By Kerry Justich, Yahoo! Entertainment | Ella Langley wasn’t a Stagecoach headliner this year — but she might as well have been. Ahead of last week’s country music festival, the singer had just pulled off quite the feat: dethroning Taylor Swift as the queen of modern country music thanks to her No. 1 hit “Choosin’ Texas” having a weeks-long grip on the Billboard Hot 100. (Her album, Dandelion, has also surpassed records set by Beyoncé, marking one of the most explosive runs in recent country music history.)
But on the ground in Indio, her ascent felt less like industry momentum and more like consensus.
As I crisscrossed the festival grounds for Yahoo and spoke to fans about their love of country music, her name came up again and again — from Gen Z-ers there for the first time to a 78-year-old dieharder named Candy, who had circled Langley’s set as a must-see.
During that 50-minute performance on Friday, Langley sang hits like “Choosin’ Texas,” “Dandelion” and “I Can’t Love You Anymore” (minus the song’s collaborator, Morgan Wallen). And in lieu of Riley Green accompanying her for their chart-topper — 2024’s “You Look Like You Love Me” — podcaster Theo Von made his way onto the stage.
The festival grounds were packed with fans from just about every demographic. “We were in the crowd singing every single word to every single song that Ella had. That speaks volumes right there,” a young man named Jackson told me. He and his three friends all “110%” identify as Ella’s Fellas — the nickname that Langley-loving men wear with pride.
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Read more on Ella and her fellas here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/article/everyone-loves-ella-langley-everything-else-about-country-music-is-up-for-debate-212440425.html
