Hungover

But hearing one enormous song and choosing to become an Ella Langley listener are two very different behaviors.

So the question I wanted to answer was what happened to all of those people after Choose in Texas brought them through the door? Did they stay with that one song, or did they start listening to Be Her? Did they open Dandelion or go backward into Hungover? Did they start buying concert tickets? And as Ella expanded outside the U.S., were international audiences following the same path, or were they mostly consuming one giant American crossover record? That distinction changed the way I looked at what is happening around Ella right now, because underneath the historic number one, there are signs of something that may ultimately matter much more to her career.

People appear to be staying, and to understand why, I think you have to start with what existed before Choose in Texas.

Ella wasn't starting from zero when this record exploded.

They followed that with another number one, and then Ella reached number one at country airplay as a solo artist with Choose in Texas.

I think that progression matters because the Riley-Green relationship helped introduce Ella to a larger country audience, but she didn't remain dependent on it.

Country radio started responding to Ella herself, festival audiences were becoming familiar with her, and Hungover gave listeners a larger body of work to move into.

So when Choose in Texas exploded, it wasn't creating the entire Ella Langley audience.