Ella Langley ProfileElla Langley recently shared a bombshell: her fan favourite song, Speaking Terms, almost went to Beyoncé. In fact, the genre-bending artist had it on hold, presumably for her country-inspired record, COWBOY CARTER.
Speaking Terms is a song written by Joybeth Taylor and Helene Cronin that Langley previously said she was drawn to because of her relationship with her faith and return to God.
The Choosin’ Texas hitmaker has previously spoken at length about how her life has been transformed, both as a country star and with her faith, before performing Speaking Terms and her latest hit, Loving Life Again.
Now, though, she’s revealed that Speaking Terms was previously offered to other artists. Langley shared the revelation during the last stop on her Dandelion Tour in St. Paul, Minnesota, last weekend (31 October).
Appearing before ecstatic fans at the Grand Casino Arena, Langley shared that the song nearly went to Beyoncé and Cody Johnson. She also revealed that she didn’t initially feel worthy of performing Speaking Terms, hinting at her newfound faith.
“Multiple artists had this one on hold,” Langley said in fan-captured footage you can check out below. “Beyoncé had this song on hold for a second, believe it or not. Cody Johnson — and there’s a lot of people that this song didn’t land on.”
She continued, “I just wanted the song to win, and I didn’t feel like at the time I was worth enough for it until I had that moment. And it was like, ‘Speaking Terms!’ And I called her right then, and I said, ‘Hey, can I put that song on hold?’ She said, ‘Absolutely, yes.’”
Dandelion was released in April and was produced by Langley, Miranda Lambert, and Ben West. Upon its release, the album debuted in the top ten in the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Scotland.
The album also marked her first-ever #1 on the US Billboard 200 and the second-largest streaming debut for a new country album by a female artist, behind Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.
Lead single Choosin’ Texas is a major hit – it became Langley’s first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 27 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart. It set the record for the longest-running #1 by a country artist and surpassed Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, becoming the longest-running chart-topper in US chart history.
Additionally, the track has topped singles charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
