Mega Monday: 'Choosin' Texas' Ties Mariah Carey for the Longest No. 1 Run in Hot 100 History
Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' logs a 22nd week at No. 1 and ties 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' for the longest run in Hot 100 history, while KAROL G, Judeline and rusowsky's 'BbY WOW' climbs 16-10 to become the top 10's only new arrival.
By Song Reviews · September 21, 2026
What Mega Monday Is
Every Monday, Song Reviews takes the previous week’s Billboard Hot 100 top 10 and asks the one question a chart position can’t answer on its own: is the popularity deserved? Last Monday the answer was one number, twenty-one, and a promise that the next week would settle it. This Monday it did.
This Week’s Chart
The Hot 100, week of September 19, 2026:
| # | Song | Artist | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choosin’ Texas | Ella Langley | 22nd nonconsecutive week at No. 1 – ties Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for the longest run in Hot 100 history. Given the full Feature Friday treatment already, not re-reviewed here. |
| 2 | Boston | Stella Lefty | 8.0/10 – holds at No. 2 for a fourth straight week. |
| 3 | I Knew It, I Knew You | Taylor Swift | 6.3/10 – holds at No. 3. |
| 4 | Been by Now | Morgan Wallen | 7.3/10 – climbs from No. 5 to No. 4. |
| 5 | Hate That I Made You Love Me | Ariana Grande | 6.0/10 – slips from No. 4 to No. 5. |
| 6 | Dracula | Tame Impala & JENNIE | 6.4/10 – holds at No. 6. |
| 7 | So Easy (To Fall In Love) | Olivia Dean | 8.0/10 – holds at No. 7. |
| 8 | Man I Need | Olivia Dean | 8.8/10 – holds at No. 8, still the best-reviewed record on the chart. |
| 9 | Be Her | Ella Langley | 7.8/10 – climbs from No. 10 to No. 9. |
| 10 | BbY WOW | KAROL G, Judeline & rusowsky | 7.7/10 – new to the top 10, up from No. 16, on the strength of streaming and a run at No. 1 on the Global 200. Reviewed today. |
Is the Popularity Deserved?
Start with the record, because it is now a fact rather than a forecast. “Choosin’ Texas” spent a 22nd week at No. 1 on the chart dated September 19, matching the 22 weeks “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has accumulated over its December returns, and passing the 19 weeks that Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” each held as the previous non-holiday marks. One outlet’s coverage of the tie noted it is only the second of more than 1,000 Hot 100 No. 1s to run this long. Nothing about the earlier verdict changes: the song earned its Feature Friday treatment in August on the record itself, and the industry is reacting the same way. Langley also holds No. 9 on this chart with “Be Her,” and both songs are nominated for the CMA Awards’ Single and Song of the Year, a double that, per the announcement coverage, has not happened since Miranda Lambert in 2010.
The story of this particular chart, though, is at No. 10. “BbY WOW” is the top 10’s only new arrival, replacing Bruno Mars’ “Risk It All,” which was at No. 9 a week ago. It got there the slow way: No. 73 on the chart dated August 22, then No. 38, No. 29, No. 16, and now No. 10. That is the profile of a record listeners keep choosing rather than a debut-week streaming spike that fades, and the review that goes with today’s feature argues it is a better song than the profile alone would prove. It is also worth noting where this chart’s momentum is and isn’t. Morgan Wallen’s “Been by Now” moves up a spot and “BbY WOW” moves up six; everything else in the top 10 is holding or drifting, and two of the drifters, Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You,” are both former No. 1s, now parked at No. 5 and No. 3.
The limit on the record is that Mariah Carey’s song is not finished. As coverage of the tie observed, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has returned to the top of the chart every December since 2019, so a 22-week mark is a number a single seasonal week can match again. That is next season’s question. For this week, “Choosin’ Texas” is level with it, this column’s answer on whether that is deserved is the same one it has given all month, and the chart underneath is last Monday’s with one song swapped out, and it is a good one.
Hero image: “BbY WOW” single artwork, KAROL G / Bichota Records. Used under fair use for editorial commentary.