Ella Langley Shines Like a Superstar With ‘Weren’t For The Wind’ Performance at CMA Fest

In the midst of a whirlwind year, Ella Langley returned to Nashville for a performance of her latest No.1 single, “Weren’t For The Wind,” at CMA Fest. 

Wearing a black leopard print dress with fringe and a western belt, Langley took the stage with confidence, delivering her lyrics with bold swagger and sass as she sang about being a free-spirited person who struggles with the idea of settling down. 

“Maybe that plane wouldn’t ever take off/ Maybe that dust wouldn’t fly off the drive/ Maybe that tumbleweed and me/ Wouldn’t leave every other sunrise/ Maybe I’d settle down, dig in some roots/ Find me a farmhouse, find me a you/ Maybe I wouldn’t be already gone again/ If it weren’t for the wind,” she sang. 

Featured on the deluxe edition of her debut album, Still Hungover, “Weren’t For The Wind” became a massive success for Langley, taking her already successful career to new heights. It reached No.1 at country radio this spring, adding yet another milestone to the Alabama native’s career.   

“You move to this town, everyone’s like, ‘number one, number one,’ you learn what a number one is. I don’t think I even understood that before I moved here and how the significance of it and how hard it is to do, it’s not easy, not an easy thing,” she admitted during an interview before her CMA Fest performance. “And so this song going number one, this being my first song to go number one, it’s crazy, it’s nuts.”

She admitted the has has completely changed her life and admitted that it was “very special.” 

The opportunity to perform it at Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest was not lost on her.  

“Well, Nissan Stadium, that’s the biggest stage of all CMA fest, right? I mean, there’s not much bigger than Nissan Stadium. So getting, this is my fourth year doing CMA Fest, and last year I got to do Chevy Riverfront, but this year do Nissan Stadium. I mean, it’s a stadium, first of all. It’s insane to walk out there and see that many people,” she shared. “But I was just sitting there talking to some of my crew earlier about how, ‘wow, it’s so hot every year for CMA fest and fans come out and they sweat and they stand in line and they watch the shows.’ So to get to play the stadium and cap the night off that way for some of these fans, it’s just so cool, so special for me and my crew.” 

Ella Langley’s appearance at CMA Fest comes amid her sold-out headlining tour earlier this year and her time on tour with Riley Green and Morgan Wallen. This weekend, she’s slated to join Wallen for back to back shows at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, WI. 

Langley performed at CMA Fest alongside artists such as Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, BigXthaPlug, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Jordan Davis, Riley Green, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Marcus King, Brandon Lake, Carín León, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Scotty McCreery, Megan Moroney, Carly Pearce, Rascal Flatts, The Red Clay Strays, Darius Rucker, Dylan Scott, Shaboozey, Blake Shelton, Zach Top, Travis Tritt, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman.

“CMA Fest presented by SoFi” aired Thursday, June 26 at 8/7c on ABC and next day on Hulu and was co-hosted by Cody Johnson and Ashley McBryde.