Two of the hottest artists in the genre right now.
Though the likes of Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan have continued to stay hot throughout the year on their monster tours, it can seriously be argued that Cody Johnson and Ella Langley have had the biggest year so far in the genre. For Langley, it should go without saying that she’s had one of the most successful years in the history of country music, thanks to the record-breaking success of “Choosin’ Texas.” As it stands today, it’s the longest-running #1 hit by a female country artist on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the longest-running #1 by a female country artists on the Hot Country Songs chart, the only country song by a woman to triple up and go #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Hot Country and Country Airplay chart simultaneously and just the seventh country song solely recorded by a woman to go #1 on the Hot 100 in the history of the chart.
As for CoJo, he’d ride the highs of his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year award at the CMAs back in November and go on to break George Strait’s Rodeo Houston’s concert-only attendance record in March, performing to a crowd of 80,203. In case that wasn’t enough, he’d follow it up with an ACM Male Artist of the Year AND his first-ever Entertainer of the Year win earlier this month at the 61st annual ACM Awards.
The two were so dominant at the ACMs this year, in fact, that they combined for a staggering nine wins, with Langley setting the single-night record with seven and Johnson grabbing the aforementioned two for his Male Artist and Entertainer of the Year trophies.
As fate would have it, the two would reunite once again in Atlanta over the weekend for the Atlanta Braves’ inaugural “Braves Country Fest” at Truist Park, along with Ernest and Mackenzie Carpenter.
After Ernest, Carpenter and Langley performed their sets, Johnson would close the night, performing hits like “The Fall,” “Me and My Kind,” “‘Til You Can’t” and “The Fall.” When the time came around for him to start his three-song encore, Johnson would surprise the Atlanta crowd by bringing Langley back on stage for a duet of Reba’s “Whoever’s in New England.”
In case you’re somehow unfamiliar with the track, it was undoubtedly one of Reba’s breakout singles. Released back on January 27, 1986, “Whoever’s in New England” would quickly go #1 in May. Even more importantly, it would net Reba her first Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance the year following. Additionally, it would receive Single of the Year nominations at both the ACM and CMA Awards.
As for Johnson and Langley’s duet, you really can’t ask for anything more. CoJo, who actually recorded an acoustic version of the track back in 2020, sounds absolutely stunning. Throw in some killer harmonies from Langley, and you have one of the best surprise performances of the year so far. At this point, it would be an absolute disservice not to hear a full-fledged duet from these two powerhouses at some point in the near future.
Watch here:
