Arguably the biggest country star in current rotation, Morgan Wallen doesn’t usually miss. With the release of his latest song, a cover of British alt-indie outfit Nothing But Thieves’ “Graveyard Whistling,” the Sneedville, Tennessee-born artist eclipsed Willie Nelson for the fourth-most songs in the history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Wallen’s rendition of “Graveyard Whistling” is gaining steam, appearing across five Billboard charts in its first week. However, the track fell just short of No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart, with another rising star beating out the CMA’s reigning Entertainer of the Year for the top spot.
Ella Langley Denies Morgan Wallen Another No. 1
Last year, Ella Langley shot to international fame with the saucy Riley Green duet “You Look Like You Love Me.” A promotional single from her debut album Hungover, the song went viral on TikTok and peaked atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Nabbing her second No. 1 hit with “Weren’t For the Wind,” Langley cemented her presence as one of country music’s emerging stars. And now, the Alabama-born artist, 26, has thwarted Morgan Wallen’s chances at having yet another single debut atop the charts. “Choosin’ Texas,” which Langley co-wrote with Miranda Lambert, edged out “Graveyard Whistlin’” for the top spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart.
“Choosin’ Texas” is a classic country heartbreak anthem in which Langley’s narrator finds herself on the losing end of a love triangle: It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see / A cowboy always finds a way to leave / Drinking Jack all by myself / He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell.
Langley wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with the Lone Star State’s own Miranda Lambert during an October 2024 songwriting retreat. And while the rumor mill persists, the ACM’s New Female Vocalist of the Year has refused to divulge any further details.
[RELATED: Ella Langley Gives Fans a Glimpse of Next Album With “Choosing Texas”]
“This girl’s up here, she’s trying to get me to spill the tea on who it’s about. Baby, I ain’t ever gonna do that,” Langley said during a recent tour stop in Durant, Oklahoma. “I ain’t never gonna do that. But I am gonna play the song, it’s called ‘Choosin’ Texas.’”
Featured image by John Shearer/Getty Images for Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time 2024
