Ella Langley is learning to tune out the noise as her career reaches new heights.
The country singer paused during a recent stop on her Dandelion Tour in Columbus, Ohio, to reflect on the intense scrutiny she has faced over the past year. In a TikTok video shared by a concertgoer @camiscam4, Langley told the crowd that nearly every aspect of her public image has been picked apart, from her appearance and clothing to the way she speaks, performs and writes music.
"I don't think I've ever had more opinions on myself in my life than I have in this last year," Langley said. "The way I look, the way I speak, the way I dress, the way I move, the way I sing, the way I write."
The
27-year-old admitted that the criticism initially made her question whether she could handle the realities of fame. She said she pursued a career in music because she loved singing and performing, not because she wanted her every move to be judged.
"If this is what I'm signed up to do, I don't know about this, you know? I signed up to sing music and I love to do what I do, but if this is what it's going to be the whole entire time, I mean … I don't know if I'm strong enough for this," Langley said during her speech.
Langley said her perspective began to change when she thought about her younger self and the sacrifices she made while pursuing her dream.
"The girl that they're kind of picking on is the girl that got me where I'm sitting here today," the country singer said. "That's the girl that rode in a 15-passenger van night after night after night. She rode in a Honda Accord night after night after night, chased her dream, living on bar food, living on tip jar money."
Rather than allowing outside opinions to define her, Langley said she now focuses on the determination that carried her through those early years. Langley ended her speech by saying "she didn't have anything but a dream and the ability to get up and do it every single day. So I'm going to tell you right now, I am proud of that girl that everybody seems to be picking on all the time."
'Choosin' Texas' continues record-breaking chart run
The scrutiny comes during a pivotal period in Langley's career.
Her hit "Choosin' Texas" has now spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song broke the chart record during its 23rd week at the top, surpassing the 22 cumulative weeks logged by Mariah Carey’s "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
In an Sept. 22 Instagram video captioned "Texas Forever," Langley said she was left speechless after receiving the news.
"Just thank you, thank you so much," Langley said. "It's changing my life. It's changing lives of the writers of this song. It's changing lives of my family, and it is truly growing an atmosphere for something I'm going to be able to do the rest of my life."
"Choosin' Texas," which Langley co-wrote with Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor, was released in October and has helped propel her into a new level of country music stardom.
Contributing: Mateo Rosiles, USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ella Langley addresses criticism in emotional concert speech
