Ella Langley was the big winner at the 2026 ACM Awards. Langley won in all seven categories she was nominated in, including Female Artist of the Year. Langley shared the category with Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Megan Moroney, and Lainey Wilson.
Langley was full of emotion as she accepted the Female Artist of the Year trophy.
“I’m trying to get to say something, and I can’t,” Langley said through tears. “Thank you, to women in this category, to the women in this life. This is a weird thing to do. And today, I was having a strange day. I don’t know what it is about awards, but I have strange days in the mornings here. And I walked right in Lainey’s room, and I just got emotional. She hugged me, wrapped me up, and started praying for me. And then all of a sudden, here comes Miranda Lambert, in her little pink hat. And I would not be standing up here without the encouragement of so many women. Kelsea Ballerini, thank you so much for loving on me.
“Thank you to my parents for believing in me, and my family for showing up and being weird as always, so it keeps me humble,” she added. “Thank you, Jesus, for letting me do this for a living. Thank you. Thank you to the ACMS. Lauren Alaina, I love you so much. Thank you to the women. I would not be standing up here without that, so thank you.”
Ella Langley Wins Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “Choosin’ Texas”
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Langley also got to perform her current single, “Be Her,” during the ceremony. Among Langley’s other wins are Single of the Year and Song of the Year, both for “Choosin’ Texas.” Langely wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with Lambert, Joybeth Taylor, and Luke Dick.
“If you’ve ever met me, you know that I am not at a loss for words very often. And all I gotta say is thank you God for putting me in a room with these three people right here. Thank you to the fans. I don’t know why you latched onto this song, but thank you for doing it. Every day we talk about it. We have a little group message called ‘Choosin’, and we send stats in there all the time. None of us believe it when it comes through, and we’re just so grateful. Thank you for loving this song. Thank you for making it your own. Thank you for making it do things that I never would have even imagined to dream for, and I’ve been dreaming about this job for a long time.”
Photo Credit: ACM / Rich Polk