Country Singer Ella Langley Has Emotional Response to Criticism After Beating Mariah Carey’s Record

Ella Langley is choosin’ herself over the haters.

Despite the country singer’s recent successes with her song “Choosin’ Texas”—which beat Mariah Carey’s 22-week streak atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart earlier this month, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song in history—she recently reflected on the criticism she has faced along the way.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had more opinions on myself in my life than I have in this last year,” Langley told the crowd the her concert in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 25, as seen in video shared to social media. “The way I look, the way I speak, the way I dress, the way I move, the way I sing, the way I write.”

And as the 27-year-old shared, “At first it bothered me.”

“I was like, ‘What am I going to do about this? If this is what I’m signing up to do, I don’t know about this,’” she continued. “I signed up to sing music and I love to do what I do, but if this is what it’s going to be the whole entire time, I mean s–t, I don’t know if I’m strong enough for this.”