2026 ACM Awards Choose Texas, Ella Langley for Record-Setting Wins
It’s Ella Langley and Texas for the win in 2026, as Academy of Country Music voters chose Texas artists, and Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” as the top winners. You could also say the ACMs chose authenticity and twang along the way. Though much of the presentation failed to represent the best in popular country music, many of the awards did, even with performers like Zach Top and Megan Moroney walking away empty handed.
It was a clean sweep for Ella Langley and all the awards she was up for. She won both Single and Song of the Year for “Choosin’ Texas,” which actually doubles her take on both since she was also a co-producer and songwriter on the tracks. She also won Female Artist of the Year, Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year for “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Riley Green.
Those seven wins mean that Ella Langley had a historic night, with the most wins ever accrued by an artist in one ACM year. Three artists have won six total over the years: Garth Brooks (1991), Faith Hill (1999) and Chris Stapleton (2016). Ella Langley probably would have won Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year if she’d been nominated for them. Next year she will be, and will go in as a front runner for both.
Ella Langley is from Alabama, not Texas. So are The Red Clay Strays, who walked away with Group of the Year, breaking Old Dominion’s dominant (and rather ridiculous) 8-year winning streak for the award. The Red Clay Strays won New Duo or Group of the Year in 2025, and now up their game with the big boys in the mainstream with the win.
But it’s two artists who started in the Texas scene that scored the rest of the evening’s top prizes. Parker McCollum’s self-titled album might have not come with massive hits, or been a critical favorite of the Americana crowd. But it was clearly deeply personal to him, and illustrated how a mainstream album could still hit a bit left of center and with a deeper tone, and still be successful, including winning Album of the Year.
Parker McCollum mentioned Koe Wetzel, Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers Band, and “all my Texas country and Red Dirt family” in his acceptance speech. Winning Album of the Year is a career-defining moment for Parker, and a moment the entire State of Texas can be proud of.
Same goes for Cody Johnson, who except for Langley, was the big winner of the night. After taking home his first ACM for Male Vocalist of the Year, he walked away with the evening’s top prize of Entertainer of the Year. Though Morgan Wallen fans will rightfully argue that their boy is multipliers bigger than Cody Johnson, the Texas native is no slouch. He’s been tearing it up as an entertainer (the award is considered just as much about live performance as anything), and unlike Wallen, Cody’s kept his nose clean over the years.
If Luke Combs or Chris Stapleton would have won Entertainer, it would have felt like the safe pick. If Lainey Wilson won for a third straight year—especially with Ella Langley’s big night—it would have illustrated how the industry has really overextended for Lainey, even if she’s one of the better voices in the mainstream. It was too early for Megan Moroney to win, and she’ll have more opportunities. Cody Johnson might not, but he cashed in this year, and will forever be the 2026 ACM Entertainer of the Year.
What does all of this mean? Well first, you always have to remind yourself that it’s “just the ACM Awards.” As an example, only three of the seven artists up for Entertainer of the Year were even present in the building (Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson). Streaming on Amazon as opposed to being broadcast on TV, and conducted on a Sunday, the social media chatter for the awards was incredibly low.
The energy level was also low throughout the entire presentation, and host Shania Twain brought nothing but slurred words and awkward moments to the table. Carter Faith distinguished herself with her performance, and so did Ella Langley by performing “Be Her” acoustically. Cody Johnson’s “Traveling Soldier” (written by Bruce Robison and originally recorded by the [Dixie] Chicks) was a sincere gesture as opposed to performing his current single.
It was a little awkward when New Female Artist of the Year winner Avery Anna started her performance off with “Bang, Bang”—something written by Sonny Bono, but a song Kaitlin Butts has been featuring for the last few years. Kaitlin felt like she was overlooked for ACM New Female Artist consideration, but maybe the imitation by Avery is the greatest form of flattery.
Again, it’s just the ACM Awards. But the 2026 wins do seem to validate the moment we’re enjoying in country music. As silly songs from folks like Kane Brown and Thomas Rhett fell flat, it felt like the future is with artists, songs, and albums with integrity. “Texas” might not be a perfect synonym for authenticity and integrity, but it tends to hit closer to that than Nashville. And in the neutral setting of Las Vegas, Texas and top performers from Alabama won out.
There was plenty to criticize from the 2026 ACM Awards. But ultimately, the good guys won.
For a full blow by blow of the presentation, check out Saving Country Music’s 2026 ACM Awards LIVE Blog.
– – – – – – – – – – –
If you found this article valuable, consider leaving Saving Country Music A TIP.
May 17, 2026 @ 10:06 pm
So for me personally Cody Johnson is the best artist. Johnson has the best music of the field, IMO. He doesn’t feel like an entertainer of the year though, not this year in this field. How can Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen not win this award? How does this award get picked, it just feels like “whoever” randomly selects a winner. This happened in Lainy Wilson’s first win when she had basically one single maybe two songs, at the time. I am not by any margin a Wallen fan, and I know his history, but he is clearly the ETOY in this field, literally by any measure you could come up with. The way they select the winners has to be one of the reasons no one watches these shows anymore. Same stuff happens at the Grammys. Not a Wallen fan, never seen him live or even listen to his music. Maybe I shouldn’t be so down on him, but clearly and most people would agree he should be the winner here. Just don’t put him in field at this point. And if not him then Luke Combs.
May 17, 2026 @ 10:48 pm
When Morgan Wallen failed to even acknowledge his CMA Entertainer of the Year win a couple of years ago, he sealed his fate with this stuff. His fans act like he’s entitled to it, but Wallen gives every indication he couldn’t care less, or even is repulsed by the idea of even paying attention.
Meanwhile Luke Combs took the better part of the last two years off to refocus on his family. Cody Johnson mentioned Luke Combs missing the birth of his son in his acceptance speech, and seeing what that did to him. That created the window for Cody Johnson to win it this year. Next year, it very well could be Combs again, or at this pace, Ella Langley. Voters knew it might be now or never for Cody, and pulled to the lever for him.
May 18, 2026 @ 6:38 am
“Morgan Wallen doesn’t care about award shows so that removes him from being considered again because if he doesn’t care about the awards then he doesn’t deserve the award from the award show”
(Stating the obvious that I understand that this is not your direct quote) This is why on a certain level I think award shows are kinda fucking dumb. For the 6th time I am no Wallen fan. If the criteria for being considered for an award is reliant on also “playing ball” with the award shows and taking them like all super serious then doesn’t that point towards the award shows mainly just existing for themselves?
May 18, 2026 @ 12:34 pm
Waylon could have told you that 50 years ago. Country awards shows have always been about industry politics and which artists they choose to push – or not.
May 18, 2026 @ 12:40 pm
I’ve made this comment before but if you go back and watch the award shows from the 80’s and 90’s, many of those songs are still remembered today. They did a good job of identifying and honoring great songs of the time.
I’ve never once played an Old Dominion song and I couldn’t name one if you held a gun to my head.
May 18, 2026 @ 3:06 pm
You both make it sound like this is some sort of revelation or t constitutes some imporpriety or deceit by the industry.
It’s an awards show. Most people in the industry seem to LIKE awards shows (even people who don’t get nominated get to show up and make connections). And when the industry is entertainment, most fans seem to like awards shows–and Halls of Fame–too. (Even you two imply that awards shows are wothless care enough to click to and comment on a blog about the awards show.)
And as for who gets nominated and who wins. In sports, the trend over the last 30 years, (going back to “Sabermartics” he Bill James Baseball Abstract and then “Moneyball”) has been for mathmeticians, statisticians and now AI researchers to use complex statistics to determine which player is the “best.”
Would you like to see mathematics, statistics and AI determine who wins artistic awards? I don’t think many people would.
They give it to a panel of industry folks to vote. Do you have some better way to do it that no one has thought of?
I also don’t see why it should be a problem that awards voters tend to pass over artists who evince no interest in the award and no desire to win it. The whole appeal of an awards show for fans and others is to see winners react emotionally and express gratitude for winning. Announcing a winner and then saying “So -and-So is not here to accept because he didn’t feel like coming” (or making up some excuse) does not make for an entertaining event.
May 19, 2026 @ 6:05 am
TLDR: It’s a big circle jerk
May 21, 2026 @ 12:01 am
Which is ironically the most outlaw thing an artist could do. Especially the biggest. It’s easy to be a Nobody and go “awards are meaningless”. Well yeah, cause you aren’t going to win any. It’s another to be the most successful in your genre and not win awards . That’s quite different and to just give the middle finger by saying it’s meaningless at that level is gangta as hell. It’s basically saying quite explicitly “I don’t need your awards” and he doesn’t. He’s an outlaw. The most mainstream commercial thing to do would be to beg for awards. He never has.
It’s always so funny to see people go “let’s award artists who are just starting to pop off and become well known. But then they complain when artist who actually are credentialed and have the bonifides they don’t want to give those people awards. That seems more than a little backwards to me. So you only want less credentialed artist being given awards? What about the artist who actually have achieved things? They don’t deserve awards?
There’s literally no one more deserving in terms of 2021-now than Morgan. To say otherwise is just massive cope and shows ignorance towards the genre.
May 18, 2026 @ 9:19 pm
To Lucky – You just used a whole lot more words to reiterate what we said already. But I disagree with you on one point, that fans love awards shows. A few decades ago they did but not so much today. Like beauty contests, awards shows are relics of the past that just aren’t relevant to the current generations that advertisers hope to sell their stuff to. If they were, they’d still be on network TV during primetime instead of relegated to a streaming service on a Sunday night. And while I may have been interested enough to take a couple of minutes to comment here, I wasn’t interested enough to spend 2-3 hours watching the stupid show.
Speaking of streaming, I’m surprised nobody has come up with an awards show for today’s entertainment industry: the Streamies, which reward the most streamed music, films, etc. and reflect how content is consumed today.
May 18, 2026 @ 12:59 am
ehhh this was preditbale
and as predicted they have ditched lainey wilson for ella
however i predict ella will not have staying power like carrie underwood or taylor swift who dominated this awards for a while
so i guess they will go back to giving lainey wilson all the awards
May 18, 2026 @ 3:46 am
…”…it would have illustrated how the industry has really overextended for Lainey.” careful here, there may be a general perception lingering that lainey wilson’s big wins in the last couple of years – over morgan wallen – appeared to be somewhat forced. well, whoever has been to a lainey wilson show in that period may beg to differ: she’s a truly great entertainer. her hosting the last cma awards proved that beyond any doubt. until we have seen mr. wallen presenting a big awards show or something of similar weight, we ought to be careful diminishing ms. wilson’s considerable talent(s) in all departments.
cody johnson winning eoty? that’s been only a matter of time really. male artist of the year, however, was riley green. his “don’t mind if i do” with the formidable ms. langley beats johnson’s lately rather uninspired output by a mile or more.
May 18, 2026 @ 5:58 am
Tells you how bad popular country music is when an average song like choosin texas wins big.
May 18, 2026 @ 11:53 am
Average song? Sure. The fact that it’s everywhere and still moving like a runaway train proves you’re simply talking out of your ass. It’s okay to not like the song or Ella, but to call it average is bullshit and just comes across as sour grapes.
May 18, 2026 @ 2:45 pm
Lyrically, it really is an average song. Nothing special to it at all. Subject has been done 70 million times over.
I think the draw is the production, which was just ripping off the aura of “Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold” and introducing it into the mainstream. The average radio listener of the past 10-15 years has been programmed to expect rural buzz words and drum machines for so long that any sound stolen from outside the mainstream is like discovering a cure for cancer to them.
May 19, 2026 @ 1:39 pm
I agree, I still hear this song every time and it sounds new and fresh, brilliant, so much to hear. Don’t hate success and a great song! I talked to a client today 33 years old and talked music, she had no clue as to who George Strait was but new Ella . Also in Lubbock Tx, this weekend at my daughters graduation saw many Ella T-shirts with the Choosin Texas lyrics on them. Reminds me of my era of Urban cowboy in 79 and the impact it had. Enjoy the ride!
May 20, 2026 @ 8:36 pm
Just because a song is highly popular doesnt make it good. But if you like it, good for you.
May 18, 2026 @ 3:49 pm
Eh. It’s not pop music. Boy, that genre is really suffering right now.
May 18, 2026 @ 6:30 am
used to like Cody Johnson more, but seeing him live honestly turned me off.
At the concert, he made a big point of bragging about being a “real cowboy,” doing rodeo, etc. Fine — good for him. But then he said something like, “I don’t allow anyone in my band to wear a cowboy hat unless they’re truly a cowboy.”
That’s where he lost me.
The hat-police routine is insufferable. If you want to wear a cowboy hat, wear the cowboy hat. You don’t need a notarized letter from a livestock auction.
The idea that only “true cowboys” can wear one is the same goofy logic as saying you need to play shortstop to wear a baseball cap, be in the NBA to wear Jordans, or start at linebacker to wear an NFL jersey.
Country music has made a fortune selling cowboy imagery to regular people. You don’t get to cash the check from the fantasy and then sneer at the fans for participating in it.
That’s not authenticity. That’s costume-gatekeeping with a superiority complex.
May 18, 2026 @ 6:41 am
I laughed at this “You don’t need a notarized letter from a livestock auction.”
It’s also funny that on Google it says he’s 6ft tall… Yeah sure
May 18, 2026 @ 12:03 pm
There should be one criteria for whether you should wear a cowboy hat. Do you look good in it?
May 18, 2026 @ 3:21 pm
Don’t true cowboys generally take their hats off indoors, anyway?
May 18, 2026 @ 7:48 pm
It’s time to accept that any hat is a fashion accessory and may be worn wherever and whenever the wearer pleases. If I spend the time styling my hair around a hat, there’s no way I’m taking the damn thing off.
May 18, 2026 @ 7:10 am
I don’t like all (or mb even much) of Parker McCollum’s output but Aubrie Sellers on that stage -bit part or not – says a lot about the limestone kid.
Shit song, but really cool mother-daughter moment.
Lonestar shining, right there.
May 18, 2026 @ 8:19 am
Of course I did not watch the puke awards show. However, I always read the comments and reviews from this site.
My take is this night was probably more huge for Cody than Ella. Let’s face it, Ella was the assumed winner and should have been for her success. The female country artists rotate much quicker than the male artist, in my opinion. Ella is the flavor of the moth, and should be. Lainey is already getting off the horse she road to success. Predictable. Maybe Ella will have staying power and become the de-facto winner like Lambert was for so many years, regardless of her output. Who knows. If she stays true to her roots, she very well may have staying power.
I think the Cody win is a bigger deal. Time will tell.
May 18, 2026 @ 8:31 am
Won’t argue with that.
May 18, 2026 @ 4:22 pm
I will be interested to see where Lainey’s career goes from here. I believe her shine has dulled because her last album was a dud. She still delivers live so that may keep her popularity up and give her a chance to make a better album to stay relevant.
May 18, 2026 @ 9:06 am
I like the tone of the article. I think we all can say Ella is without a doubt the biggest female country artist and the biggest since Taylor. Ella has had a historic night and career. She is the woman of the moment. That said it’s also fair to pump the brakes on her being the goat or the biggest ever or bigger than Morgan, like that article suggested last week. Country has had some big artists have big years, and big albums. It’s ok to appreciate Ella for her Artistry, music and impact without crowning her the queen of country just yet.
Morgan is the bigger artist currently. That very well may change, maybe she surpasses him in Spotify listeners later this year. That’s certainly a possibility. But it isn’t reality yet. As we sit in 2026 though, Ella has had a tremendous year. But as you said in the article Morgan could have swept the awards 2021-now but was shut out and continues to be shut out. I think you are right he doesn’t care about awards and he’s done quite fine for himself without having nights like Ella did, she had a great night. He could have swept for 5 straight years, there is a difference there.
It’s important to celebrate great country music and country music that is being celebrated widely as is the case with Ella. She’s a talent. But it’s wise to temper one’s praise to the moment and not go overboard with the praise. Ella can be praised if or when she passes Morgan for top dog in the genre, but not before. She can be praised for a great year and hard work and her awards but it’s important not to forget people like Morgan have been at this level for half a decade, not just a single year.
There’s a rush by SCM it seems to suggest she is the biggest artist on the planet all to a sudden. She’s big, very big. Bigger than any current female country artist currently. But no, it’s not accurate to say she’s bigger than the biggest country artist of his generation: at least not yet. Let’s celebrate milestones when artist actually reach them not when they are prematurely “crowned” it by press or critics.
May 18, 2026 @ 9:25 am
I believe Ella is an opener for Wallen.
May 19, 2026 @ 7:37 am
She is. Which is something a “biggest artist in the genre” wouldn’t do. If she could fill a stadium like Morgan she’d book a stadium tour not be an opening act. It also speaks to how she correctly views herself. Jordan Davis isn’t going to headline a show with Luke combs. He’s just not. Just as Avery Anna isn’t going to headline a show with Ella. Ella understands her own place within the genre. She herself wouldn’t say she is the biggest artist in the genre. For years Luke and Morgan have openly competed for the top dawg spot. They openly say this. And they do so because they know they are the top dawgs. I’d be shocked if Ella in 2026 comes out in an interview and says “I’m bigger than Morgan”. Because she knows it’s not true. Michael Jordan and lebron don’t Minimize themselves. But lesser athletes do minimize themselves. And unless and until you have Morgan’s resume, popularity, success, and sales you don’t really have room to speak.
Ella had a huge huge hit song, a very popular album and she’s crowned biggest artist in the genre? Get out of here. Morgan did it over 3 albums, 100 plus tracks and 5 years. If the next Ella album is a smash hit, let’s talk.
Until then it’s just SCM hyping up Ella to a point she’s not at currently. Morgan wouldn’t be outselling her currently. Why is that the lynchpin here? His last album is a year old. Her album just came out. Of course she’s going to get more press and be charting higher. His album is a year old.
May 18, 2026 @ 11:56 am
Was it the most country event ever? No, but this is another year of progress. One of the stronger fields for AOTY in recent memory. Were there better albums released last year, sure, but for an album with a Chris Knight song and Jarrod Morris cowrite to win says something. I am excited about the shift and the slow path this may be on to being a true “country” awards show. Hopefully next year we can see a better field for new artists and maybe have a duo that actively releases music win.
May 18, 2026 @ 1:50 pm
Maybe Colby can go on the Hook.
May 18, 2026 @ 3:55 pm
I’d also like to disagree with the hand waving and minimization the article does in regards to Morgan not winning awards as if that’s just a silly demand by Stans. When in reality he’s been nominated 43 times and won 4. All while being the biggest country artists, the biggest of his generation and the 2nd biggest musician overall. Did he deserve all those 43 awards? Probably not but I think unquestionably he deserved a night where he walked away like Ella, holding so many awards he ended up dropping one on the red carpet. But that night hasn’t happened for him. The question is why? Well I think partly he doesn’t play their politics: both the industry meaning of the term as in he doesn’t play their games and then also he doesn’t share their political views.
I think it’s fair to make sure I uphold my own hesitancy to anoint artists but I think Morgan is more radical, revolutionary, groundbreaking and outlaw for the genre than SCM and the more traditionalist wing of the fan base of the genre want to admit. I think he does subvert the genre, similarly to the legends but ironically he does it by being less traditional. I’d argue he’s more popular than Garth and Shania, and he’s done more to expose the genre to rap and rock fans than either of them ever did. And while shania and Garth obvious had many pop fans, I’d argue Morgan has more. The crossover appeal of Morgan is unique and vast on a scale we’ve never seen in the modern era. Rap and rock were huge during the heyday of shania and Garth but neither of them were pulling the fans of those genres like Morgan does. Morgan has expanded the genre in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. The idea that you might be a fan of both the newest rap and also be a fan of Morgan is solely novel Morgan’s rise. Morgan himself has stated he wasn’t a huge country fan growing up but was more into rap and rock. But it also ties into the modern day rock star, it’s Morgan or Zach Bryan or Luke and Hardy as opposed to traditionalist rock music archetype.
Morgan is seen as a pop poseur by SCM and a lot of posters here but I think that undersells what Morgan does. Trigger seems to be taken by Ella right now as we all are. But her rise is in the shadow of someone who rose to the pinnacle and summit a few years before her: Morgan. Her fame and acclaim has already been achieved: by Morgan. Her popularity on the charts and seemingly never falling off it: also achieved by Morgan.
I think SCM loves Ella because she’s seen as traditionalist but I think it’s myopic to not understand she’s climbing a mountain that already has Morgan’s footprints in the snow. You may prefer her over him or him over her, but it’s undeniable Morgan’s gargantuan impact on the genre and his generations era of music. It feels a little silly then to see Ella have an incredible album cycle and go “well Morgan’s old news, Ella is the new queen, Morgan is washed up, what Ella is doing is unprecedented” when in reality Morgan’s done these things over 3 albums, and 100 plus tracks and 5 years.
It’s important to have perspective and not just become an Ella’s fella and ignore the impact of the biggest country artist of his generation. To do that is to spit beech-nut in our genres eye and to downplay the real dominance of Morgan. Morgan has done more to expand and grow country music than anyone I can think of, he’s very tiger woods like including the scandals. Before Morgan people weren’t tuning into country music like they are now. When he plays a show fans pick the stadium and when he releases an album the entire album of 35 songs become modern standard hits. No one else in the genre has that star power, and no one else has had that in a very long time. He brings eyes, ears and money to country in such an extreme way that it’s kind of silly how he’s ignored by SCM. He is the face of country music, and has the achievements to prove it, awards snubs be damned. Morgan is a generational figure, and it’s completely absurd to minimize his massive impact just because someone new and traditionalist has found success too.
May 18, 2026 @ 4:56 pm
Probably disagree with most of this but especially the idea that people weren’t fans of country music and rap before Morgan wallen. People under 40 from the south been fans of both for a long time
May 18, 2026 @ 5:22 pm
Certainly there’s been a crossover from Nelly, Florida Georgia line, bubba sparxxx, kid rock, big & rich, old town road. It’s clear someone like upchurch worships at the altar of Eminem just as much as hank jr.
Where we differ though is the degree to which the crossover was happening and the mass amounts of people brought in to the genre by these songs or artists.
Morgan represents these influences seamlessly mixing to a degree that’s never occurred before. Which is my entire point. Florida Georgia line, and big & rich were huge but none were as big as Morgan and none wore their outsider (literally and figuratively) status on their sleeves like Morgan has. The gold mine status of country right now is in some part, maybe a huge part due to Morgan expanding the reaches of country and getting fans excited about the genre who would have never considered being a fan of our genre.
There is no comparison handy for someone like Morgan, not in the modern era at least. He is bigger than shania and Garth, bigger than Alan and Mcgraw were at their zenith, bigger than Toby. Morgan is simply put the biggest country artist of the last 30 years. That’s a bit more than bubba sparxxx or even Florida Georgia line accomplished.
There is no other modern country artist since the dawn of rap, who has gotten more of those fans into our genre than Morgan. He is a phenomenon the likes of which I’ve never seen, but maybe our parents would have felt the same about George jones or our grandparents about roy acuff.
That’s why the article last week about how Ella is bigger than Morgan is such a disservice to music criticism and the genre at large. One it’s just flat out wrong. Morgan’s been dominant for 5 years across multiple albums, Ella’s had one giant hit song and one album as a superstar. Secondly it frames what Ella is doing as historic when the entire reason she would overtake Morgan, if she does, is that Morgan’s done all this, before her. It’s silly to me a writer would bias themselves towards traditionalist country to the extent they ignore a generational talent like Morgan and after one album Ella overtakes him? Seriously? It’s beyond myopic and it’s asinine and naive writing masquerading as profound. In short the writing is a paper tiger and absolute fluff.
May 18, 2026 @ 7:17 pm
Feel better?
May 18, 2026 @ 7:36 pm
At the risk of giving this comment too much oxygen:
1) If Morgan Wallen and his fans want more awards, maybe he should attend them, perform on them, gracious accept when he wins them. Where was he on Sunday? Why did he never even acknowledge his CMA Entertainer of the Year win a couple years ago? It doesn’t matter how “big” you are. If you act like a dick, that behavior will be reciprocated. The awards are not a stats competition. That’s what the Billboard Awards are for. They’re for the industry deciding who they want to represent them.
2) Ella Langley is the biggest artist in all of music at the moment, statistically speaking. She #1 on the Billboard artist 100. “Choosin’ Texas” is the #1 song in all of music for a historic 10th week. Her latest album is beating out Morgan Wallen’s latest. Wallen has more music out, so the Spotify numbers will be skewed, and live draw is a lagging indicator. This is not to slag Wallen. This is a dispassionate assessment of the situation.
3) Saving Country Music is not “obsessed” with Ella Langley. The world is, resulting in her setting record after record. Those records necessitate news coverage. Same thing happened when Stapleton blew up. Same thing happened with Tyler Childers’ “Purgatory” blew up, and Zach Bryan. You set historic records, you get press. Morgan Wallen got plenty of it himself. And when he releases a new album, he’ll get more. But right now, it’s Ella Langley’s time. That’s not an opinion, that is a statistical certitude. I’m just reporting on it.
May 19, 2026 @ 7:25 am
There’s a definite difference between hyperventilating like you do each time Childers or Sturgill releases an album as if it’s a biblical edict and appreciating Ella’s achievements. Ultimately though the bias and MO is to promote underground, and unheralded country music that needs shine. But Ella no longer is that person anymore nor is Morgan. It’s not like she needs SCM to talk her up. To me though it speaks to the churlish and mendacious undergirding of the site and it’s writing. If the site exists to talk about and promote music outside the traditional Nashville corporate industry why is SCM riding so hard right now for the most popular and awarded mainstream artist in the genre? It’s like he has an agenda or something.
Ella is not the top country artist at the moment. She is the top female country artist. Morgan has been at number one longer. Has more number one albums, more higher charting songs, has played bigger shows and has more monthly listeners on streaming.
SCM wants to anoint Ella as the top dawg but she’s not at the moment. One album and one great awards night does not a biggest artist in the genre make.
May 18, 2026 @ 7:00 pm
Ever since she covered Kitty Wells, the “Queen of Country Music”, I think we should call Ella Langley the “Princess of Country Music”. She is easily the greatest thing since sliced bread.
May 19, 2026 @ 12:49 am
…with peanut butter and banana, i might add.
May 18, 2026 @ 7:55 pm
I agree the host was lackluster, I expected more from a seasoned performer like Shania, hopefully that mistake won’t be repeated. And let’s mention the Dry Spell performance, oh my, the sausage innuendo made me cringe. Totally uncalled for IMO. Otherwise I really enjoyed the show and was happy with the winners.
May 19, 2026 @ 11:14 am
I miss the days of when country music sounded like country music. This stuff today that newbies call country music is appalling. And what happened to the unique voices in country music? Country music singers are a dime a dozen these days. Everybody sounds alike. When Randy Travis sang he had such a unique voice and you knew right away regardless if you knew the song title or not, you knew who the artist was that was singing it. Alan Jackson, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Reba, Wynonna, Tanya Tucker, Waylon, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, and so many, many more unique voices.
You don’t hear that these days.
And the music they sang was country music….
REAL country music.
Keep the Rap and the Rock and Beyonce out of country music. Sure bring in their fans over but don’t change the genre of what country music is all about to do it.
Regardless of who wins or doesn’t win an award is not as important as keeping country music ….. COUNTRY.