In March 2023, Chappell Roan had 3 million monthly Spotify listeners. Now, over a year later, she is the 59th most-listened-to artist with more than 45 million listeners and has won MTV Video Music Awards’ Best New Artist award for 2024.
So who is Chappell Roan?
Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, she grew up in Willard, Mo., with a very conservative childhood, attending church three times a week.
Amstutz began her musical career performing at school talent shows and local events, and then eventually began releasing original songs to YouTube. One song, “Die Young,” was praised by Australian pop artist Troy Sivan, who encouraged his fans to listen to Amstutz’ music.
“You HAVE to listen to this, guys – go send some love,” Sivan tweeted.
Shortly after this, Amstutz was signed to Atlantic Records, a notable label whose list of artists include Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. Months later she made the decision to adopt the stage name Chappell Roan, a tribute to her grandfather Dennis Chappell, who died after battling brain cancer that same year.
“People would always ask if I had a plan B, and he never asked,” Roan said in a 2017 documentary. “He just knew I could do it.”
A year later, Roan released her first extended play album, called “School Nights.” In 2020, she released a single titled “Pink Pony Club.” Roan was dropped shortly afterward by Atlantic Records because of disappointing sales. Despite that setback, “Pink Pony Club” was No. 3 on USA Today’s list of the Ten Best Songs of 2020.
In an interview with The Guardian, Roan spoke about her inspiration for the song and her queer identity.
“I grew up thinking being gay was bad and a sin,” Roan said. “I went to the gay club once and it was so impactful, like magic. It was the opposite of everything I was taught.”
After being dropped by her first record label, Roan moved back to Missouri. She worked a few odd jobs to save up for a return to Los Angeles while working on her music independently.
“I felt like a failure, but I knew deep down I wasn’t,” Roan said in The Guardian interview.
Before long, Roan signed a publishing deal with Sony and opened for one of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour Tour” shows in San Francisco.
In 2023, Roan marked two milestones in her rise: She released her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,”and she headlined her first tour, called the “Naked in North America Tour,” a reference to a track on her album.
The tour featured local drag queens as openers.
“I love the way [Roan] dresses, because I’ve loved watching drag,” junior Gigi Dimas said.
Rise to Fame
Despite her years in the music industry, many fans were unaware of Roan until earlier this year.
“I watched her NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and I was like, ‘Oh my god she has such a beautiful voice,’” Dimas said.
Junior Chloe LaGrone says that she found out about Roan before attending Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts Tour.”
“My friend and I went to the [concert] and she told me about the opener and said that she listened to her on Spotify and loved her music,” LaGrone said.
Fan expectations are often low for the up-and-coming artists who precede the performers that headline a tour. But Roan exceeded those expectations, according to LaGrone.
“I wasn’t expecting much because she was just opening, but she blew us away,” LaGrone said. “Her voice was insane, and her vibe and energy [were] so good. She was an amazing performer.”
Roan is known by many for her iconic stage persona, since she usually dresses up in eccentric outfits and dramatic makeup. One of her most notable looks was for the New York City Governors Ball Music Festival in June, where Roan dressed up as the Statue of Liberty, complete with green makeup all over her body.
“I love makeup in general, and I love how Chappell is so committed to the visuals and everyone on stage with her has a very consistent look,” Dimas said. “She doesn’t downplay any part of herself and her outfits are outrageous.”
In addition to this, Roan’s music and lyrics are centered around her queer identity, an aspect of her music which many listeners find enticing and unique.
“I think a lot of queer artists do it for the political stunt, but she incorporates her identity and celebrates it in her music,” junior Mahri Wenzel said.
Further, Dimas said she enjoys how Roan references other queer media while in the spotlight.
“Chappell Roan celebrates aspects of the queer community,” said Dimas. “She credits drag queens for some of her looks and pays tribute to other queer media in her performances.”
In Roan’s first week opening for the tour, her streams rose by 32%, according to Billboard magazine. Her song “Good Luck Babe,” released in April, reached 100 million streams quicker than any other song she has come out with.
“‘Good Luck Babe’ and the GUTS Tour is where you see [Roan] rising to fame,” Wenzel said.
In early August, she performed at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. One anonymous festival organizer quoted in a CNN article said that Roan’s performance “was the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen.”
Roan has described herself as being overwhelmed by the soaring support of her fans.
“This is really weird and really hard,” Roan told Billboard in an interview. “In the past, honestly, eight weeks, my entire life has changed.”
LaGrone says she was surprised by Roan’s quick rise to fame.
“I do think it’s really hard to do what [Roan] has done,” LaGrone said. “Blowing up that fast seems so scary but I think Chappell has handled it really well. She’s definitely going to go far and I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.”
