Miranda Lambert won’t ever forget meeting Ella Langley. The “Mama’s Broken Heart” singer is one of the icons of country music. Since signing her first record deal in 2003, Lambert has been a mainstay in country music. She just released a new country-disco crossover song called “Crisco,” and in recent years, she’s made headlines for acting as a mentor to some of the younger, up-and-coming female country artists out there. Like Ella Langley. In a recent conversation with Cody Alan on SiriusXM’s The Highway, Lambert recalled meeting Langley for the very first time… and feeling as if she was looking at her younger self in the mirror: “Oh god, I called my manager and said, ‘Oh, sorry for everything.’ Because now I know what it’s like because it’s exactly like looking in the mirror and she’s just so feisty and so strong and knows exactly who she is and what she wants and it really reminded (me of myself).” The artist with seven No. 1 solo albums, and ten No. 1 radio singles recalled the very first time she crossed paths with the “Be Her” singer. Miranda was sitting at the BMI Awards when her friend and fellow songwriter, Natalie Hemby, brought Ella Langley over to meet her. They hit it off immediately, and Lambert soon found herself listening to Ella’s unreleased album: “I mean Natalie Hemby brought her over to my table at the BMI Awards several years ago and then Natalie just left and sat down right next to me and I didn’t know this girl. She was like, ‘Hey, I’m Ella Langley.’ Natalie was like, ‘Y’all need to be friends.’ And we were immediately, like I could tell there was a kindred spirit there. And then I got my hands on her new record, which was not out at the time, and which was ‘Hungover,’ and called her. I was like, ‘This is great.’ And told her my favorite songs. And then from there, we just kind of struck up our friendship.” Fast forward to 2026, and Miranda Lambert worked with Ella Langley to write and produce her massive new album, Dandelion. Lambert was even featured on a duet on the project called “Butterfly Season.” Now, with years of friendship between the two, Lambert says that Langley has been an inspiration to her… and also a reminder of what Miranda put her manager through in her early years: “I love her for all the things that probably annoyed my manager about me, you know? Just because it’s very strong willed, but very set in your ways, but also like it’s right. Because she believes in it so much and it’s so inspiring to see an artist that just like walks with that much confidence.” There’s no doubt that Ella Langley has confidence, and there’s a high likelihood that she learned a lot of that from being friends with Miranda Lambert. With the ACM Awards coming up this weekend, it’s only right to cue up Ella and Miranda’s duet of “Kerosene” at last year’s awards show: The post Why Miranda Lambert Apologized To Her Own Manager After She Met Ella Langley first appeared on Whiskey Riff.