Ella Langley Tops Mariah's Hot 100 Record at 23 Weeks

Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' logged its 23rd week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Tuesday, breaking Mariah Carey's 22-week record.

Country singer Ella Langley's heartbreak ballad 'Choosin' Texas' officially became the longest-running No. 1 song in Billboard Hot 100 history on Tuesday, notching a 23rd week atop the all-genre chart. The record had belonged to Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' which logged 22 weeks atop the chart across holiday seasons since 2019. Billboard reports the song also now ties BTS' 'Dynamite' and 'Butter' for the longest reign in Digital Song Sales history, at 18 weeks.

The song's staying power surprised even critics, since it lacks the traits of a typical chart smash. Musicologist Nate Sloan tells the Associated Press that Langley's voice is 'like syrup,' singing long phrases that lull the listener into the song's rhythm. Rhodes College professor Charles L. Hughes says the track echoes late-1970s and early-'80s country stars like Ronnie Milsap and Barbara Mandrell, who folded R&B and pop into their sound, while keeping a subtle dance pulse alongside steel guitar — 'it sounds country, but it doesn't automatically turn off people who are allergic to certain kinds of country sounds.'

The scale of the hit is enormous. Luminate data cited by the Associated Press shows 911 million on-demand streams in the U.S. and 1.26 billion globally as of mid-August. Langley's Spotify monthly listeners grew from under 1 million at the start of 2023 to over 32 million now. The Hollywood Reporter notes the single is already 6-times platinum per the RIAA, and Billboard reports weekly totals of 21.8 million U.S. streams, 58.3 million radio audience impressions and 6,000 sold in mid-September.

The record lands amid a broader country surge. Billboard reports country songs have held the Hot 100's top three, four or five spots 16 times in chart history — 12 of them since July — with Stella Lefty's 'Boston' at No. 2 and Morgan Wallen's 'Been by Now' at No. 3 this week. The Boot notes that in August, country songs occupied all five of the top five Hot 100 positions for the first time, and that Langley also holds the No. 10 spot with 'Be Her.'

Rolling Stone reports Langley is the top nominee at the 60th Annual CMA Awards with nine nods, including entertainer of the year, and that her sophomore album 'Dandelion' just returned to the top of the album charts. American Songwriter adds that she won Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the 2026 ACM Awards. Rolling Stone also highlights her decision to book an all-female lineup of opening acts on her Dandelion tour, including Kaitlin Butts, who calls her 'a win for all of us women in country music.'

The record may not be safe for long. Complex reports Drake, who called Langley's songwriting 'goated,' premiered a remix featuring Don Toliver in his 'FOMO' short film. As Billboard notes, the record for weeks at No. 1 has been broken repeatedly since 1958, and this chart era's country boom suggests more challengers are coming.