Before “Choosin’ Texas” became nothing short of a career-changer for Ella Langley, allowing her to hold the record for longest-running #1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for a female country artist in history, “you look like you love me” was the track that kick-started the Alabama native to the superstar status she’s currently at today.
In many ways, “you like you love me” was a gift that kept on giving for Langley and Green and set the pair up for the success they’re currently experiencing nearly two years later. Beyond its massive streaming numbers (331 million on Spotify alone), it would also net the duo a staggering 7 ACM and CMA Awards throughout 2024 and 2025. Notably, it would become the first song ever to win Single, Song and Music Video of the Year in a single night at the 2025 ACM Awards and additionally netted the pair a rare Single and Song of the Year double-up at the 2025 CMA Awards. Couple all those accolades with a 3x platinum certification from the RIAA and a #1 spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, and you have yourself one of the most successful songs of the past few years.
There can be full-length thesis papers done on the massive virality and overall impact that the track has had on both Green and Langley in particular, but one of the most interesting thing to note about it, all seven awards and all, is the simple fact that neither of the two superstars actually thought the song would see the light of day, let alone the success its experienced over the past two years.
Notably, Langley would reveal that the song was never even supposed to be recorded, originally being written as a joke with co-writer, Aaron Ratier, in an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show back in September 2024.
As for Green, he also had his doubts about the song, at least from a commercial perspective. In an interview with Zach Sang, he’d note that he thought the song was much too traditional to have success on the radio nowadays.
Today, on an appearance on the always-hilarious This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Langley would drop the most shocking revelation about “you look like you love me” to date: her label, Columbia Records, actively discouraged her from releasing the song in the first place.
As the “weren’t for the wind” singer explained to the comedian, everyone in her camp was telling her that the song was never going to work. Similar to the hesitation Green had from a commercial-perspective, her label kept pushing for her to sing the now-iconic spoken-word verses.
“Everyone told me that song was not gonna work… After we cut it, they were like, ‘We really think you need to sing these verses.’ I was like, ‘I’m not singing it…’ I just fought them really hard on it.”
In fact, she’d reveal that the label told her that “you look like you love me” would be the worst-performing song on her debut record, Hungover.
“They wanted me to sing that [and] go back in. They were like, ‘This is going to be the worst-performing song on the record.”
Obviously, the track would not only perform well but quickly became the best-selling song of her career until “Choosin’ Texas” came around. Reflecting back on her decision to keep it the way it was intended, Langley would admit that she wasn’t sure how successful it would eventually become, simply sticking with it because she believed in it.
“I didn’t know what it was going to do, but I believed that it was different. I believed that it was something that made me smile, and I enjoyed singing it. When I put my mind to something, like if I go in and cut something, it’s because I believe in it.”
Well, after 7 award wins, a #1 spot on the Billboard charts and ultimately setting the stage for “Choosin’ Texas’” record-breaking success, it’s safe to say that it was a pretty big hit. That’s pretty good for a song that was never even supposed to be released (and actively encouraged not to be), if you ask me.
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