Ella Langley won New Female Artist and Single of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards. On July 4, she’ll perform at the Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, with Kaia Soul opening. Courtesy photo

When the Academy of Country Music unveiled its nominations in March for the 2025 awards, rising star Ella Langley led the pack with eight nominations, including Female Artist of the Year and Single of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit collaboration with Riley Green, “You Look Like You Love Me.”

At the ACM Awards on May 8, Langley won New Female Artist, Single of the Year, Music Event and Video Media of the Year.

“Thank you to my fans,” she said at the ceremony. “I’m still flabbergasted. I’m on Cloud 9 tonight.”

At the show, she teamed with Miranda Lambert for a duet on “Kerosene,” and later performed a rocking version of her song “weren’t for the wind,” which was inspired by Wyoming’s natural beauty.

Langley will celebrate Independence Day on Maui with a special concert at the Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua.

Langley’s debut album, “hungover,” received wide acclaim from The New York Times to Rolling Stone, and the smash hit from the album, “You Look Like You Love Me” previously won the 2024 Country Music Association Musical Event of the Year, the first win for both artists.

Langley told All Country News the song wasn’t even meant for release.

“(It) was never supposed to leave my audio recordings on my phone,” she said. “I wrote it as a joke with Aaron Reitier at first, and then the label heard it and loved it. And then Riley asked us to go on tour. Being from the same area and growing up on the same kind of music, I thought maybe we could try it out on the road.”

Blending traditional country elements with a fresh, modern energy, the playful duet became a hit with country fans and sold double platinum in the U.S. It earned Langley her first No. 1 single on Country radio and made her one of only two female artists to lead the Billboard Country Airplay Chart in 2024.

After releasing “hungover,” she posted on Instagram: “I truly remember being a kid, staring at the ceiling in my bedroom listening to music, wondering if one day, I’d get to put my own songs out in the world. Well here we are. 14 songs that tell a story.”

Langley grew up in a musical family in Hope Hull, Alabama, singing in local Baptist churches. Picking up a guitar, she first taught herself to play a Bob Marley song.

“I grew up around music,” she told the Montgomery Advertiser. “Almost everyone in my family sings and my grandpa played a ton of different instruments. We’d sing together in church or my grandparents would invite the neighborhood over for big jam sessions. I taught myself to play ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley.”

She recalled her biggest influences were “artists who write lyrics and perform in a way where you really feel something. Artists like Stevie Nicks and Willie Nelson. I feel and believe every word they sing.”

After releasing the promotional single “Country Boy’s Dream Girl” in 2023, she released her debut EP, “Excuse the Mess,” which opened with the fiery rocking “Make Me Wanna Smoke” about being stuck in a destructive relationship.

The Tennessean noted, “Country’s emerging rock ‘n roll moment wouldn’t be complete without an Alabama artist whose wit is as biting as her pen is mighty.”

She followed with her first full-length album, which received rave reviews. Holler Country praised: “Langley has the kind of voice to avoid in a dark alley; razor sharp, dangerous and unwilling to relent.”

American Songwriter called it “a clever blend of country sub-genres — from pop-country and acoustic singer-songwriter, to old-school jukebox folk and country-rock.”

She subsequently released “still hungover,” with four additional tracks. Along with “weren’t for the wind,” it included one of her signature acoustic tracks, “made it out of mexico.”

The award-winning musician is already back in the studio working on her next project. “I never stop,” she told Country Now. “I’m a creative through and through. I literally am constantly thinking about, like I say, I’m terrible at relaxing, but I also enjoy this job. I love what I do. I’m grateful I get to do this every day.”

Langley will perform on July 4 at the Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, with Kaia Soul opening. Show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $59 general admission and $89 for VIP seating, available at https://RitzCarltonMaui.com/EllaLangley.