Ella Langley performs at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026.
Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers
Country music superstar and former Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE) student Ella Langley returned to the Plains Aug. 28-29, bringing her Dandelion Tour to Neville Arena for two sold-out performances. The shows served as a homecoming to Auburn, where Langley studied forestry before making the decision to pursue her lifelong passion for music in Nashville, Tennessee.
Raised in Hope Hull, Alabama, Langley attended the CFWE from 2018 to 2019, majoring in Forestry. In 2019, she left Auburn and moved to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. Reflecting on her time at Auburn, her academic advisor, Jodie Kenney, recently highlighted Langley’s deep connection to the college.
“Her heart was rooted here in the CFWE, our Auburn community and the values our college and university instilled in her,” she said.
Langley’s time at Auburn included balancing her forestry studies with her growing interest in music and taking it to the next level. According to a People magazine feature, Langley ultimately decided in 2019 that she wanted to leave school and move to Nashville. Her mother, Heather, supported the decision and encouraged her to view the move as another form of education.
“This is your college,” Heather said in an interview with Audacy Music. “This is your schooling to move there.”
Seven years after leaving Auburn, Langley returned to campus as an established country artist. Her Dandelion Tour stopped at Neville Arena for performances on Friday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Aug. 29. The tour came during a period of success for Langley, who leads the 2026 CMA Awards with nine nominations, including her first nomination for Entertainer of the Year. Her No. 1, RIAA Platinum-certified album, “Dandelion,” has produced several successful singles. The album includes the four-time platinum “Choosin’ Texas,” which became the first song by a woman to simultaneously top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, as well as the platinum song “Be Her,” which became the fastest solo female song to reach No. 1 at country radio in the last decade.
For CFWE Academic Advisor Jodie Kenney, she couldn’t be more proud. Langley’s return to Auburn represents more than a successful musician returning to campus. “This is a very special young woman celebrating her life journey with us! It’s a new beautiful era for Ella Langley and I am honored to witness the love and joy she is now bringing to millions of people.” Kenney described Langley as having “a deep love for two seemingly different worlds: the natural beauty of forestry, wildlife and the environment; and the soulful expression of her amazing music.”
Langley has continued to speak publicly about her time at Auburn and her connection to the CFWE. Kenney wrote that Langley is “a big part of our Auburn family” and said Ella’s thoughtful, loving character, faith and hard work ethic helped shape the dynamic path she has taken since leaving Auburn.
