Ella Langley is already having the most epic summer imaginable. The 27-year-old has absolutely ruled the Billboard Hot 100 singles tally this season, with her inescapable smash “Choosin’ Texas” just notching its 17th nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100, giving the Alabama-bred singer sole possession of the fourth-longest run in the chart’s history.
That’s all fine and good, but on Wednesday night (Aug. 12) Langley’s year got infinitely better when a screen legend covered the song as part of The Tonight Show‘s long-running Audience Suggestion Box bit.
After host Jimmy Fallon made his way through some of the typically wacky alleged audience suggestions —mashing up Spider-Man: Brand New Day voiced by the stars of Minions and Monsters and a failed attempt at throwing axes at announcer Steve Higgins —he cued up the final bit that blew Langley’s mind.
“Hey Jimmy, I love that song ‘Choosin’ Texas by Ella Langley and I’m really excited to see Matthew McConaughey’s new movie, The Rivals of Amziah King, where he performs in a bluegrass band,” a viewer wrote in. “If there was only a way to combine those things that would be a dream come true.”
The curtain then parted to reveal McConaughey playing mandolin alongside indie folk trio the Last Bison, with Fallon, strumming a washboard, slipping into matching brown vest and pants to play the upbeat country anthem. “Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee/ Shoulda known better than to take him to Abiliene,” Uvalde, Texas native McConaughey drawled.
Fallon and the rest of the band joined in on the “she’s from Texas I can tell” chorus and, frankly, the whole thing just made Langley lose her mind. “I may never recover from this,” the singer wrote on an Instagram story in which she reposted the clip. The timing couldn’t have been better for Langley, who is slated to play in McConaughey’s hometown of Austin, Texas at the Moody Center on Thursday night (Aug. 13).
The actor is gearing up for the release of his first film role in more than seven years with The Rivals of Amziah King, which is due out on Friday (Aug. 14). The heart-stirring drama that takes place in the “deep backwoods” of rural Oklahoma is described as following “the charismatic and musically gifted” Amziah (McConaughey), the leader of a “bluegrass-playing band of misfits while overseeing the premier honey-making operation in town.” McConaughey’s titular King is a honey farmer/bluegrass picker who is in a pitched battle against attacks on his family and business.
Watch McConaughey play “Choosin’ Texas” on The Tonight Show below.
