Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley’s Creative Tensions
Making a hit record wasn’t always smooth sailing for Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley. The celebrated country artist shared that she and Langley had their fair share of disagreements during their collaboration. However, Lambert feels these clashes were a good sign that they were on the right path.
“If we don’t fight by the end of this, we probably didn’t do it right,” Lambert recalled saying to Langley in a conversation that took place on The New York Times’ “Popcast.”
Discussing the emotional rollercoaster of creating an album with Langley, Lambert acknowledged, “Creating a record is not — I mean, it’s a long journey, you know what I mean? And it’s a lot of emotions.” When probed about the tensions in their working relationship, she candidly stated, “We did a lot. And I think that’s important because we needed to.”
Lambert, known for her songs about resilience and country life, embraced the constructive disagreements in the creative process. When asked if she enjoyed a good argument, her response was quick: “Yeah, I’m scrappy… I wanted it to be right, you know what I mean?”
She was then asked if she ever let Langley win during their discussions. Lambert chuckled, saying, “Yeah. I mean… it’s her name. But yeah, it was a good balance of bouncing songs off each other, saying like, ‘That’s too far one way,’ or ‘That doesn’t fit the record,’ whatever it was. And I love that she trusted me with that.”
Langley’s song “Choosin’ Texas” has turned into a record-breaking hit, and interestingly, Lambert mentioned that the collaboration on this particular track was much more straightforward. It reflected a blend of their musical identities: “That one is just like — it’s like a piece of our DNA. So, no. It’s like there’s this nostalgia to it, and it’s like her love for country and my love for country.”
In September, Langley celebrated a monumental achievement as “Choosin’ Texas” reached its 23rd week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Mariah Carey’s record for the longest stay at the top. “I’m genuinely trying to find the words to explain what’s going on in my brain today,” she expressed in a recent Instagram video, overwhelmed by the support for the song.
As of now, “Choosin’ Texas” has extended its record and spent 24 weeks at No. 1, marking it as the longest-running No. 1 song in history. It first landed on the Hot 100 in November 2025, becoming Langley’s debut top 10 hit in January and reaching the top spot for the first time in February. The track has also been remarkably successful on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, spending 42 weeks at No. 1 there.
