Twenty weeks. That’s how long Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has now held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, a run long enough to push past two songs that once looked untouchable in the non-holiday category: Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, both of which topped out at 19 weeks. Only one song in Hot 100 history has stayed at No. 1 longer without a holiday attached to it, and it belongs to a genre that spends eleven months a year waiting for its moment.
That song is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which has logged 22 weeks at No. 1 across its decades of annual returns to the top of the chart. Barring an unprecedented sprint, “Choosin’ Texas” would need three more weeks to tie it, and given how the song has behaved so far, that’s no longer an unreasonable thing to expect.
How a Heartbreak Song About Texas Became a Two-Year Chart Fixture
“Choosin’ Texas” first hit No. 1 back in February, and its staying power says as much about the current state of country music’s crossover appeal as it does about the song itself. Langley wrote the track with Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor, and the origin story behind it has become almost as well-known as the song’s chorus. During a writing session, Lambert told the group about a time she was pulled over while driving with a dog in the backseat and, more memorably, a pet kangaroo riding shotgun. Langley has said the absurdity of that image sparked the song’s central idea: sometimes you can just tell where someone’s from by the chaos they carry with them, and in this case, that chaos belongs to the other woman.
The song’s rise to a record-tying, then record-breaking, run has been documented step by step. It first became the longest-leading country title by a woman on the Hot Country Songs chart, then passed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” for the most non-holiday weeks at No. 1 among songs by women with no featured male act. From there it kept climbing, eventually surpassing Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” altogether. Along the way, “Choosin’ Texas” has also held down the top spot on the all-genre Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts for extended stretches, evidence that its dominance isn’t just a radio phenomenon.
Where ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Now Sits in Hot 100 History
| Song | Artist(s) | Weeks at No. 1 | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| “All I Want for Christmas Is You” | Mariah Carey | 22 | All-time record (holiday) |
| “Choosin’ Texas” | Ella Langley | 20 | Longest non-holiday run |
| “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” | Shaboozey | 19 | Previous non-holiday record (tied) |
| “Old Town Road” | Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus | 19 | Previous non-holiday record (tied) |
| “One Sweet Day” | Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men | 16 | Longest-running No. 1 by a woman before Langley |
A Bigger Moment for Country Music Overall
Langley’s record didn’t arrive in isolation. Just weeks before “Choosin’ Texas” broke away from the pack, the top five slots on the Hot 100 were occupied entirely by country songs for the first time in the chart’s history, a milestone that signaled just how far the genre’s commercial reach has grown beyond its traditional radio base. Langley’s own catalog has been part of that shift; she and Megan Moroney made history earlier this year as the first women primarily known as country artists to hold concurrent chart achievements typically reserved for pop’s biggest names.
That crossover wave has also arrived during a period of genuine mourning for the genre. Dolly Parton, the artist most responsible for building the bridge between country authenticity and mainstream pop appeal, died on August 25, 2026, in Nashville, following a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. Tributes poured in from across music and film, and Langley added her own quiet one days later, performing Parton’s signature song live during a concert at Auburn University, the same school Langley left years earlier to pursue music in Nashville.
What Comes Next for the Record Chase
If “Choosin’ Texas” holds the top spot for three more consecutive weeks, it will match Carey’s all-time record outright, and any week beyond that would make it the single longest-reigning No. 1 in Hot 100 history regardless of genre or season. Given that the song has already outlasted two tracks many assumed would stand as the modern benchmark for non-holiday dominance, the industry’s eyes are now fixed squarely on whether a Christmas classic recorded in 1994 is finally about to be dethroned by a country song about losing a man to a woman from the Lone Star State.
