Actor Matthew McConaughey performed a bluegrass cover of Ella Langley's hit song "Choosin' Texas" during an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." The performance, which featured Fallon on washboard and indie folk band The Last Bison, was met with social media praise and a delighted response from Langley herself.
"I don't think I'll ever recover from this," Langley wrote on her Instagram Stories, sharing a video of the performance. "The cover we didn't know we needed," one fan commented on social media.
The segment, titled "Tonight Show Audience Suggestion Box," saw Fallon read a submission that combined Langley's song with McConaughey's then-upcoming movie, "The Rivals of Amziah King," in which the actor performs in a bluegrass band. Fallon then quipped, "This is ‘The Tonight Show,’ where dreams become reality," before McConaughey appeared with a mandolin.
McConaughey's performance of "Choosin' Texas" is particularly fitting given his strong ties to the Lone Star State. Born and raised in Texas, McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, moved their family from Malibu, California, to Austin, Texas, in 2014. He has often spoken about his desire to raise his children with the values he experienced growing up in Texas.
"This has always been home, there are multiple reasons for that," McConaughey said previously on "Today." He explained that he wanted his children to experience the "common sense" that he associates with life in Texas. "I wanted them to have what I grew up around."
Meanwhile, "Choosin' Texas" has achieved significant chart success for Langley. The song recently marked its 17th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This run makes it the longest-running non-holiday No. 1 on the chart by a solo female artist, surpassing songs like Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together," which each held the top spot for 14 weeks.