Austin Absolutely Lost It When Ella Langley Played Matthew McConaughey’s Viral ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Cover — Then She Started Singing The Real Thing
Ella Langley already had Austin in the palm of her hand — but one unexpected face appearing on the big screen sent the noise inside the Moody Center to another level.
Before launching into her blockbuster hit “Choosin’ Texas” during her Thursday, August 13 concert, Langley surprised the crowd by playing a clip of Matthew McConaughey’s viral bluegrass take on the song.
And in Texas, there could hardly have been a more perfect surprise.
McConaughey, a proud Texas native and University of Texas at Austin graduate, recently put his own unmistakable spin on Langley’s smash during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The actor joined Fallon for a bluegrass-flavored rendition while promoting his film The Rivals of Amziah King, in which he plays a beekeeper and bluegrass musician.
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The unexpected cover quickly exploded online, generating millions of views across social media — and apparently Langley was watching too.
After discovering the performance on Instagram, the country star responded simply, “Omg.” She later shared it to her Instagram Story with an even stronger reaction: “I may never recover from this.”
But Langley wasn’t finished.
When McConaughey’s performance suddenly appeared before thousands of fans at her Austin show, the hometown reaction was immediate. Cheers erupted through the arena as concertgoers recognized one of Texas’ most famous sons tackling one of country music’s biggest songs.
Then Langley delivered the knockout blow.
As the clip ended, she launched into “Choosin’ Texas” herself — and the audience somehow became even louder. One attendee who captured the moment joked that they thought their phone microphone was “gonna explode” under the sheer volume of the crowd.
The frenzy comes during an extraordinary run for Langley and the song.
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“Choosin’ Texas” has reportedly spent 17 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, putting it among an exceptionally small group of singles to dominate the chart for that long and further cementing Langley’s remarkable rise.
The singer is currently taking that momentum across the country on her Dandelion Tour, supporting her sophomore album of the same name. The record also includes fan favorites such as “Be Her,” “Loving Life Again” and “Dandelion.”
After beginning May 7 in Toledo, Ohio, the tour has carried Langley across the country, while she also joined Morgan Wallen for select dates of his Still the Problem Tour.
Her own tour continues through October, with the final scheduled show of the year set for October 31 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
But Austin may have already produced one of its defining moments.
A viral Matthew McConaughey cover, thousands of screaming Texans — and then Ella Langley stepping forward to remind everybody exactly whose song had brought them there.
Judging by the deafening reaction, nobody inside the Moody Center was going to forget it.
