For a self-proclaimed pessimist, Ella Langley has had a lot to celebrate lately. Still riding the wave of viral success from her Riley Green duet “You Look Like You Love Me,” the Alabama native, 26, took home more trophies than any other artist at the 60th ACM Awards earlier this month. Since then, she has rocked the stage at Morgan Wallen’s inaugural Sand In My Boots festival and announced a brand-new collaboration with Bath & Body Works. For Ella Langley, though, none of it compares to sharing a stage with one of her country music idols, Miranda Lambert.
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Ever since “Kerosene” hit the charts 20 years ago, Lambert, now 41, hasn’t stopped sharpening her lyrical ax. The native Texan inspired an entire generation of young female listeners, Langley included.
“She is who she is and she doesn’t apologize for that,” the ACM’s reigning New Female Artist of the Year told People magazine. “She stands up for herself, but she also stands up for others she believes in. And that’s just always been apparent by watching her as a young artist.”
Miranda Lambert Duet Was Ella Langley’s “Biggest Dream”
While the ACM Awards ceremony brought “a ridiculous amount of highlights” for Ella Langley, perhaps the pinnacle came when she performed alongside Miranda Lambert. The pair teamed up for a searing duet of “Kerosene,” with Langley sporting a tank top modeled after the one Lambert wore in the song’s music video.
“I already knew that I was going to do ‘Weren’t for the Wind’ but when we got asked to do ‘Kerosene,’ God, I was like, ‘It just made the night so much better for me because I got that initial fear out’ — and that was our first time performing together,” she told People. “It felt like a 12-year-old kid living her biggest dream ever on stage.”
[RELATED: Ella Langley Names the Next Top Female Country Superstar: “She’s Just One Song Away”]
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight ahead of the May 8 ceremony, Langley boldly declared that the women of country music are “here to play ball.” That sentiment has seemingly never rang more true, and has much to with those women prioritizing collaboration over competition.
“What sticks with me the most is how country music is such a community and a family and how we welcome the new generations with open arms,” Lambert told Yahoo. “It’s been really amazing to see, and so I’m trying to do that too because people do that with me.”
Featured image by John Shearer/Getty Images for ACM
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