How Do We Feel About Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Setting the Hot 100’s All-Time Record for Weeks at No. 1?
Billboard · · g6049429
This week's Five Burning Questions looks at Langley etching her name into the Billboard history books with her crossover hit's 23rd week atop the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s official: With its 23rd week on top, Ella Langley ‘s “Choosin’ Texas” now reigns alone as the longest-running No. 1 hit in Billboard Hot 100 history.
The country-pop crossover smash breaks its tie with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on this week’s chart (dated Sept. 26), and most likely isn’t done racking up total weeks. But it’ll face some stiff competition, both short-term from a recently announced deluxe edition release by regular chart-topper Taylor Swift, and then from Carey herself, when the Queen of Christmas looks to reclaim her throne once more this holiday season (and then again in many more holiday seasons to come).
How long do we think Langley will be able to hold onto the Hot 100 record? And what do we think of it as the Hot 100 record-holder, however temporary? Billboard staffers answer those questions and more below.
Katie Atkinson: Still a 10 out of 10! The way streaming can track a song’s life for a much longer time than we used to be able to is causing a handful of songs to hang around the top of the chart for longer, naturally, but that shouldn’t downplay the level of hit this specific song is. I’ve been telling my friends who don’t live and breathe the charts: Imagine how long Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” would have been at No. 1 if we could’ve tracked every time someone played it on their CD at home vs. just counting when they bought that CD or heard it on the radio. Now we can actually see the true longevity of a song’s popularity – and Langley being the first to cross this 23-week threshold shows the unreal staying power of this nearly year-old hit.
Kyle Denis : Rewriting this particular record feels a bit anticlimactic because of how often that’s been done (and attempted!) over the past few years, but it’s still arguably the most important Hot 100 record there is. And for Ella to do this with a solo song as a female country artist is nothing short of impressive. I’ll go with a 9.25.
Melinda Newman : 10 out of 10 for sure! Yes, the methodology for the chart has changed over the years, but, by any measure, this is an astonishing accomplishment. We tend to see longer No. 1 for sure now because of the amended metrics — three of the all-time longest-running No. 1s on the 68-year-old chart are from the last three years — but that doesn’t diminish the feat.
Jessica Nicholson : 10 out of 10. Previous songs that had set milestones for total weeks atop the Hot 100 had not come very close to the total achieved so far by Mariah Carey’s holiday juggernaut “All I Want For Christmas Is You” — much less surpassing it. And for this to be a solo female country artist landing this milestone at a time when women in general continue to struggle to break through in the country music space is a major feat.
Andrew Unterberger : If it’s a tiny bit less than a 10, it’s an insignificant-enough amount less that it’d still round up to 10. This is still one of Billboard ‘s most hallowed chart records, and “Choosin’ Texas” broke it while barely breaking a sweat. And it’s probably not done yet!
Katie Atkinson: I guess good for you for not shopping at a Target or watching a single Texas-themed TikTok video over the past 11 months! More than being surprised by people claiming to not know this song, I’m surprised that people feel compelled to share that fact in every comments section. But either way, it’s definitely a symptom of our fragmented culture. Back in the ’90s, it was popular to say you liked “all music except country,” but even the people who said that knew “Achy Breaky Heart” and at least one Garth Brooks song. Now, if you don’t want to engage with country music, your algorithm will make sure you don’t have to. If you truly, somehow, still have not heard this song, I think you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t take a listen. Great lyrics, great melody, great vocal – what’s not to like?
Kyle Denis : It’s not surprising at all. For years, especially since the lockdown era of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been talking about the disintegration of the zeitgeist and the splintering of the mainstream into incredibly optimized and hyper-individualized algorithmic silos and digital echo chambers. The tension between the success of “Choosin’ Texas” and how its ubiquity is perceived on an individual level is a natural progression of that discourse. With that being said, I’m sure there are also many people who are, in fact, familiar with “Choosin’ Texas,” but simply don’t recognize it by title or can’t put a face to it.
Melinda Newman : It’s crazy to me that people are still discovering the song around 10 months after it first debuted on the Hot 100 last November (at No. 39), but that just goes to show that cultural fragmentation is alive and well. There are plenty of people who have never listened to country radio who are finding it through pop radio or social media or word of mouth or even through Drake’s languid remake featuring Don Toliver (though Langley’s cameo is now out of the video). You’d pretty much have to be living under a rock to not know the song by now. However, with all the news it’s making for setting the new record this week, there will be people who will check it out for the first time now, for sure.
Jessica Nicholson : It feels like part of the larger cultural fragmentation, given that so many people rely on social media algorithms when discovering new music. There’s no pop artist feature on this track and it leans more squarely in the traditional-leaning side of country music, so it makes sense that some people who don’t often listen to country music haven’t heard the song until now.
Andrew Unterberger : I think it makes sense that there are people who weren’t previously familiar with this song — the same way I imagine my parents probably don’t have any strong memories of Carey & Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” on its way to its then-record-setting 16 weeks at No. 1 in 1995-96. I think it’s fine that some people haven’t heard this song, I just don’t understand why they act like it’s somehow the fault of the song (or of the Hot 100) that it hasn’t made their radar yet. If you don’t pay attention to contemporary pop music or go to any of the places where you’re likely to hear it — or interact with many people who do — chances are, no one’s going to beat down your door and force you to listen to it!
Katie Atkinson: “Patient Zero” will definitely halt Langley’s 25th week at No. 1 for at least a week, but I’m going to need to hear the song before deciding what will happen after that. I wonder if it can rack up 10 weeks at No. 1 like “The Fate of Ophelia” did around the same time last year, or if it might be more like “I Knew It, I Knew You” snagging two weeks amid Ella’s seemingly unstoppable summer run. I will never count out what Taylor Swift is capable of, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if she briefly interrupts Langley’s run but “Choosin’ Texas” two-steps its way back to the top.
Kyle Denis : It’s all but guaranteed that Swift will temporarily interrupt Langley’s run at No. 1 with “Patient Zero,” but given that “I Knew It, I Knew You” only managed two weeks atop the Hot 100 amid Hurricane Langley with the power of Disney and a No. 1 box office hit behind it… “Texas” could very well be back atop the chart before Halloween.
Melinda Newman : Swift’s a juggernaut: nine of her 15 No. 1s on the Hot 100 have debuted at No. 1, including June’s sweet Toy Story 5 tune, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” so it’s just foolish to bet against Swift, especially since this will be her first song since she got married and curiosity is running high on what she has to say (though it’s a little hard to imagine that a song called “Patient Zero” is about wedded bliss), and she could even perform it on the MTV Video Music Awards this weekend. Swift could stay at No. 1 for multiple weeks, but then Langley hops back to the top. If Swift doesn’t debut at No. 1 and Langley blocks her, that will be massive.
Jessica Nicholson : Given that Taylor is releasing not only a new song, but the deluxe version of The Life of a Showgirl , I think Taylor will absolutely interrupt Ella’s streak at No. 1. Given that we are so close to the holiday season as well and the annual reign of Mariah, there’s a chance that Taylor and Mariah together could shut out “Choosin’ Texas” from the top spot, but I could see “Choosin’ Texas” returning for at least another week or so.
Andrew Unterberger : Taylor Swift is probably the only artist right now for whom a new release without an accompanying new No. 1 would be genuinely shocking. She’s gotten past Langley before during this “Choosin’ Texas” stretch — with a soundtrack single no less — so it’s probably a safe bet she’ll do so again with the Showgirl deluxe. For how long depends on both how much the songs connect, and how motivated Team Swift is to continue to promote and sell the hell out of them. But for a quartet of brand-new songs, two weeks feels pretty close to the minimum for me.
Katie Atkinson: Yes, she’ll recapture the record. And yes, I think she’ll do it this year. What a difference a day makes, because I recorded the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast yesterday (plug!), and we were hemming and hawing about what would stop Ella from just staying at No. 1 until the holidays – and then Taylor Swift announced a new song and deluxe album. So knowing that there will be at least somewhat of an interruption from Taylor and that Carey has a potential four weeks back at No. 1 this year, my prediction is that she’ll immediately snatch the record right back.
Kyle Denis : It could very well happen this holiday season, but I’ll play it safe and say the record will be back in Mrs. Claus’ — sorry, Mariah Carey’s — hands by January 2028.
Melinda Newman : I expect Mariah will get her Christmas wish and “All I Want For Christmas” will return to No. 1 during the holiday season, but not for multiple weeks, meaning that the longer “Choosin’ Texas” is able to keep its stronghold at No. 1, the longer it will take Carey to eventually regain the title (potentially years). But Carey will ultimately prevail, which somehow feels right in the world.
Jessica Nicholson : I think she’ll recapture the record — and given that “All I Want For Christmas” was at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for four weeks in 2025, I think it’s possible Mariah could recapture the lead this holiday season.
Andrew Unterberger : She’ll almost certainly get it at some point, but my bet is that it doesn’t come until (late) 2027. Even with Swift claiming two or three weeks in October — and hell, let’s give a week to Michael Jackson for “Thriller” around Halloween-time too, given its rebound to the top 10 last year and how much everything MJ is back in the culture post- Michael this year — that still leaves at least another four weeks until Mariah Season officially kicks into high gear for “Choosin’ Texas” to potentially claim. And then Mimi herself will have to compete with a sentimental favorite in Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” which reached a new Hot 100 peak of No. 2 last year, and will have the added attention this year of the 10-year anniversary of George Michael’s death (on Christmas) and the debut of the Michael-starring Faith Tour documentary in theaters.
Just playing the percentages, I think Carey’s gonna have a little more ground to make up this year than she’ll ultimately be able to do. But she’ll get there soon enough just the same.
Katie Atkinson: On paper, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and an all-timer artist like Mariah Carey makes more sense to hold this record. Her legacy as a vocalist and as a songwriter has already been written in stone – and she’s still an active recording artist. But “Choosin’ Texas” is a monster hit that deserves to hold this mantle, albeit for a potentially brief moment. All the songs that have managed to climb to this tier have undeniable amounts of momentum and juice behind them, even if we’re no longer a monoculture and everyone isn’t participating in this particular line dance.
Kyle Denis : In the sense that it’s an impeccably written song that isn’t tied to a time capsule like a dance trend or a meme — “Texas” has earned this record. But I’d be a liar if I said I couldn’t wait to see what comes out of left field this time next year to threaten its crown.
Melinda Newman : I feel great about it. As Billboard’s country music editor, I love that a country song now holds such an esteemed record, but it’s not the first country song that has proved to have a very long life at the top spot once they become part of the national zeitgeist, like Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Old Town Road,” which spent 19 weeks at No. 1 in 2019, followed by Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” for 16 weeks in 2023 and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song,” also for 19 weeks in 2024.
Jessica Nicholson : It is definitely a worthy title holder, and I’m happy to see a country title take that spot, but it is likely that it could be overtaken at some point soon.
Andrew Unterberger : Totally fine with it. I had a sentimental attachment to the “One Sweet Day” record because it held for so much of my life, but now that it’s been blown past a handful of times, I can’t really get too attached to any one particular record-holder — plus, I love “Choosin’ Texas,” and am happy to see a song so subtly spectacular become one of the defining chart hits of my lifetime. And when it cedes the record back to “Christmas,” I’ll be fine with that too.