The Greatest Pop Stars podcast was choosin’ Texas last weekend, as two of the biggest artists in country — and two artists who shared a particularly historic chart moment earlier in 2026 — were playing back-to-back sold-out shows in the northern parts of the Lone Star State. Megan Moroney headlined the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Friday night (Aug. 14), while Ella Langley topped the bill at Dickies Arena in Texas on Saturday (Aug. 15), both displaying their on-stage excellence, their branding brilliance and their still-ascending star power, while also displaying what makes them (and their audiences) still very different at their core.
On this Pop Star Performance review episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard contributor Natalie Weiner — also co-founder of the excellent weekly country newsletter Don’t Rock the Inbox — to discuss the back-to-back arena-headlining country shows they saw over the weekend, and what they learned from them about the two artists, and about this country moment in general. (Natalie also wrote about the two shows for Billboard.)
Along the way, we answer all the most pressing questions about Megan Moroney and Ella Langley: Is Megan Moroney the more natural crossover star of the two? How much has she taken from Taylor Swift both in her songwriting and in her live presentation? Given how good she is at pop stuff, why hasn’t she had any pop smash hits yet? Why didn’t Ella Langley — who does have several pop smash hits — play up any of those songs when she performed them? Does Ella Langley have the same ambition to be a world-dominating pop star (and will she end up being one for a long time anyway)? And perhaps most importantly: Was Kaitlin Butts actually the best country performer we saw all weekend — and what will it mean for the genre if she can’t follow Moroney and Langley to stardom?
Check it out above, and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
Find Natalie’s Billboard article about the two concerts here, and subscribe to the essential Don’t Rock the Inbox newsletter here.
And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:
Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe
Human Rights Campaign – In Your Area
Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.
