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Country star Ella Langley is speaking candidly about the pressures of sharing the stage with Morgan Wallen, revealing she often struggled to remember the lyrics to one of his biggest hits.
The 26-year-old singer was one of the opening acts during Wallen’s I’m the Problem Tour last year. During a recent appearance on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, Langley recalled how she would join Wallen, 32, onstage for a duet of his chart-topping collaboration with Tate McRae, “What I Want,” while on the road.
Langley admitted that she had anxiety over performing “What I Want” with Morgan since she frequently forgot the song’s lyrics during live shows.
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“When I did ‘What I Want’ with Morgan, I messed up the words almost every single time,” Langley said. “I’ve never been so nervous to go out and do something. I just felt like I could throw up before I walked out there every time. I just could not remember those words.”
Ella Langley revealed that Morgan Wallen teased her for “messing up” the lyrics to his song until he made the same mistake. (Kevin Mazur/Kevin MazurGetty Images for SiriusXM; Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Langley explained that she would practice “What I Want” on her own for “days” so she could remember the lyrics. Last June, the Alabama native shared a behind-the-scenes TikTok clip in which she was seen writing lyrics on her hand to help herself get through a performance with Wallen in Madison, Wisconsin.
While speaking with Von, Langley remembered that she “would have it” until the moment came when she had to take the stage with Wallen.
“POV, you go through this tunnel, you know what I mean? And you’re playing in the stadium. It’s the most people you’ve ever been in front of,” she explained. “You’re walking out with Morgan Wallen, everything gets dark and there’s smoke everywhere and you got to walk out and I’m in pointy heels and there’s grates out there so you got to make sure you’re not falling down in those.”
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“You get up and then, here you go, you get one shot at it,” she continued. “There’s no practice, too. You get like one rehearsal, you go out there and it’s like, okay. But doing it in front of 80,000 people is different than 2p.m. in the middle of the day.”
Langley said she “felt like I could throw up” every time before she performed “What I Want” with Wallen. (Terry Wyatt/WireImage; John Shearer/Getty Images for Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time 2024)
Langley said that Wallen would frequently tease her about flubbing the lyrics — until he eventually made the same mistake.
“What was awesome is the last time we did it is he came out and messed up the words,” she recalled. “When he did that, I started to laugh so hard cause he was giving me so much s— about messing up the words.”
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Langley continued, “He was just like, ‘You can’t come out here and mess this up again.’ I was like, ‘I might. I really am scared that I might.'”
Langley was one of the opening acts during Wallen’s I’m the Problem Tour last year. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“And so the last night he did and it was like, he just immediately could never say another thing to me about messing up the words, you know.”
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Langley said that Wallen later told her that he messed up the lyrics on purpose to make her feel better but she didn’t believe him.
“Because when he looked back at me, it was like pure frustration that he could no longer talk s— about me for messing up the words,” she said.
Langley detailed growing up in a small town as a Southern Baptist. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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Langley launched her music career on social media, gaining a following by posting covers on TikTok and Instagram, leading her to release her EP “Excuse the Mess” in 2023.
The EP helped solidify her fan base and included many of her early hits, including “If You Have To” and “Country Boy’s Dream Girl.” She achieved mainstream success when she collaborated with Riley Green on her hit song “You Look Like You Love Me,” which went viral on TikTok, got millions of streams on Spotify and Apple Music, and expanded her audience.
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Her debut studio album, “Hungover,” was released in August 2024, and in April 2025, Langley was presented with the ACM New Female Artist of the Year award by country icon and her close friend Miranda Lambert.
Langley’s second studio album “Dandelion” was released on April 10.