Simply unreal numbers. As we sit in 2026, there’s simply no denying that Ella Langley is the hottest star in country music. Launching off the success of her Riley Green collaboration, “you look like you love me” throughout 2024 and 2025, the Alabama native has become nothing short of a phenomenon thanks to the megahit that is “Choosin’ Texas.” In case you haven’t been keeping up with “Choosin’ Texas’” success, it just spent its 13th week at #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. As it stands today, “Choosin’ Texas” is the longest-running #1 hit by a female country artist on the Hot 100, the only country song by a woman to triple up and go #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Hot Country and Country Airplay charts simultaneously and just one of 25 songs in history to stay at #1 for 12+ weeks on the Hot 100. In case that wasn’t enough, thanks to the success of her sophomore album, Dandelion, which debuted at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and sold 169,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week, Langley became just the second woman in history to hold the #1 album and song in the U.S. simultaneously with a country song/album. Of course, Taylor Swift was the first, going #1 with Red (Taylor’s Version) and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” back in 2021. She would also capture other records on the Hot 100, such as becoming the first country artist IN HISTORY to hold the Top 2 songs in the United States simultaneously for more than one week and the first female country artist to score three of the Top 4 hits on the Hot 100 in a single week with country songs, becoming one of only nine artists in any genre to accomplish this feat. Langley’s generational success is not just limited to the Billboard charts, however. Back in June, “Choosin’ Texas” was also named the most-played song on TouchTunes, the popular digital jukebox platform, for the first half of 2026. Yesterday, Langley might have captured her most impressive feat yet. As reported by Luminate, “Choosin’ Texas” is the most-streamed song in all of music so far in 2026 in the United States with a staggering 570.9 million streams across platforms, beating out the likes of veteran superstars such as Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and more. In case that wasn’t impressive enough, it currently holds a staggering 230 million-stream lead on the second-most-streamed track, Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need.” Top 10 most streamed songs of 2026 in the U.S. (midyear; via Luminate): #1. Choosin’ Texas 570.9M#2. Man I Need 340.2M#3. Ordinary 322.8M#4. Be Her 289.1M#5. DtMF 284.5M#6. Golden 282.8M#7. Stateside 272.4M#8. I Just Might 267.3M#9. The Fate of Ophelia 255.7M#10. So… — Talk of the Charts (@talkofthecharts) July 15, 2026 It doesn’t just stop at “Choosin’ Texas,” however. Langley’s other smash hit, “Be Her,” also makes an appearance at #4, allowing her to own two of the Top 5 most-streamed songs in the country. Diving into the numbers, “Choosin’ Texas” has been streamed nearly three million times per day this year, averaging 2,927,692 streams per day across platforms. As for “Be Her,” it averages nearly 1.5 million streams per day, sitting at 1,482,564. Though Morgan Wallen has blown expectations through the roof in terms of all-genre hit songs over the past few years with the likes of “Last Night” and “Heartless,” the massive success of “Choosin’ Texas” over the year has stamped its place in history as one of the most successful songs in the history of the genre. It’s hard to even understate its impact, especially for a female country artist, at this point in its run up the charts, and it’s still showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Top 10 Most-Streamed Songs Of 2026 (U.S.) “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley (570.9 million) “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (340.2 million “Ordinary” – Alex Warren (322.8 million) “Be Her” – Ella Langley (289.1 million) “DtMF” – Bad Bunny (284.5 million) “Golden” – HUNTR/X (282.8 million) “Stateside” – PinkPanthress (with Zara Larsson) (272.4 million) “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (267.3 million) “The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift (255.7 million) “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” – Olivia Dean (252.9 million) “Choosin’ Texas” The Dandelion Tour Dates 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’s “Choosin’ Texas” Is The Most Streamed Song Of 2026 With Over Half A Billion Streams first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

When TikTok becomes reality. When it comes to classic ’90s country songs, there aren’t may better than “Time Marches On” by Tracy Lawrence. The song was released in 1996 from Tracy’s album of the same name, and would go on to become his longest-running #1 hit of his career. And a couple of years ago, we got to talk to Tracy about why the song was such a success: “It’s probably the best lyric I’ve ever cut, because being able to paint that much imagery in a three and a half minute song, you’re talking about multiple generations of a family and just the dynamic. I mean, you can close your eyes and you can see that whole thing. I was fascinated by it.” But he says there’s one line in particular that really made him want to release it in the first place: “You really want to know why I cut it? Because of the shock factor. Because radio had never played anything that says ‘Smokes a lot of dope’ in it, and I knew that it would either be a massive record just because of the shock factor of it, or it would die a violent death. There was no in between. And it came out of the box with a bang.” @whiskeyriff “Smokes a lot of dope” 90s Country at its finest ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff Well that line in particular became the focal point of a remix of the song that went viral on TikTok recently, with someone replacing every other line with “smokes a lot of dope” to create a hilarious new version of the 20-year-old classic. @participationcertificate Replying to @Edwin smoke responsibly #timemarcheson #tracylawrence #country #countrymusic #remix #edit #fyp #fypシ #foryou #funny #music #newsound ♬ Time Smokes On – Participation Certificate The new version of the song went so viral that it caught the attention of Tracy himself, who got a good laugh out of it: @bigdandbubba We called @tracy_lawrence to see if hed heard the “smokes a lot of dope” remix of Time Marches On… Hes going to come in and sing It now… #90scountry #90scountrymusic #timemarcheson #music #funny #comedy #420 #radio ♬ original sound – bigdandbubba And apparently it caught the attention of Jamey Johnson too. The “In Color” singer recently celebrated his 51st birthday with a star-studded night at the Grand Ole Opry, and his friend Tracy Lawrence was on hand for the event. In fact, there was even a “Time Marches On” themed birthday cake at the party: Courtesy of Tracy Lawrence Well naturally, the two had to perform “Time Marches On” together during the show. But after finishing the song, Jamey decided that they needed to break out the “last verse” of the song: The “smokes a lot of dope” verse from TikTok. “Sister’s wearing rouge, smokes a lot of dope Brother’s wearing beads and he smokes a lot of dope Mama is depressed, smokes a lot of dope Daddy’s got a girlfriend, smokes a lot of dope Willie Nelson sings anything he wants And he smokes a lot of dope Smokes a lot of dope” @tracy_lawrence I guess @JameyJohnsonOfficial has been on TikTok ♬ original sound – Tracy Lawrence Now, I’m not sure how many in the crowd at the Opry had heard the TikTok version of the song to even know what was going on, but apparently Jamey has spent some time on TikTok and saw the remix. Jamey Johnson has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2022, and recently joined Tracy on his TL’s Road House podcast where he expressed his hope that Tracy becomes a member soon too: “I think this current team at the Opry is working hard to correct some of those overlookings. As your brother, I hope you come play the Opry and I hope they make you a member, and I hope you get to walk out there and have Tracy Lawrence night at the Opry.” Amen. If anybody deserves to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry, it’s Tracy…even if his family apparently smokes a lot of dope. The post Tracy Lawrence & Jamey Johnson Break Out The TikTok Version Of “Times Marches On” During Grand Ole Opry Performance first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Riley is the guest on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, where he told Theo about his early days performing around his home state of Alabama. Theo said that it’s harder to connect with the audience as he’s started performing comedy at bigger venues, and he asked Riley if that happened with music, too. And Riley didn’t beat around the bush,. He gave Theo a very direct answer, saying he does not think stadium shows are the way to go. He used the stadium tour he opened for Luke Combes in 2023, explaining that there’s no way the people in the very back, top row of a stadium are “getting their money’s worth,” and of course, there are so many factors that go into a fan just getting to a show like that too, including beverage costs, driving and parking, which we all know is a huge hassle at these big concerts. Plus, for how much tickets cost these days, it’s really hard to justify spending that kind of money on nosebleeds, and I think that’s a lot of the reasoning for “blue dot fever” right now. As someone who also hates stadium shows and would MUCH rather go to a small dive bar to hear live music than any sort of large venue, I think he nailed it and I could not agree more with everything he said: “I did a stadium tour with Luke Combs and that’s too big. I feel like there’s no way the person in the far back top row is getting their moneys worth at a concert. And you also lose some sound too when you have to have two rows of speakers, one halfway through, there’s so much reverb and bounce back. And then you think about how much of a pain is that show. The traffic to get in for a fan, and then you know to be able to find a place to park, and all that. Then you’ve got the fact that it’s also open air stadium, got weather issues and then your openers are starting in the daytime, so they don’t get the you know the full effect of the lights and everything. So arenas have always felt like a great place for me, and you still have an intimate show, you still feel close to everybody, you feel like everybody got their money’s worth, but it’s still 20 to 25,000 people.” Couldn’t have said it any better… I don’t think most artists would even admit that, but it is true, though I also have to imagine Riley would probably be happy to headline a stadium if and when the opportunity ever comes his way. Of course, if an artist can make it to the level of being able to play a stadium, they’re always going to choose that because it’s easier for them to play one massive venue for a whole region, make a ton of money in one night and call it good as opposed to playing multiple smaller cities and increasing their time on the road and things of that nature. Theo also brought up how it’s important for an artist to evolve to keep their fans, but Riley said he actually believes it’s the opposite, saying the internet has helped with that and he would advise young artists to not veer from what they do well, especially early on: “What your guy said is a little bit not true, in the sense of… that may have been true 10 or 15 years ago before social media was relevant as it is, but now, if you do something well, like your stand-up videos, your podcast, whatever it lives forever. So the next generation, you know, whereas when you had a song on the radio 10 years ago, it lived when it was on the radio, and then it went off and that was it. It was over. It didn’t live anywhere else. Now everything you do lives on the internet forever, so if you’re doing something well, I would really, especially like up-and-coming artists, I would advise against trying to do anything too different. For me, what I always do is, I try to make sure I’ve got songs on my record that I’m writing from the same place I started writing from, that are very me. And then I try to take a few songs and write that are a little stylistically different, just to ease outside of my comfort zone a little bit.” I have always appreciated Riley’s approach when it comes to staying true to the kind of music he does well and his roots, while also managing to appeal to the masses and become a commercial success with true country music, and he summed it up quite perfectly: “I just think you don’t turn and run from something that was been successful.” It’s hard to argue with that… He went into talk about how his role in Marshals wasn’t too far off from who he was, because he felt like he was easing into it and it wouldn’t be such a shock to his fans, so I’m sure he will contiue to take on new roles as he grows as an actor and fans get to know that side of him too. The full podcast is available below. The post Riley Green Says He Doesn’t Like Playing Stadium Shows Because Fans Don’t Get “Their Money’s Worth,” & I Couldn’t Agree More first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Ryan Fox from Dexter and the Moonrocks shouted out a fellow band when he joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, and I’ve got to say, this isn’t a hot take… it’s just a 100% correct take. The drummer and vocalist from the ‘”y’allternative band” discussed how he took over the social media manager role for the group, why fans always think their music is from a different time, how Dexter and the Moonrocks always split songwriting credits, and their fanbase being as diverse as they come. Fox also touched on the similarities between the country and grunge genres, how Dexter and the Moonrocks got their name (no one in the group is named Dexter) after originally starting as a country band, their song “Freaking Out” going viral, and why they believe the Turnpike Troubadours should be the biggest act in the world. That’s the aforementioned “100% correct take.” After all, Turnpike was one of the the bands that helped Dexter and the Moonrocks get started. They and other bands like the Red Clay Strays and Whiskey Myers took chances on them, and Fox said he’ll always be grateful for the push those bands gave his band: “I’m really happy with the opportunities like a band like Red Clay Strays gave us, and like Turnpike is giving us, and Whiskey Myers gave us. We wouldn’t be here without their influence and what they’ve done.” Ryan Fox has plenty of hills he’ll die on, but the one take that he voiced most strongly was how astounded he is that the Turnpike Troubadours aren’t selling out stadiums. Though they are one of the best bands in the business – without a doubt – that hasn’t directly translated to streaming and ticket sales. That really bugs Fox: “I’ve said this all the time: Turnpike Troubadours should be the biggest band in the f***ing world. They should be. I love Zach Bryan, I love George Strait, they are fantastic artists. But Turnpike should be the ones selling 100,000 tickets in a stadium. And they did with The Boys From Oklahoma, but they should have been doing it for years. They are so, so good.” We can all agree on that, right? Ryan Fox wishes that everyone in the world loved Turnpike as much as Texans do. Hailing from the Lone Star State himself, the Dexter and the Moonrocks drummer stated that they’re one of the most beloved groups out of the state, and that the band behind songs like “Good Lord Lorrie” and “Every Girl” means a lot to him personally: “When you grow up in Texas, you think every Turnpike song is a multiplatinum hit. And I don’t think they have a song over 100 million streams. That’s a disservice to everything… Evan Felker has reached out to us and said, ‘Y’all’s music is really cool.’ And I’m like, ‘I love you. I was 11 years old crying to ‘Diamonds & Gasoline. This is awesome.'” @whiskeyriff @Dexter & The Moonrocks @Turnpike Troubadours @The Red Clay Strays @whiskeymyers #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff Cool to see a couple of bands from the southern U.S. looking out for and supporting one another. You can hear about all of that and more from Ryan Fox by checking out the interview on YouTube or making sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post Why Dexter & The Moonrocks’ Ryan Fox Believes The Turnpike Troubadours Should Be Biggest Band In The World first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Looks like Posty’s going back to his roots. Though there has been plenty of conversation and subsequent criticism over Post Malone’s venture into country music over the past few years, as time passes, it’s become clear that he’s here to stay in the genre for the foreseeable future. Of course, Post started his country music journey with 2024’s massive, 27-song album, F-1 Trillion, which called upon some of the biggest stars, ranging from Hank Williams Jr. and Dolly Parton to Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen to Sierra Ferrell and Billy Strings. Despite the success of F-1 Trillion, Post has been all but radio-silent in terms of releases since then. Because of this, it’s led fans to speculate whether he would continue down his path in country music, return to his hip-hop/alternative roots or potentially do both heading into 2026. The conversation around his decision to remain in country music or return to his roots has been reignited even further over the past few months. Of course, this predominantly stemmed from the announcement back on April 6th when he teased his massive, 40-song upcoming record, titled The Eternal Buzz, which led fans to speculate that the double album may be split between both country and rap. View this post on Instagram Since all but breaking the internet with The Eternal Buzz’s announcement, there’s been a few signs that pointed to the project being a bit of an amalgamation of all of the “I Had Some Help” singer’s past works and influences. The first one came right out of the horse’s mouth. Shortly after the record was announced, a fan would ask him directly if he was ever going to go back and release another rap album. In a somewhat canned response, Post would simply say that he’s been in the studio working on “a lot of awesome f******* sh*t,” essentially avoiding the question altogether. “We’ve been in the studio working very, very hard, and there’s a lot of awesome f****** sh*t. That’s all I can say.” Adding more fuel to the fire regarding a double album filled with both country and rap, a plethora of unreleased songs penned by the likes of Post himself, Ernest, Miranda Lambert and Rhett Akins, as well as frequent Morgan Wallen co-writers, Ryan Vojtesak, Louis Bell and Chandler Walters, were found in ASCAP’s ACE Repertory. The theory seems to have even more validity now. This afternoon, Posty would take to Instagram to tease his first brand new track off of The Eternal Buzz with a simple, unassuming caption: “That one mofo that don’t know when to leave…” View this post on Instagram Sounding like it was taken straight out of the Stoney and Beerbongs & Bentleys days, the unreleased track sees Post fully returning to rap roots, referencing the aforementioned Stoney album. Though the teaser obviously doesn’t confirm or deny the direction of The Eternal Buzz, there’s one specific lyric that may give us some insight. “Imma pop a bean 2016 Stoney I know them Lucchese ‘gon stomp to this All them bad, punk b*tches ‘gon rock to this” I don’t know about you, but simultaneously referencing Lucchese, a popular cowboy boot brand, and “bad, punk b*tches,” which is clearly in reference to his old fans who came around during the height of his career in the rap/alternative scene, seem to point to an album that will contain a little bit for everyone. Again, this is all purely speculation; however, it just makes sense. Plenty of long-time fans are begging for the old Posty back, and there’s no doubt that he’s gained quite a few fans in country music after the success of F-1 Trillion and his extended stay in the genre. Simply put, it sounds like a no-brainer at this point for Post to please both sides of his fanbase, and it looks like he may be doing it here. Before you go, fire up one of his early hits, “Congratulations.” Big A** Stadium Tour Part Two Tour Dates Fri Jul 17 – Ames, IA – Jack Trice Stadium Tue Jul 21 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium Fri Jul 24 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium Tue Jul 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rice-Eccles StadiumThe post Is Post Malone Returning To Rap? A Brand New Teaser Indicates New Album May Contain Both Rap And Country first appeared on Whiskey Riff.