How Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ became the longest-running No. 1 hit of all time - AP News

The midtempo heartbreak track dropped last October and has spent nearly half a year sitting at the top of Billboard's all-genre chart, outlasting some of the biggest hits ever recorded. That list includes Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and even Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," a song that returns to the charts every holiday season and had held records of its own.

For a song with Texas literally in the title, the record feels fitting. Country radio and streaming numbers have carried "Choosin' Texas" week after week, and the track's staying power has turned it into more than a hit single. It has become a genuine chart phenomenon that crosses genre lines, something few country songs manage on the all-genre Hot 100.

For people here, it is another reminder that Texas keeps showing up at the center of country music's biggest moments, this time by name. The song beat records set by pop, hip-hop and holiday music, not just other country tracks.

Twenty-three weeks and counting. Mariah Carey had a two-decade head start and still got passed.