'Choosin' Texas' Back at No. 1: A Record 26 Weeks on the Hot 100

"Choosin' Texas" has now spent 26 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It went back to the top on the chart dated October 31 and held on the chart dated November 7, Billboard reported on November 2. No song in the chart's history has led longer, and Ella Langley keeps adding to the record.

If you read our post from early October, you might be confused. On the chart dated October 10, Taylor Swift's "Patient Zero" debuted at No. 1 and pushed "Choosin' Texas" to No. 2 after 24 weeks. We wrote that the run had ended. It turned out to be a break, not the end. The song spent the charts dated October 10, 17 and 24 below No. 1, then came back.

How "Choosin' Texas" got back to No. 1

On the chart dated October 31, the song rose one spot to No. 1 for week 25. A lot of new music landed around it that week: Tate McRae's "Housewife" debuted at No. 2, Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan's "Expectations" jumped from 63 to 3 after the remix with Roan came out, and Zach Bryan's "Lies" with Lana Del Rey opened at No. 4. "Choosin' Texas" still finished on top.

A week later it did it again. In the tracking week of October 23-29, it had 19.2 million official U.S. streams, 57.8 million in radio airplay audience and 3,000 copies sold. That was enough for week 26, with "Housewife" holding at No. 2.

The records it's stacking up

The 26 weeks are the headline, but Billboard's latest report adds a few more:

• 26 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. That's the all-time record, and it keeps growing. The next-longest runs are Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (22 weeks), then Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" (19 each).
• No. 1 in nine different months. It first hit No. 1 on the chart dated February 14 (Valentine's Day) and is still there on a chart dated just after Halloween. Billboard counts February, March, April, May, July, August, September, October and November, which is another record.
• 26 weeks atop Streaming Songs, tying "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for the most ever. It tied that mark on the chart dated October 24.
• 47 weeks atop Hot Country Songs and a 20th week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales.

It broke the all-time record at 23 weeks back in September, and two months later it's still adding to it. Our Ella Langley Billboard records page has the full list of what she's broken this year.

Can it keep going?

Probably not for much longer. The next problem is the calendar: every December, holiday songs take over streaming, and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has topped the Hot 100 in recent holiday seasons. "Choosin' Texas" would have to hold off Mariah's annual return with a song that came out in October 2025.

The timing still works in Ella's favor. The 2026 CMA Awards are on November 18, and "Choosin' Texas" is nominated for Single, Song and Music Video of the Year. The Grammy nominations come out two days earlier, on November 16. She'll be on TV during a week when the song is still No. 1.

If you somehow still haven't heard it, start with what "Choosin' Texas" is really about. Then put on "Be Her", which is up against it for CMA Single and Song of the Year.