- Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" might have the craziest origin story of any song ever.
- The song is a co-write with Miranda Lambert. A kangaroo was involved.
- "Choosin' Texas" has been a history-making single for Ella.
Ella Langley says "Choosin' Texas" just "fell out" when she met up with Miranda Lambert to write a song. But it actually stems from a true story that involves Miranda's untamed nature and a passenger you'd never expect to be in her car.
"We were talking about her having a kangaroo at one point, and then she said she had Texas plates on when she got pulled over with the kangaroo in her car," Ella tells Cody Alan on SiriusXM's The Highway. There's a lot to unpack in that sentence, but it's not simply an urban legend. "She" is Miranda and the kangaroo was, well, a very real Australian-native marsupial that she had as a pet when she was 18, according to Country Now.
"And I said, 'Well, the cop was probably like, 'She's from Texas, I can tell,'" Ella continues. "And literally that's how we got that title. And I was going to the restroom in between writes and I was singing, 'She's from Texas I can tell by the way she's two-stepping 'round the room' and right when I said that, immediately Miranda was like, 'Like the girl he went with.'"
It was an aha! moment for them both. "And we just kind of locked eyes," Ella says, sharing that she, Miranda, and the other songwriters were gathered on a porch together when they struck gold. Within 30 minutes, they had all of the lyrics.
"I'll never forget us getting, 'He always loved Amarillo by morning. I should have taken ...' I remember Miranda like getting up and like jumping up and down, you know, like this, she's from Texas," the "You Look Like You Love Me" hitmaker further explains, likely mimicking Miranda's joyful freakout when they landed on the right line.
"Well, I guess he forgot about the Smoky Mountain rain / Them old Hank tunes, the / Memphis blues we used to sing / He always loved Amarillo by Morning / I shoulda taken that as a warning."
"So, when we got done writing that song, I said, 'This is going to be the lead single of the record,'" Ella recalls saying. Her sophomore album Dandelion will be released on April 10, with "Choosin' Texas" as the kickoff single. "I mean, this was far in advance from a year away from the record, for sure. And it really did. It happened that way. And we were talking the other night on the phone like, 'Wow, you can't expect something like this.'"
She's not wrong. Other songs from Ella's new project will have big shoes to fill, as "Choosin' Texas" has been a country radio darling and marks Ella's first-ever Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper. Per Music Row, the song even topped the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts at the same time, making Ella the first female artist ever to achieve such a feat.
Who Is Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” About?
Fans can speculate — and they always do — but if "Choosin' Texas" is inspired by a real man and a real relationship gone sour, Ella hasn't spilled the tea.
Who Wrote “Choosin’ Texas”?
Ella Langley wrote "Choosin' Texas" with Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor, and Luke Dick.
Where Is Ella Langley From?
Ella is not a Texan like Miranda. The 26-year-old Elizabeth Camille "Ella" is from Hope Hull, Alabama. She was born to Jason and Heather Langley and has three siblings.
Amanda Hensel Jermstad is a skilled writer based in Austin, Texas. She spent 14 years as Editor-in-Chief of Taste of Country, where she led coverage of the artists, stories and trends shaping country music. With a career deeply rooted in the genre, Amanda has built a reputation for sharp editorial insight and authentic storytelling. Outside of work, she’s a proud mom of three.
