3 min read
Key Points
- On April 29, Ella Langley was presented with the 2026 Powerhouse Award at the Billboard Women in Music event.
- Her friend and fellow country star Lainey Wilson presented her with the honor.
- She received the award for her “commanding voice, bold storytelling, and chart success.”
Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley have had a whirlwind few days. First, the cult-favorite country icons and real-life pals wowed the massive crowds at Stagecoach. Then, just a few days later, they made their way from the T-Mobile Mane Stage in the Indio desert to the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, for yet another night they’ll always remember.
On Wednesday, April 29, Lainey met up with Ella at the Billboard Women in Music event to honor her with the 2026 Powerhouse Award in recognition of her singular voice, captivating storytelling, and chart-topping, record-breaking success.
“I feel like it is just so important for us girls to be holding hands and lifting each other up and supporting each other, so when I found out that Ella wanted me to be here to present her the Powerhouse Award, I was like, ‘I’ll be there; I’ll be there in a heartbeat,’” Lainey, the 2023 recipient of the Billboard Rulebreaker Award, told Good Morning America in a red carpet interview ahead of the ceremony. “I’m so proud of her, I feel like what she is doing and has done is unreal, and she is kicking down barn doors, and it’s just…I’m just proud of my friend.”
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Over the past two years, Ella has become one of the most recognizable voices in music, not just country. As of the night of the 2026 Billboard Women in Music event, “Choosin’ Texas” has spent a whopping seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, effectively breaking Taylor Swift’s long-standing record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female country artist, which she achieved back in 2012 for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
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As for what makes Ella worthy of this reward? “Her grit; her grind,” Lainey told GMA. “She has this fire about her that you kind of have to have in this business, but she’s got a little bit of that extra, that thing, you know what I’m saying? When she walks into a room, she’s not just walking into it—she’s kicking the door open.”
The Billboard Women in Music event recognizes women across genres who are making an impact and pushing the music industry forward. During the night, Ella performed a raw version of “Choosin’ Texas” and accepted her Powerhouse Award with the unfiltered demeanor fans have come to know and love about the 26-year-old country phenom.
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“I really tried to write a speech for a long time, and then I procrastinated until right now, so me winging it in front of people is much better than me reading in front of people, so here we go, let’s speak from the heart,” she began. “Lainey, I love you so much. I’m so grateful you’re here. Thank you for sitting at dinner with me; I love you so much. Thank you, Billboard, for recognizing country music in this way… Lord, it’s just crazy to see what’s happening. Thank you for having me here. I’m so grateful for the women on my team—my team is predominantly women, so I’m very grateful for women tonight, because I would not be standing here without them at all.”
To close out her speech, Ella revealed to the star-studded audience what it means to her to be the recipient of Billboard’s Powerhouse Award. “Powerhouse, to me, is… strength, resilience, it’s coming back when you don’t necessarily want to, but you feel like, ‘I’m going to; I’m gonna fight for this; I’m gonna fight for this thing that I love to do.’ This is something I’ve wanted to do for my whole entire life. There hasn’t been another dream for me; there wasn’t a day that I wanted to be anything else. So to get this award, after all those years of kicking down those doors… didn’t go to waste.”
Rebecca Norris is a full-time freelance writer living in the DC metro area. She writes for a variety of publications, covering everything from beauty and wellness to style and celebrity news. When she’s not writing, she can be found doing all the dog mom things with her Jack-Chi, Cash.