The generational run continues. As time passes, it’s becoming increasingly clear that 2026 will go down as the year of Ella Langley. As of writing, it’s pretty safe to say that she’s not only the hottest country artist on the planet right now but also one of the hottest artists in all of music. Thanks to the success of “Choosin’ Texas,” the buzz surrounding her sophomore album, Dandelion, which received a lot of critical and commercial love upon its release last Friday, and continued popularity nationwide highlighted by her American Eagle partnership, Langley is not only becoming a torchbearer for women in country music but also a force to be reckoned with in the music industry as a whole. Though many country fans knew that Langley was bound to break out in a big way, I don’t think anyone could have truly predicted just how successful the past six months have been for her. As we know by now, “Choosin’ Texas” has been nothing short of a megahit, but when you take a deep dive into how many records it’s broken lately, it’s almost hard to believe. When the track first went #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 on February 9th, she became just the seventh female artist IN HISTORY to go #1 on the Hot 100 with a country song and also became the first woman ever to triple up and score #1s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay and Hot 100 chart simultaneously. Teaming up with Megan Moroney on March 2nd, she’d make more history. With “Choosin’ Texas” spending its second week at #1 on the Hot 100 and Moroney’s junior album, Cloud 9,debuting at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, the pair became the only female country duo in history to top both charts simultaneously. In the weeks following, “Choosin’ Texas” has continued to its record-smashing success. On March 23rd, it spent its fourth week at #1 on the chart, becoming the longest-running #1 hit on Hot 100 by a female country singer in history, subsequently passing Taylor Swift’s record of three weeks with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” This week, she’s back with yet another major career accomplishment. With Dandelion a week removed from its release on April 10th, the album would debut at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 on Sunday, selling 169,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week. In turn, it became Langley’s first-career #1 album on the chart and the largest week for a country album by a woman in two years. View this post on Instagram Adding to the huge week for the 26-year-old singer/songwriter, “Choosin’ Texas” would spend its seventh non-consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with the smash hit drawing 30.7 million official streams (up 15% week over week), gaining 42.5 million radio airplay audience impressions and selling 10,000 units. In turn, Langley now holds the #1 album and song in the U.S. simultaneously for the first time in her career. In case you were wondering just how rare this accomplishment is, she is now just the second woman in country music EVER to reach this, joining only Taylor Swift who went #1 with Red (Taylor’s Version) and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version).” In case that piece of history wasn’t enough, with “Be Her” rebounding from #8 to #4 this week, Langley is now the first woman artist who has primarily recorded country music to chart two songs in the Top 5 on the Hot 100 simultaneously. View this post on Instagram When it’s all set and done, it’s looking very likely that “Choosin’ Texas” is primed to be one of the biggest country songs of all time commercially. Though Morgan Wallen has all but reset expectations regarding how well hit country songs perform on all-genre charts such as the Hot 100, Langley is looking to blow them off the hinges and she’s setting record after record in the meantime. The Dandelion Tour Dates 5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&) 5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&) 5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &) 5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &) 6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&) 6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&) 6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&) 6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&) 7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %) 7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %) 7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %) 7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %) 7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %) 8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &) 8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &) 8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &) @ Kameron Marlowe + Dylan Marlowe # Kaitlin Butts & Gabriella Rose % Laci Kaye BoothThe post Ella Langley Has The #1 Song AND Album In The Country – Debuts At The Top Of The Billboard 200 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Giving it some time to rest. Billy Strings wrapped up a two-night run in Charlottesville, Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday night, delivering mind-blowing shows for the Billy Goats. However, the show was cut short after an unfortunate event forced Strings to close out his set before returning for his encore. Upon cutting the show short, many fans speculated that he was riding a skateboard backstage. On his board, the “Gild The Lily” singer was making his way back onto the stage when he attempted to do a kick flip, resulting in him falling and seriously injuring himself. After the show, superfans were quick to find the 911 dispatch call, which noted that an artist had a broken leg. The call was uploaded to the conversation platform, and you can hear various dispatch personnel detailing how they should get Strings out of the arena. He’d take to Instagram on April 19th to confirm the rumors were true, sharing an image of his X-ray, which appears to show both a broken fibula and tibia, along with the setlist from the night. View this post on Instagram Fans were quick to wish him a speedy recovery in the comment section while also begging for an update, and we finally got one this afternoon. Taking to at noon today, Strings would confirm that the rumors of a broken due to a skateboarding accident were true. Explaining how he was “all zazzed up from a really fun show,” he tried to do a back 180 trick (which he’s done a “million times” before) and landed awkwardly, breaking his leg. Gruesomely, he’d also add that he heard his leg snap over the screaming crowd. “Well, can’t say y’all didn’t warn me about screwing around on my skateboard!! Saturday night I walked off stage right before the encore I was all zazzed up from a really fun show. I grabbed my board and tried to do a trick I’ve done a million times (back 180) and landed awkwardly and broke my leg. I heard it snap over the screaming crowd!! Sounded like a damn 2×4.” The Michigan native would give a major shoutout to the medical team at UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, calling them “absolute angels on Earth” and letting fans know that the surgery to repair his leg was successful. “It’s been an interesting couple days to say the least complete with the most extreme pain and crazy ketamine trips and operations stuff but the staff here at UVA rules. They screwed me all back together. They are absolute angels on Earth.” Finally, he’d add that he had every intention to grind the tour out and even spoke to Dave Grohl, who famously broke his fibula back in 2015 and finished the Foo Fighters tour out on a throne, about doing the same. With that being said, however, he’d announce that he’s going to take the rest of April off to let himself heal and further recover from the surgery. “I had every intention of carrying on with the tour and Dave Grohling it. He even texted me and offered me the throne! I really don’t want to let anybody down, but after some long talks with these doctors, my friends, band and colleagues, my wife etc.. I should probably let this thing heal. I don’t believe that I could give you guys the show you deserve coming right out of this surgery and these first few days are really important as far as keeping this thing elevated and letting it heal. Plus I’m all messed up on pain killers and stuff. It’s a dumb a** mistake and it’s all my fault .. I feel like such an idiot. But what are ya gonna do , ya know? At least I didn’t hit my head or break my wrist or something.” View this post on Instagram With that being said, his upcoming show in Charleston, West Virginia, on April 22nd will be moved to Tuesday, August 4th. Additionally, his three-night run in Fishers, Indiana, April 24-26th will be moved to April 24-26th. All tickets for the aforementioned shows will be valid for the rescheduled dates. He’d end the post by apologizing for the mistake and promising that he will make it up to fans in the summer. “Again, I’m really sorry and I promise I will make it up to you. See you this summer. Continue to heal up, Billy. Before you go, check out part of the streamed show from the fateful night. The post “I Should Probably Let This Thing Heal”: Billy Strings Gives Update After Breaking Leg At Charlottesville Show, Reschedules Remainder Of April Tour Dates first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Mark Chesnutt is doing well now… but he’s had a handful of health scares in the past half decade or so. You’ve likely seen a number of stories and announcements where the 90s country singer has had to postpone or cancel tour dates because of his health. It’s been quite the up-and-down health journey for Chesnutt, who has been hospitalized or forced to have surgery multiple times since 2021. Here’s a quick run down of all the medical events the country music star has gone through: Late 2023: Hospitalized for an unknown illness Summer of 2024: Emergency quadruple bypass surgery Late 2025: Hospitalized with low sodium and high blood pressure Chesnutt also broke his back in 2021, and suffered nerve damage, which has prompted him to have multiple surgeries since. That period of his life also led to some very heavy drinking, as the country singer revealed to Big and Bubba recently in an interview: “A lot of friends of mine, they still drink. But they don’t drink like I did. I got real bad with it. I took it to the extreme. I went through a period there that was really bad after my back surgery. I just sat around and drank all the time. It was all I could do. I drank beer and some whiskey every now and then. Then I got to drinking wine. Then I graduated to the vodka. Me and ol’ Titos were best friends for a long time. I’d go through about a handle (a day).” A handle a day (1.75 liters) is truly hard to fathom, but clearly Chesnutt was doing all he could to ease the pain he was feeling from his back injury – and the multiple surgeries that followed. Fortunately, Chesnutt was able to get his drinking back under control. He’s actually been sober since November of 2023, and he’s closing in on three years without alcohol. He said later in the interview that he doesn’t really miss it all, nor does he ever feel pressured to drink. He’s just happy that he’s still around to enjoy life, and made it through the dark times: “My friends now that drink, we don’t have a problem, I don’t have a problem with it right now. I can be sitting in a bar and every person is in there drinking but me. It don’t bother me. I don’t crave it. I don’t need it. I feel so good man. Now, I wake up every day and thank the good Lord that I’m still kicking.” View this post on Instagram That’s great to hear from Mark Chesnutt. We here at Whiskey Riff are happy to hear that the country star that brought the world 14 number one hits, including “Bubba Shot the Jukebox” and “Goin’ Through the Big D,” has gotten his health and sobriety back to a place where he can continue to share his gift with his fans. I’m sure all country music fans feel the same way. He’s one of the icons of the 90s, and it’s great to see that Chesnutt feels happy and healthy in 2026.The post Mark Chesnutt Says He Drank A Handle Of Vodka A Day After His 2021 Back Surgery: “It Was All I Could Do” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.