Ella Langley Leads Country Music to Historic First During Her Record-Setting Year

Ella Langley’s record-setting 2026 just added another historic achievement.

Billboard revealed its final Songs of the Summer ranking for 2026, and Langley’s smash hit “Choosin’ Texas” officially finishes the season at No. 1.

But Langley’s victory is also part of something country music has never accomplished before.

For the first time in the history of Billboard’s Songs of the Summer ranking, country songs hold all three of the top spots on the season-ending list.

“Choosin’ Texas” finishes at No. 1, followed by Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” at No. 2 and Langley’s “Be Her” at No. 3.

That gives Langley two of the three biggest songs of summer 2026 while helping country music reach another unprecedented Billboard milestone.

Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart measures songs based on their cumulative performance on the Billboard Hot 100 from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This year’s ranking encompasses charts dated June 6 through Sept. 12.

And “Choosin’ Texas” was nearly impossible to catch.

The song has now spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, including 11 consecutive weeks since July 4. During the summer tracking period, it also led all songs with 407 million official U.S. streams and 124,000 downloads sold, according to Luminate.

Langley’s “Be Her,” meanwhile, peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and remained in the Top 10 every week between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The historic Songs of the Summer finish comes just weeks after Langley helped country music achieve another Billboard first. In August, the singer led country music to a Billboard first that had never happened before, when country songs swept the entire Top 5 of the Hot 100. Just days later, Langley’s record-setting year continued with three major MusicRow Awards nominations, including Female Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year.

Related: Country Star’s New Hit Was Just Named One of the Best Songs of 2026

There’s another unusual piece of history behind Langley’s summer domination.

“Choosin’ Texas” was released in October 2025, making it a rare example of a song released the previous year going on to become Billboard’s No. 1 Song of the Summer.

In fact, according to Billboard, it is the first season-ending Songs of the Summer No. 1 in 30 years to have actually debuted on the Hot 100 during the previous year.

The last song to accomplish that was Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” which debuted on the Hot 100 in September 1995 before becoming the biggest song of summer 1996.

Langley’s latest achievement continues an extraordinary year for the Alabama native.

Her sophomore album Dandelion debuted at No. 1 earlier this year, while “Choosin’ Texas” has rewritten multiple chart records. Langley also won seven ACM Awards, including Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Single of the Year.

And country music’s historic summer provides another sign of just how dramatically the genre’s presence on the Hot 100 has grown.

Country songs finished at Nos. 1 and 2 on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer ranking in both 2023 and 2024, while Morgan Wallen claimed Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in 2025.

In 2026, the genre finally completed the sweep.

And with “Choosin’ Texas” at No. 1 and “Be Her” at No. 3, Langley ended the summer with two of its three biggest songs.

Related: Ella Langley’s Record-Setting Year Continues With 3 Major Award Nominations