When Ella Langley's “You Look Like You Love Me” featuring Riley Green hit No. 1 Bulletin boardCountry Airplay chart dated December 14, became the first song by a woman in 2024 to reach the top.
It also achieved the feat in 20 weeks, which is a real sprint given the time it can take for songs to reach the top of the slow-moving chart. But there was no denying the catchiness and uniqueness of the sexy track with its spoken word lyrics and the chemistry between Langley and Green.
Langley, who is signed to New York's SAWGOD/Columbia Records, and Green, who is signed to Big Machine Label Group's Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment imprint, were already on tour together when the idea for the duet came up . Langley and her co-writer, Aaron Raitiere, had written the song as a solo track, but “Ella and Aaron were wondering what it would be like with a male perspective,” she says. Ryan Dokesenior vice president of Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment; she asked [Riley] if he would be willing to write a verse or two and it turned out to be something very special. They debuted it on tour together.” The song is also featured on Langley's debut album, magicwhich was released in August.
The song, which the pair performed during the CMA Awards, won the Country Music Association Awards vocal event of the year trophy over competitors such as Post Malone and Morgan Wallen's “I Had Some Help” and “I” by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves Remember Everything.” This recognition helped propel the song from 7-1 on the Country Airplay chart and earned Dokke his Bulletin board's Executive of the Week.
Here, Dokke, whose team worked the song into country radio, talks about the steps that led to the song's chart-topping success and what it means for rising stars Langley and Green.
Langley is signed to SAWGOD/Columbia and Green is signed to Big Machine Label Group's Nashville Harbor. How did you work with Columbia to get the song to country radio since Langley is the lead artist on the track?
Ella and I first met in 2021 and I knew right away that I wanted to work with her in some capacity. When the potential opportunity to work with Columbia arose, [BMLG founder/CEO] Scott Borchetta and [Nashville Harbor president/CEO] Jimmy Harnen immediately jumped to land the plane. For me, I think the relationship with Ella and her team and having Riley on the track made it easier for our team to dive in and get to work. [Columbia Records executive vp/head of promotion] Peter Gray and the entire Columbia team were fantastic collaborators. They showed complete confidence in our ability to get the song on the charts and cheered the Nashville Harbor crew all the way!
The track jumped 7-1 on Country Airplay last Friday: the six-point jump for the third best at the top in the chart's nearly 35-year history. What specific steps did you take to make such a leap?
Ella and Riley delivering a BIG HIT song was definitely the biggest factor in its radio success! Our promotion team at Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment (Andrew Toen, Liz Santana, Stella Prado) worked very closely with our country's radio partners. There were several viral moments along the way that helped the song get more opportunities., The buzz surrounding the CMA Awards win and performance was certainly significant, but one of the biggest factors in this historic leap was Ella herself, who put in the work – especially down the stretch. He picked up the phone and was on the air talking to stations until the eleventh hour.
Mention the CMA Awards performance/win and the tour. What other moments helped build momentum?
There were several moments that created a lot of chatter: The performance [opening for Morgan Wallen] in London's Hyde Park, which drew the biggest country crowd in UK history, even when they performed at Loser's Bar & Grill in Nashville with Jamie Johnson in the summer. Seeing the passion for this song after those shows is what drove the demand for it on the radio and it just kept growing from there. They performed it at TODAY show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and the CMA Awards and each time we saw the numbers grow.
“You Look Like You Love Me” is the first song performed/co-performed by a woman to reach No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart in 2024. Langley ends the longest break – 51 weeks – among women (including groups with prominent female vocals) at the top of the chart after a record 61 weeks in 2003-04. What does this say about the difficulties women still face?
Honestly, I was surprised that Ella was the first of the year. With women like Carly Pearce, Lainey Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Megan Moroney – who just won Best New Artist at the CMA Awards and of course, Miranda Lambert all making and releasing culture by shaping music and filling arenas – puts me on my heels for a second. I am optimistic that we will see more opportunities next year. Just too much great music not to exist.
This song contains spoken lyrics. Did you face any resistance to radio since it's more of a throwback to the 60s and 70s? Have you considered releasing a version without the spoken parts?
The song started with such a red… scorching heat and had such undeniable passion from fans online and instantly streamed so well, spoken lyrics were never really an issue.
Green also has a top 15 hit with “Damn Good Day to Leave”. How do these two songs set him up to take him to the next level in his career?
Riley is in such a great place and in such high demand right now. It all comes down to creating a connection with fans. These songs can connect with two different audiences and it wins with both. It is completing its biggest year and already we can see 2025 being even bigger – in red- hot album, sold out US and UK tours, an internet craze and the respect of his peers – Riley Green's time is definitely here!
Will you continue to be involved in Langley's country radio work, or was it a one-off because of Green?
I think right now we are still celebrating a BIG WIN. This question will answer itself in time. Regardless, the Nashville Harbor team is proud to have been a part of introducing Ella to Country radio and we will continue to be huge fans of Ella and her music. She'll also be on tour with Riley next year, so we'll be there cheering her on either way.
