Ella Langley Tops Apple Music’s ‘Best of 2026’ Country Playlist Featuring Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and More

Ella Langley has been crowned the top artist in Apple Music's ‘Best of 2026’ country playlist, which looks back at some of the biggest songs from the past twelve months.

Apple Music's Today's Country playlist gathers together the most notable releases of the week, and now, as part of the streaming platform's retrospective ‘Best of 2026’ campaign, Langley has been chosen as the ‘Artist of the Year’ for country.

With ’Be Her’ leading the way at the pinnacle of the playlist, the Apple Music editors explain why the Alabama native was the obvious choice for the top spot, “Today's Country tracks what's happening from the heart of the country scene to its outer edges, highlighting superstars and emerging artists alike. This year, there was no bigger story than the runaway success of Ella Langley. In 2026, Langley crossed over from country breakout to a genuine force across all of music, building on 2025's ‘Choosin’ Texas’ with the release of Dandelion and hits like ‘Be Her’”.

They go on, “Her duets did heavy lifting, too - ‘I Can't Love You Anymore’ with Morgan Wallen and ‘Jaded’ with Koe Wetzel kept her in rotation in and outside of country music proper and broke a string of chart and streaming records along the way”.

The ‘Best of 2026’ Today's Country blurb concludes, “She capped it off as the winningest artist at the 2026 ACM Awards and the most-nominated artist heading into the 2026 CMAs, making her the clearest “artist of the year” case in country today”.

Hot on Langley's heels in the playlist is Morgan Wallen's hazy, pop-infused earworm, ‘Been By Now’, which serves as the lead single from his keenly awaited next album.

Luke Combs’ emotionally charged ode to missing his wife when he's on tour, ’Sleepless in a Hotel Room’, comes in at No. 3, completing a formidable top trio on the stacked playlist.

Elsewhere on the playlist, you'll find other eye-catching chart-toppers, blockbuster collaborations and undeniable anthems from modern country icons like Megan Moroney, Stella Lefty, Parker McCollum, Riley Green, Lainey Wilson and Zach Top.

Seeing all these fantastic songs from titans of the genre listed out in one place reinforces how it's been another brilliant year for country music. But also, given the strength of these releases, it serves as another timely reminder of just how stellar Langley's singles have been to continue to outshine her peers as she has done in 2026.

With the CMA Awards around the corner, we're excited to see which of Apple Music's ‘Best of 2026’ Today's Country collection end up taking home Song and Single of the Year. Regardless of who wins (and our money is on Langley), this playlist feels like a welcome celebration of another awesome twelve months of country music.

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