Matthew McConaughey is a Texas boy at heart.<\/p>\n
During Wednesday\u2019s episode of \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,\u201d the 56-year-old actor embraced his Southern roots by performing Ella Langley\u2019s hit song, \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas,\u201d alongside Fallon and indie folk band The Last Bison. <\/p>\n
The cover quickly drew attention on social media and even earned a response from Langley herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever recover from this,\u201d Langley wrote on her Instagram Stories alongside a video of McConaughey and Fallon jamming to her hit song.<\/p>\n
Fans shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cPOV me driving singing this with my whole chest,\u201d one fan commented.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cover we didn\u2019t know we needed,\u201d another wrote.<\/p>\n
The performance unfolded during a new installment of \u201cTonight Show Audience Suggestion Box,\u201d when Fallon read a submission that combined Langley\u2019s hit with McConaughey\u2019s latest movie, \u201cThe Rivals of Amziah King.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that song \u2018Choosin\u2019 Texas\u2019 by Ella Langley,\u201d Fallon read. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really excited to see Matthew McConaughey\u2019s new movie \u2018The Rivals of Amziah King,\u2019 where he performs in a bluegrass band. If there was only a way to combine those things, that would be a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew McConaughey during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Todd Owyoung\/NBC via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Ella Langley performs at Omni Nashville Hotel on March 20, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is \u2018The Tonight Show,\u2019 where dreams become reality,\u201d Fallon quipped.<\/p>\n
Moments later, the curtain opened to reveal McConaughey with a mandolin in hand alongside The Last Bison, while Fallon joined in on the washboard. The group then launched into a bluegrass rendition of Langley\u2019s chart-topping hit.<\/p>\n
McConaughey\u2019s cover comes as \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d continues to make history for Langley.<\/p>\n
McConaughey spotted arriving at Balthazar restaurant in New York City. Fernando Ramales \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n
The country anthem recently scored its 17th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running non-holiday No. 1 by a solo female artist in the chart\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
The milestone pushed Langley past Whitney Houston\u2019s \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d and Mariah Carey\u2019s \u201cWe Belong Together,\u201d which each spent 14 weeks at the top of the chart.<\/p>\n
For McConaughey, the song choice was particularly fitting.<\/p>\n
The Oscar-winning actor has long been outspoken about his love for the Lone Star State, where he was born and later returned to raise his family.<\/p>\n
McConaughey left Malibu, California, for Austin, Texas, with his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, and their three children in 2014. He previously explained that returning to Texas was always part of his plan once he started a family.<\/p>\n
Ella Langley attends American Eagle Jeans Country at Stagecoach 2026 on April 24, 2026 in Indio, California. Getty Images for American Eagle Outfitters<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has always been home, there are multiple reasons for that,\u201d McConaughey previously said during an appearance on \u201cToday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cDallas Buyers Club\u201d star said his mother and two older brothers were also in Texas and explained that he wanted his children to experience some of the same values he grew up around.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted them to have what I grew up around,\u201d he said, adding that there is a certain amount of \u201ccommon sense\u201d that comes with life in Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew McConaughey is a Texas boy at heart. During Wednesday\u2019s episode of \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2778,2172,2777,33862,7845,13473,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-406408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-actors","tag-country-music","tag-entertainment","tag-jimmy-fallon","tag-matthew-mcconaughey","tag-musicians","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}