Ella Langley wrapped up her hungover Tour and debut album era with two sold-out, star-studded shows at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium on November 6 and 7, featuring show-stopping duets with Morgan Wallen, ERNEST, Gretchen Wilson, Jo Dee Messina, HARDY, Mae Estes, Kaitlin Butts and Aaron Raitiere.
During each of the two sold-out shows, the 26-year-old country hitmaker delivered an unforgettable 90-minute performance featuring a 17-song set, surprise guests, and powerhouse collaborations with some of her closest artist friends.
“The last two whole days have been somebody come and pinch me… It’s actually been insane… I’m living my best life, I can’t even lie,” Langley admitted from the stage. “The things that happened in my life not even over this last couple of years, but the whole time I have pursued this for a living has been absolutely insane, and I’m just so grateful to be here. I’m so thankful to the Lord for letting me do this for a living and letting me make the friends that I have here because it has been the one thing, besides him, that has gotten me to this point. I’m flabbergasted, to say the least.”
Music Mayhem was in attendance at both of the sold out shows and captured the memorable duets, which you can see below.
Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen: “Cover Me Up”
Morgan Wallen shocked the sold-out crowd when Ella Langley brought him out for a surprise performance of “Cover Me Up” by Jason Isbell, an Alabama-born artist that Langley is a big fan of. Wallen famously covered the Isbell tune on his record-breaking album, Dangerous: The Double Album, and he sings it during ever concert he performs.
“I’ve played this venue once, and I’ve always wanted to headline it. So tonight is such a dream come true for me, like I said. There are a lot of other artists that have played here that I’m such a fan of, and Mr. Jason Isbell is one of them for sure. You know, we gotta love our Alabama people. I’ve been singing a song of his for so long, it’s one of my favorites, and I figured there ain’t no better person to come out and help me with this one then Mr. Morgan Wallen tonight,” Langley said before welcoming the East Tennessee native to the stage.
“I have tried to convince this man to do this song with me for so long, and it has honestly taken two whole tours to do this,” Langley said, to which Wallen replied, “yeah, it takes a lot more than an award show to get me out to Broadway these days.” Langley added, “he was just standing around outside and. I figured, I was like want to come sing ‘Cover Me Up,’ and he was like might as well. Well, let’s do this thing.”
Wallen, strumming his acoustic guitar, kicked off the performance, singing the first verse of “Cover Me Up,” before Langley harmonized with him on the chorus and took over the next verses. The pair effortlessly combined their vocals for the final chorus.
Following their performance, she took a moment to soak it all in. “I’ve gotten to do a lot of cool things in this town, that being one of them now,” Langley said. She previously joined Wallen on his I’m The Problem Tour in 2025 and is set to reunite with him on select dates of his upcoming Still The Problem Tour in 2026.
Ella Langley and ERNEST: “Lovin’ Life Again”
Ella Langley welcomed ERNEST to the stage for a performance of an unreleased new song, titled “Loving Life Again,” a Langley she co-wrote alongside Ernest Keith Smith (ERNEST) and Devin Dawson. Langley, ERNEST and Dawson co-wrote the track during Langley’s recent two-week break from the road to focus on herself.
“I took a couple of weeks off this year, and I hadn’t really spoken a lot about it since… Since I graduated high school, seriously, I’ve put this thing number one in my life above everything else, above myself, really. My band and I got to a point this year where we were looking in the mirror and didn’t recognize ourselves the way we used to. We were tired, [and] we needed a break. We had been doing this every weekend forever….we just needed a break,” Langley explained. During Langley’s brief break, she took time to read her Bible, visit family and rest in her new Alabama home, leaving her feeling “rejuvenated.”
She continued, “I felt like I had found myself in a way that I’ve never found myself, but also, I was more me than I had been in a lot of years, if that makes any sense. It took me going back home to find my roots.” Then after she returned from her break, ERNEST checked in on her and her response to him inspired a new song.
“One day after I got back, [ERNEST] was checking on me. He said, ‘how are you doing?’ Because he knew mentally I had been struggling a lot, and I looked at him, and I won’t lie, I was left hand cigarettin’. And I said, just like that, I’m back to loving life again. So right then, and there is being two songwriters kind of just fell out,” Langley added. “I haven’t ever played it live. We’ve only sung it together the day we wrote it, and maybe two other times from that. So we’re going to test it out here tonight for y’all. This is really about the whole experience I just shared with you.”
ERNEST then joined Langley onstage with his acoustic guitar, providing background vocals on the brand-new, unreleased track “Loving Life Again,” which Langley confirmed will appear on her next record.
Ella Langley and Gretchen Wilson: “Here For The Party”
When Gretchen Wilson surprised fans by joining Ella Langley for “Here for the Party,” it marked a major full-circle moment for the Alabama native, who has said she’s performed that song at every full-band show she’s played since the beginning of her musical career.
“To have someone like Gretchen Wilson come out here on the stage tonight. I have played that song every time I have played with a full band my whole life,” Langley explained to the capacity crowd. “I’ve played that song, and it’s just wild to get to experience something like that with a hero of yours.”
Langley was all smiles as she belted out the lyrics to the rowdy country hit alongside Wilson, who sounded absolutely incredible and allowed her powerhouse vocals to shine. As their duet wrapped up, Wilson exclaimed, “this girl right here is filling them shoes.”
Ella Langley and Jo Dee Messina: “Lesson in Leavin’”
Jo Dee Messina and Ella Langley teamed up for a surprise performance of “Lesson in Leavin’.” The pair traded verses on the Messina classic and rocked the Ryman stage, sparking a massive sing-along and earning a standing ovation.
Ella Langley and HARDY: “Never Met Anyone Like You”
Langley brought out her songwriting hero HARDY to deliver the live debut of their buzzed-about collaboration, “Never Met Anyone Like You,” a new song that is expected to appear on Langley’s yet-to-be announced sophomore album.
“HARDY what a hero of mine as an artist and a songwriter. To get to write that song with him, that was our first write ever, and I believe we figured out, and I was like ‘let’s do this again, it went well.’” Langley gushed, hinting that the pair have more songs up their sleeves.
Ella Langley, Kaitlin Butts and Mae Estes: “Cowboy Friends”
Langley also spotlighted her two openers from the Ryman shows: Kaitlin Butts and Mae Estes. She invited Butts and Estes back to the stage to perform “Cowboy Friends,” a sassy song that appears on her debut album, hungover.
“They can sing! One of the best parts of this tour, I mean, it’s my first headline tour I’ve ever done. It’s been so special, and one of my favorite parts is getting to bring out some of my favorite artists in town. I mainly had women as my openers… Man, there are so many talented artists in this town, and not only in this town, but other places, and it’s been a pleasure getting to bring them out and show the world how good they are.”
