Introduction
Country Star Ella Langley Honors Pioneers with Flawless Kitty Wells Cover
The year 2024 proved to be a breakthrough for Ella Langley, the reigning ACM New Female Artist of the Year. The 26-year-old Alabama native found major success with her debut album, Hungover, and hits like the viral duet “You Look Like You Love Me” with Riley Green, and “Weren’t for the Wind.”
While Langley has warned fans they may have to wait a while for her sophomore release, they can catch her performing favorites on her Still Hungover Tour. During a recent tour stop in Texas, the five-time ACM Award-winning artist offered audiences a stunning tribute to classic country roots.
Paying Homage to the Queen of Country
Growing up in Hope Hull, Alabama, Langley was immersed in the sounds of classic country, often citing influences like Conway Twitty and David Allan Coe. On October 17, during her show at the John T. Floore Country Store in Helotes, Texas, the rising star honored Kitty Wells, the first woman to ever reach the top of the Billboard country charts all on her own.
Strumming her guitar, Langley broke into a flawless rendition of Wells’ controversial 1952 hit, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” The song, which was a blistering rebuttal to Hank Thompson’s “The Wild Side of Life,” spent six weeks atop the country charts decades ago.
Langley passionately delivered the song’s famous lines, singing: “It’s a shame that all the blame is on us women / It’s not true that only you men feel the same. From the start most every heart that’s ever broken / Was because there always was a man to blame.”
Appropriately, Langley followed the Wells classic with a cover of Patsy Cline’s 1957 breakthrough hit, “Walkin’ After Midnight,” honoring two women who blazed the trail she now walks.
Fans Declare Langley is “Bringing True Country Music Back”
Footage of the performance quickly caught fire on social media. One TikTok user enthusiastically declared that Ella Langley was “bringing true country music back,” while another fan gushed: “Kitty Wells is smiling down from above along with Patsy Cline. Ella is amazing.”
Langley’s choice to cover Wells is particularly meaningful. Wells, who had been considering retirement due to the obstacles faced by women in the industry, only agreed to record “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels” mostly for the paycheck. She later said of its unexpected success: “Women never had hit records in those days. Very few of them even recorded. I couldn’t believe it happened.”
Langley’s homage proves that Wells’ legacy—and the authentic storytelling of classic country—is alive and well with the genre’s newest stars.