Chappell Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, is a musician who has truly lived and breathed her art form for as long as she’s lived. Nonetheless, I don’t ever think this young girl from a trailer park in the Midwest would expect the vast success that she has achieved in such a small time frame. Seven years of knock-backs, disappointment, trials and tribulations have led Chappell Roan to take over the entire world fuelled by utter passion and commitment with a unique but brilliant approach to songwriting and making music. There may be many prominent names in the industry right now, none more deserving than Chappell Roan.
Saying Chappell Roan kicked off 2024 with bang is an understatement. In March, the singer performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series which described her as “The utterly commanding artist takes the Tiny Desk stage with a magnetic performance and a towering wig”. With a glowing reference like that it’s no wonder the video went viral with 5.7 million views and counting. This performance also sent her monthly Spotify listeners skyrocketing up by an astounding 500 percent.
For Roan, this was only the start of world denomination and she hadn’t even got started in enticing the masses into the Pink Pony Club. In April, she became arguably the biggest story from Coachella, growing her followers by 45.12%. This set also shook the world of social media with many viral posts using quotes from her set and coincidentally widening her public reach. In June, she was the most prominent story of the Governor’s Ball and has recently just played Lollapalooza with reports suggesting she attracted the biggest crowd of all time.
But what is it that set Roan on this unprecedented trajectory to success so quickly? Is it the exposure at festivals and support slots? Is there a viral impact from social media? Is it branding with the staple of queer art at the heart of everything she does? Or is she simply just talented, likeable and relatable? The Midwest Princess sparks a lot of curiosity that's for sure.
Festival Exposure and Support Slots
Chappell’s exposure at festivals and in a supporting role at gigs has surely impacted her career massively. When an artist is put in this kind of position, it opens up a whole new world of outreach, new fan base and media attention (if they are someone really worth noticing).
Roan was originally signed to Atlantic Records at just age 17 but was dropped five years later as her releases were not profitable enough for Atlantic. Prior to being dropped by Atlantic, she worked with Olivia Rodrigo’s record producer Dan Nigro to produce three singles, including ‘Pink Pony Club’, ‘California’ and ‘Love Me Anyway’ but Chappell was pushed aside as Nigro pursued producing Olivia Rodrigo’s hit debut album ‘Sour’. Despite this, Chappell got the chance to support Olivia's tour for this album. To an extent, this will have benefitted Chappell, giving her access to this new fan base to showcase her music but she was still miles away from the superstar she is today.
However, after ‘Sour’ was finished and out for the public to lap up, Nigro returned to working with Chappell producing her debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’. This album gained some initial attraction, sending Roan off on tour but again, nothing to the scale of where she is at now. Following on from the album release Roan opened for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour in the United States and Canada from February to April 2024. Within the first week of the tour, Roan received a 32% bump during the first weekend of the tour, from 941,000 streams during February. This was an extremely pivotal moment in Chappell Roan’s career, setting her on the path to stardom.
Festivals have given Chappell that chance, which is all she ever wanted, to shine through and prove she possesses star quality. In April, she became arguably the biggest story from Coachella, growing her followers by 45.12%. At this time, Roan saw growing success on Spotify, with her monthly listeners increasing more than 500% from February to April. Following on from this, Chappell then played the Governor’s Ball in New York playing to a crowd of around 100,000 people who gave her the recognition she undoubtedly was overdue for and then some with The Guardian describing her as “pop’s new girl of the moment”. If the Midwest Princess hadn’t already been putting the hours in she then went to perform at Boston Calling attracting a crowd of around 40,000 people. There is absolutely no doubt that this kind of exposure has benefitted Roan’s career, but it also leaves a sour taste in some listeners' mouths, wondering why she wasn’t given these opportunities previously.
Read also: It’s 2024 & Women Still Make Up Less Than 25% of the Musicians on Stage at Major Festivals
Viral Impact
There is no denying when it comes to going viral, either by a song, lyrics, speech or a meme Chappell Roan is the master of it, and my favourite thing about it is that she doesn’t even try. There’s no denying that apps like TikTok have influenced the music industry. What’s even more interesting is that PRs and producers alike have noticed this, with some artists seemingly almost creating music for it to go viral on apps like TikTok or, more recently, Instagram Reels, as example Billie Eilish’s ‘Therefore I Am’ released in 2020 when the apps were dominating and influencing the charts most.
In March, the singer performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and the video went viral with 5.7 million views and counting. Many social media users claimed the video was all over their Instagram feed, enticing them to watch the entire thing and becoming die-hard Chappell fans. On TikTok, there are over a hundred million video clips of this concert, with many having millions of views, which have surely highlighted Chappell’s charm and charisma, doubtlessly benefitting her career, impacting her sales and vastly heightening her monthly listeners.
@chappellroan ur dream girl’s dream girl
♬ original sound - chappell roan
Another aspect about Chappell to mention is that she loves to say bad b**tch quotes on stage that have gone viral. During her Coachella set, Roan addressed the camera, saying: “My name is Chappell Roan. I’m your favourite artist’s favourite artist. I’m your dream girl’s dream girl, and I’m going to serve exactly what you are — c*nt!”. This video circulated the internet entirely, I struggle to believe there are many social media users who haven’t heard it. There have been millions of clips taken of this moment, but even one Chappell herself posted received over 9.6 million views. More recently, she also cussed out the VIP sections during ‘HOT TO GO!’ for not dancing, which is now doing the rounds online. There are so many more I could list as an iconic moment for the books for the Midwest Princess.
Branding with the staple of Queer Art
Finally, we address her most beautiful and heartwarming quality which is the sheer passion and intensity she possesses for her own sexuality and queer art, displayed beautifully through her style, her lyrics and her confidence. Sharing something so personal and not always welcomed in the world, as many people like myself in the LGBTQ+ community know too well.
First point would be to talk about ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ which links in with the viral impact above because that song was, without a doubt, her first big hitter. In April, she released this track, which received 7 million streams within its first week and millions of TikTok videos lip- syncing to the lyrics. The song talks about compulsory heterosexuality, which suggests that heterosexuality is enforced on people by patriarchy. The bridge lyrics have Roan belting out, “When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night / With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife / And when you think about me, all of those years ago / You're standing face to face with 'I told you so'.” A bridge that many, so many people in the queer community have faced first hand. Likewise, ‘Red Wine Supernova’ was described as a “raunchy, lipstick-stained queer anthem”.
As if this goddess hasn’t done enough, she also books drag queens as supporting acts to her show. This was reported to be inspired by Orville Peck. Likewise, many, including herself have branded Chappell as a drag queen or reported she is inspired by them. In an interview with Q with Tom Power, Chappell spoke of a UK queen called Crayola, who opened for her at a London show and declared her a drag queen. This was prior to her blowing up, which, on reflection, makes this decision even more empowering. More recently, she also brought her favourite drag queen, Sasha Colby, on stage to dance with her, which the internet literally lost their minds over.
Overall, it has to be a combination of all these things which had added to the rise of Chappell Roan’s fame, as well as the sheer charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent — as Ru Paul would say! It has to be noted that not all of this is positive, and Roan openly struggled with getting to grips with this new-found, unprecedented fame that she now possesses and spoke about this at a show in North Carolina.
I can only imagine how difficult the intensity of how fast she blew up must have been for her because, as a listener and a queer person, it was astounding to see. However, Roan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and I truly think she’ll stand in the hall of fame as the legend of this generation, and she has worked harder than any other famous artist on the planet for it.
