You can tell the holidays are over from all the Christmas trees, wreaths and other decorations finally starting to come down — or you can just look to the Billboard Hot 100, where a chart once dominated by holiday songs (46 out of the top 50 on last week’s chart, dated Jan. 3) now boasts nary a seasonal title.

Instead, newer and more secular hits have once again swarmed the chart’s top regions — including “Choosin’ Texas,” the late-2025 breakout hit for rising singer-songwriter Ella Langley. The catchy and quintessentially country heartbreak lament had previously peaked just outside the Hot 100’s top 10, but now rebounds all the way from 48-5 — marking Langley’s highest career peak to date, and her first visit to the top 10.

How big a deal is this for Langley? And is her success part of Nashville turning a corner in its gender representation? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.

1. With the holiday rush finally clearing out of the Hot 100’s top tier, Ella Langley’s late-2025 runaway hit “Choosin’ Texas” jumps 48-5 on the Hot 100 this week. On a scale from 1-10, how big a deal is this accomplishment for Langley at this point in her career?
 
Kyle Denis: Gotta be around an 8! Obviously, Ella isn’t lacking in hits or awards, but a solo top five placement on Billboard’s all-genre singles chart — especially as a female country artist — is a particularly impressive achievement. And she did it without tapping a pop star for a remix! 

Jason Lipshutz: A 9. “Choosin’ Texas” represents a breakthrough moment for a country artist who may have been a household name in Nashville but was still a largely unknown entity to pop fans and mainstream consumers. “Choosin’ Texas” is not only a terrific showcase for Langley’s wistful storytelling and subtle tenderness, but now it’s a bonafide crossover smash that will clue in tons of unfamiliar listeners and grow her overall platform. It’s hard for a country artist like Langley to ask for much more from a single.

Melinda Newman: I’d give it a 7. If the song hits No. 1, it will be a much bigger deal. This week’s chart is a bit of an outlier because, as noted above, all the holiday songs that had clogged up the Hot 100 for the last few weeks fall off, leaving room for huge leaps by songs that had been waiting in the wings: for example, while Langley’s jump is impressive, Kehlani’s “Folded” similarly leaps from No. 51 to No. 6. But it is clearly Langley’s time to shine and after her success with Green, it’s great to see her reach this milestone as a solo artist. 

Jessica Nicholson: 8. That is a huge jump for Ella, and it is one more testament to the solid career she’s been steadily building. Her breakthrough hit was a collaboration with Riley Green (“You Look Like You Love Me”) that hit the top 30 on the Hot 100. “Weren’t For The Wind” did even better, breaking into the top 20 and she had two other songs reach the top 30. But “Choosin’ Texas” has been a runaway hit for Ella, earning six weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It solidifies Ella as an artist fans are resonating with. She was one of the most-nominated artists at 2025’s CMA Awards and took home multiple trophies for “You Look Like You Love Me” — don’t be surprised if “Choosin’ Texas” picks up nominations or even wins of its own.

Andrew Unterberger: An 8 sounds right. Making the jump from a charting artist who reliably hits the top 40 to one now in contention for the top 10 — or even the top five — is one of the hardest for a mainstream artist to make. For her to do it with a song not yet tied to an album or major viral moment, and one that still feels like it has considerable room to grow, is a very big deal for her career and her future prospects.

2. Though Langley has enjoyed a handful of impressive Hot 100 runs with various hits of the past couple years — most notably “Weren’t for the Wind” and her two Riley Green teamups, “You Look Like You Love Me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do” — “Texas” is her first to reach the top 10, let alone the top 5. What do you think is the biggest factor that’s put “Texas” over the top for her? 
 
Kyle Denis: I think the residual good will over her other 2020s hits set the stage for “Texas” to fly. But there’s also something to be said about the way the song’s lyrics mirror the rumored love triangle between Langley and fellow country stars Riley Green and Megan Moroney. Whether the song is autobiographical isn’t the point. The mere suggestion of “Texas” being true-to-life offers fans lore to sink their teeth into, which extends the overall reach and lifespan of the song. Lastly, that hook is simply undeniable; shoutout co-writer Miranda Lambert!

Jason Lipshutz: It’s a pop-song tale as old as time — a love triangle in which the protagonist gets unceremoniously shrugged off. “Choosin’ Texas” updates the narrative of something like Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” but instead of stilettos and broken bottles, Langley has a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a geographical quandary. The state lines within “Choosin’ Texas” make for a clever lyrical device, but Langley is telling a classic story in a way that’s direct and effective.

Melinda Newman: Langley’s success has been steadily rising, and the one thing each of her songs has in common is that they are good, solid tunes that have showcased her melodic twang and tough vulnerability. “Texas” was the perfect follow-up to her previous efforts because it brings her voice to the fore and tells a compelling story. It doesn’t hurt that Miranda Lambert co-wrote the song and it has fun throwbacks to classic heartache country songs including Ronnie Milsap’s “Smoky Mountain Rain” and George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning” that give the listener an instant sense of familiarity. There’s a reason it was Billboard staff’s pick as the No. 1 country song of 2025. 

Jessica Nicholson: The song has been an undeniable hit, a perfect mesh of a catchy melody, Ella’s rich, husky voice, a relatable heartbreak story and a vibe that is both fresh and traditional-leaning. Also, it doesn’t hurt at all that Alabama native Ella wrote the song with Luke Dick, JoyBeth Taylor and ACM triple crown winner and Texan Miranda Lambert, who knows about writing songs with both heart and authentic Lone Star state swagger.

Andrew Unterberger: It was the right song at the right time — perhaps her most undeniable single yet, at the end of a very impressive run of hits, starting to crest right as the Hot 100 is at its most welcoming. And as with most pop breakout stories in the mid-2020s, it’s the story of several years of work leading up to the big hit as much as it is the story of the big hit itself.

3. Country has struggled in the streaming era to mint female breakout stars on the level of its biggest male hitmakers. With the success of Langley, as well as other recent breakthrough stars like Megan Moroney and Dasha, does it feel like the genre is finally starting to turn a corner in terms of its gender representation? 
 
Kyle Denis: I sure do hope so! Country is home to some of my favorite female vocalists, and I’ve love to see some newer stars rising to the heights of the Twains, Swifts, Underwoods and Lamberts before them. This year, I think Moroney and Langley will solidify themselves as this era’s defining country female artists alongside Lainey Wilson — and I’d love to see Brittney Spencer join them in earnest. 

Jason Lipshutz: Yes — although those success stories are a by-product of country music becoming more entrenched on streaming services as a whole. After the genre translated over to Spotify and Apple Music more slowly than pop and hip-hop a decade ago, country is now a streaming behemoth, as evidenced by the mind-boggling numbers that artists like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Zach Bryan regularly post. Female artists like Langley, Moroney and Dasha have deservingly benefited from country’s overall growth, but hopefully a success story like “Choosin’ Texas” suggests that we really are headed towards more gender representation in country’s top tier.

Melinda Newman: There is still tremendous room for women to break through. There are only a handful of women, including Lainey Wilson, Kelsea Ballerina, Ella and Megan, on the upper reaches of the charts at any given time, and there are also a few very talented women who are coming up behind them — including Carter Faith and Meghan Patrick — both of whom have been around for a number of years, but are making significant strides now. There are three songs in the Top 10 of the Country Airplay chart dated Jan. 10 by women, which is fantastic and hopefully a reminder to programmers that listeners want to hear female voices. However, the genre has a long way to go to turn the corner and shouldn’t fool itself into thinking that a handful of names are leading to parity. 

Jessica Nicholson: It is great and deserved that these women are finding success, but the country genre still has a long way to go to rectify the gender imbalance. According to data released in 2025 from Dr. Jada Watson’s SongData, songs by women artists played on U.S. country radio only continued to decline in 2024, earning a scant 8.39% of airplay that year. There are so many women artists making great country music who are not getting the recognition they deserve.

Andrew Unterberger: It’s a start. So many good to great women country artists of the past decade have managed one major country hit, or one album’s worth of such hits, but seemed like they had to prove themselves every time out. For Langley (and to an only slightly lesser extent Moroney) to now have multiple such hits over the space of a couple of years, and for her to seemingly still be gaining momentum with each one, feels like a sea change of some kind is afoot. Still a ways to go there of course, but very good to see, and long overdue.

4. Do you think “Texas” can climb higher on the chart still, or will No. 5 end up being its Hot 100 peak? 
 
Kyle Denis: “Texas” is by far the youngest song currently in the Hot 100’s top 10; it dropped mid-October! The sky is certainly the limit for “Texas.” A proper music video that leans into the “love triangle” could help the song surge, as could a well-timed remix with a country-adjacent pop star like, say, Sabrina Carpenter. Even if “Texas” doesn’t go past No. 5, that’s still a mighty fine peak for a mighty fine song. 

Jason Lipshutz: Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” may be entrenched in the Hot 100’s top 3 for a long time — especially now that it regain some momentum post-holiday music season — but otherwise, “Choosin’ Texas” is the type of new song that still has room to grow on the chart. We’ll see if the song can not only scoop up greater daily streaming numbers, but also cross over to pop radio in a way that’s rare for a core country track these days. If it can, though? The sky’s the limit for Langley.

Melinda Newman: This week’s Hot 100 chart is a little bit of an outlier, as mentioned before, so it is going to depend on if streaming activity continues to rise. Streams for “Texas” rose 5% this week to 15.7 million, according to Luminate, and the song has been No. 1 on BIllboard’s Top Country Songs chart for six weeks, so it could — but the song probably needs some kind of boost to keep its climb going, such as a high-profile appearance, synch placement or a fun remix. 

Jessica Nicholson: I am hopeful that it will continue to climb higher, given its strong streaming and airplay numbers.

Andrew Unterberger: I could see it climbing another spot or two on its own — then it comes down to how much pop radio wants to throw its arms around it, or if the song can find extra life with a big new moment in 2026. My recommendation, if anyone asks? Getting co-writer Miranda Lambert to hop on a sequel remix.

5. Country has a proud legacy of “Texas”-themed songs, as do some other genres — do you have a particular personal favorite such song? 
 
Kyle Denis: I love The Chicks’ “Texas Man,” Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die)” and, of course, George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Beyoncé’s historic “Texas Hold ‘Em,” as well!

Jason Lipshutz: “Texas Man” by the Chicks, off their wildly underrated 2020 comeback LP Gaslighter. History will be kind to that song and album!

Melinda Newman: It’s almost impossible to pick just one given the wealth of songs about the Lone Star State. Lainey Wilson came on strong last year with the wistful “Somewhere Over Laredo” and Marty Robbins’ murder ballad, “El Paso” is an unsurpassed classic, but George Strait has created a whole canon of songs about Texas, whether it be “All My Exes Live in Texas,” “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” or “Amarillo By Morning.” Topping my list is “Amarillo By Morning.” Langley and her co-writers knew what they was doing when they referenced the Texas anthem. 

Jessica Nicholson: There are so many to choose from, but Willie Nelson’s “No Place But Texas” would be one.

Andrew Unterberger: Hard to resist getting back to the basics of love with Waylon and Willie and the boys in “Luckenbach, Texas” — but for another 2025 single, I was a much bigger fan than I expected to be of Blake Shelton’s snarling “Texas,” another tale of losing a former lover to the Lone Star State. Lotta room to hide down there, I suppose.

Even Frankenstein’s monster couldn’t resist the “Best of Both Worlds!”

In a new W Magazine profile (Jan. 6), Frankenstein star Jacob Elordi revealed some of his earliest cinematic crushes, and his answers are familiar to any twentysomething who spent way too many hours watching ’00s teen comedies.

“I Dream of Jeannie. And then Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, in the film New York Minute. Both of them collectively,” began Elordi as he rattled off a list of childhood crushes. “Also, Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana. And Hilary Duff, when she’s in Italy in that one movie. There’s a frog in the fountain, and there was a boy on a moped. Whatever age I was when those came out, I remember that.”

His memory may be a bit spotty, but Elordi is referring to Duff’s leading turn in 2003’s The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which offers a more modern bookend to the late 1960s Barbara Eden-led sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Nonetheless, given the emphasis of “both” Olsen twins, his heart clearly belongs to the 2000s.

Elordi, of course, has established himself as a contemporary cinematic heartthrob thanks to his lauded performances in Euphoria, The Kissing Booth trilogy, and 2023’s Priscilla and Saltburn. Recently, he starred opposite Oscar Isaac in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein reimagining for Netflix. In an upset at Sunday’s Critics’ Choice Awards (Jan. 4), Elordi won best supporting actor, helping Frankenstein tie Sinners as the evening’s most decorated films (four each).

Notably, Cyrus overlaps with Elordi this awards season. As he campaigns for Frankenstien, the “Flowers” singer has hit the pavement in support of Avatar: Fire and Ash, for which she penned the Golden Globe-nominated original song “Dream as One.”

Before he makes it to the Oscar stage later this spring (March 15), Elordi will return to the silver screen alongside Margot Robbie in Emerald Fennell’s Charli xcx-soundtracked Wuthering Heights adaptation.

Check out Elordi’s individual cover for W Magazine’s Best Performances issue below.

Peso Pluma and Tito Double P started 2026 on a high note with their collaborative album Dinastía, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart (dated Jan. 10, 2026). The 15-track set also starts atop the Regional Mexican Albums chart and secures a No. 6 launch on the all-genre Billboard 200.

“This moment is a reminder of how far our music has traveled, and it makes me really happy to see the fans connecting with it,” Peso Pluma tells Billboard. “Together, we’re continuing to push Mexican culture forward.”

Dinastía starts at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums with 34,000 equivalent album units earned in the United Stats during the Dec. 26-Jan. 1 tracking week, as reported by Luminate. Released via Double P Records, the album’s first-week activity was generated almost entirely by streaming activity, with the set earning 45.1 million official on-demand audio and video streams of its tracks. Minimal contributions derive from album sales and track-equivalent units from song purchases.

The streaming performance also places cousins Hassan and Roberto at No. 5 on the all-genre Top Streaming Albums chart —the highest rank for Tito, whose previous best was No. 10 with Incómodo in 2024.

On the Billboard 200, Dinastía makes a No. 6 debut and marks Tito’s first top 10 out of two career appearances. Peso, meanwhile, secures his third consecutive top 10.

As Dinastía opens at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums, it becomes only the second team-up between two acts that primarily record regional Mexican music claim the top spot since Bronco and Los Bukis’ Crónica De Dos Grandes in 2004. Overall, this marks just the eighth time a joint project between two acts has debuted at the summit since the chart’s inception in 1993. One only other collab album reached No. 1: Juan Gabrial and Rocío Durcal’s Juntos Otra Vez in 1997 (two weeks atop).

Below is a look back at those collaborative projects that opened at No. 1:

Title, Acts, Debut Year
Mambo Sinuendo, Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban (2003)
Crónica De Dos Grandes, Bronco & Los Bukis (2004)
Más Flow: Los Benjamins, Luny Tunes & Tainy (2006)
San Patricio, The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder (2010)
Versus, Gloria Trevi & Alejandra Guzmán (2017)
Oasis, J Balvin & Bad Bunny (2019)
Los Dioses, Anuel AA & Ozuna (2021)
Dinastía, Peso Pluma & Tito Double P (2026)

Dinastía not only makes a splash across Billboard albums charts but also sweeps the Hot Latin Songs chart, which incorporates airplay, streaming activity and digital sales. A total of 14 songs from the album debut on the chart, joining “intro,” which surges from No. 23 to No. 13. Leading the new cuts is “Dopamina,” at No. 2, with 6 million official on-demand streams in its first week.

Here’s is the rundown of Dinastía’s songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart:

No. 2, “Dopamina”
No. 7, “Daño”
No. 8, “Ni Pedo”
No. 9, “Bckpckbyz”
No. 11, “7-3”
No. 13, “Intro”
No. 14, “Putielegante”
No. 15, “Billete”
No. 18, “Trucha”
No. 22, “Mezcal”
No. 23, “Malibu”
No. 24, “Morras II”
No. 25, “Tú Con Él”
No. 27, “20s”
No. 30, “Viejo Lobo”

Jelly Roll had a tough time explaining his face tattoos to his daughter Bailee Ann’s friends as she was growing up — but the opinions of those children’s parents were even tougher.

According to Monday (Jan. 5) post by Taste of Country, the singer recently recalled on Taste of Country Nights how he used to fib to his firstborn’s kindergarten classmates about the ink on his face. “It was so funny, because all of her little friends would go, ‘What is all that stuff on your face?’” he said.

“I would go, ‘You won’t believe this, I only draw this on when I come see y’all so y’all are excited about it,’” he continued. “Finally, they were like, ‘How do you draw it on the same way every time?’ I said, ‘I got the little sticker things now because I been coming so much.’”

The jig was up, however, when Bailee’s friends got older and their parents started to forbid them from hanging out at Jelly’s house “due to the face tattoos and the lifestyle that they assumed it brought,” the publication reports.

Jelly is still tight with his daughter, over whom he now shares joint custody with his wife, Bunnie Xo. He’s been open in the past about fighting to rebuild his relationship with Bailee when she was young after he spent time in jail and having to prove he was capable of being a father to the court. Now 17 years old, Bailee recently hosted a prom for her dad and stepmother, neither of whom got to experience one when they were in high school.

And though his tattoos will always be a part of him, Jelly — who also has a son from a previous relationship — has said in the past that he isn’t always a fan of his own ink. “I regret 98 percent of these tattoos, 97 percent. Almost all of them,” he said in a March 2024 interview with GQ. “Now that I’m 40, I’m like, ‘What the f–k was I thinking?’”