dated May 6 and May 23, 2026, Langley held the number-one and number-two positions on the Hot 100 simultaneously, with “Choosin’ Texas” at number one and “Be Her” at number two, making her the first artist known primarily for recording country music to occupy both top spots for multiple weeks. Morgan Wallen had previously achieved a one-week hold on the top two spots in May 2025.
Langley’s album Dandelion, released on April 10, 2026, through SAWGOD and Columbia Records, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album was co-produced by Langley, Lambert, and West, and recorded at Sound Emporium in Nashville. It has generated four charting singles: “Choosin’ Texas,” “Be Her,” “I Can’t Love You Anymore” (a collaboration with Morgan Wallen that reached number one on Country Airplay), and “Loving Life Again.” A fifth single, “Jaded,” is currently in release.
The awards circuit has tracked the chart performance. At the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards on May 17, 2026, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Langley swept all seven of her nominations, including Female Artist of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year, setting the record for wins by a single artist in one ACM ceremony. At the 59th CMA Awards in November 2025, Langley won three awards, tying with Riley Green and Lainey Wilson for the evening’s most-awarded artist. The ACM sweep, in particular, marked a break from recent precedent. The ceremony had been dominated by Lainey Wilson in 2024 and 2025, and Langley’s clean sweep signaled a generational shift in the voting body’s center of gravity.
Billboard’s 2026 Chart Formula Change Provides Context for Interpreting the Record
Any discussion of a 2026 chart record requires acknowledgment of the methodological change Billboard implemented at the start of the year. Effective with the chart dated January 17, 2026, Billboard revised the equivalency ratios used to convert streams into album-equivalent units. The threshold dropped from 3,750 ad-supported streams or 1,250 paid/subscription streams per unit to 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid/subscription streams per unit. The change means that each stream now counts for more in the chart calculation than it did in 2025, and paid-subscription streams carry proportionally heavier weight than ad-supported streams.
The practical effect is that artists with strong streaming profiles benefit from the new formula, while artists whose chart performance relied more heavily on radio airplay or physical sales see a relative decrease in chart leverage. For “Choosin’ Texas,” which generates roughly 24 million streams per week alongside 57 million radio airplay impressions and 7,000 weekly sales, the formula change is a tailwind but not the primary driver of the song’s performance. The single’s radio and sales numbers would have supported a strong chart position under the old methodology as well. The new formula amplifies the margin by which streaming-heavy consumption patterns dominate the chart, but Langley’s three-legged consumption base means the record does not rest on a single metric inflated by the rule change.
The all-time record remains within reach. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” accumulated 22 weeks at number one over seven holiday seasons between 2019 and 2025, returning to the top of the chart each December as seasonal streaming surges push it back up. If “Choosin’ Texas” adds one more week at number one, Langley will tie Carey’s all-time mark. Whether the 27-year-old from Hope Hull, Alabama, can hold the top spot long enough to surpass it before Carey’s annual December return is the open question heading into the fall.
FAQs
How Many Weeks Has “Choosin’ Texas” Spent at Number One?
“Choosin’ Texas” has spent 21 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as of September 2026. The song first reached number one on the chart dated February 14, 2026, and has held the top position for 21 of the 30 weeks since. Only Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (22 weeks) has spent more time at number one in Hot 100 history.
Who Wrote “Choosin’ Texas”?
Ella Langley co-wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, and Joybeth Taylor. The song was produced by Langley, Lambert, and Ben West, and features Lambert on background vocals. It was released on October 17, 2025, through SAWGOD/Columbia Records as the lead single from Langley’s second album, Dandelion.
What Records Has Ella Langley Set in 2026?
Langley became the first female artist to simultaneously top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts. She set the record for the longest-running non-holiday number one in Hot 100 history, held the top two positions on the Hot 100 simultaneously for multiple weeks, swept all seven nominations at the 2026 ACM Awards, and debuted her album Dandelion at number one on the Billboard 200.
