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Chappell Roan

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Kayleigh Rose Amstutz (born February 19, 1998), known professionally as Chappell Roan, is an American singer and songwriter from Missouri. Working with collaborator Dan Nigro, many songs on her debut album are inspired by 1980s synth-pop and early 2000s pop hits. Her aesthetic is heavily influenced by drag queens and her music and performing style has been positively described as "campy".

When she was 17 years old, Roan uploaded an original song, "Die Young", to YouTube. She was signed to Atlantic Records shortly thereafter. In 2017, she released her debut (EP) School Nights. Her 2020 single "Pink Pony Club", a stylistic departure from her early releases, helped Roan's initial rise to prominence. She was dropped from Atlantic that same year.

Following a short break, she released a series of songs independently in 2022. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was released through Island Records in 2023. The album was included in several best-albums-of-2023 year-end lists. Following her opening for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour and performances at Coachella in early 2024, Roan surged in popularity.

Early Life[]

Kayleigh Rose Amstutz was born on February 19, 1998, in Willard, Missouri, a small town near Springfield.[1][2][3] The oldest of four children,[4] she lived in a trailer park.[5][6] She has described her hometown and her upbringing as conservative and Christian.[7][8][9] During her childhood, she attended church three times a week and spent some summers at Christian camps.[8][10] In a 2023 interview, she said that she struggled with her upbringing and snuck out often. "I just wanted to feel like a good person, but I had this part of me that wanted to escape so bad."[10]

She began playing the piano when she was 10 or 11 years old,[11] and began taking lessons at age 12.[4] She performed publicly for the first time at age 13, singing "The Christmas Song" at her school's talent show, which she won.[12][13][4] When she was about 14 years old, she auditioned for America's Got Talent without success.[4] At 14 or 15 years old, she began uploading covers]] to YouTube, drawing attention from various record labels.[14][4] She began songwriting as she entered her teen years.[11] She graduated from high school a year early;[15] she later described missing many childhood experiences in the "messy" beginning of her music career, including prom and her high school graduation.[16]

Career[]

2015–2021: Early work, "Pink Pony Club"[]

In November 2014 she uploaded "Die Young", an original song, to YouTube under the name Kayleigh Rose.[2][17] She wrote the song while at a summer camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts, which she said "changed [her] trajectory forever".[18] She subsequently traveled to New York for several musical showcases, leading to her signing with music label Atlantic Records on May 8, 2015.[19][13] She then adopted the stage name Chappell Roan[20][13] in honor of her grandfather Dennis K. Chappell, who died of brain cancer in 2016; his favorite song was "The Strawberry Roan" by Curley Fletcher.[16][21] She has also expressed dislike for her birth name.[21]

On August 4, 2017, Roan released her first single, "Good Hurt". The song was reviewed favorably in Interview, which praised her "striking maturity and surprisingly deep vocals."[22][23] On September 22, 2017, she released an EP titled School Nights through Atlantic Records.[19] Also in 2017, she supported Vance Joy on his Lay It On Me Tour.[24] During this time, Roan lived with her parents in Springfield, Missouri, flying with them to Los Angeles or New York City when necessary.

In 2018, Roan moved to Los Angeles.[2][25] She has since stated that this was the first time she felt able to live openly as a queer woman[16] as well as feeling "overwhelmed with complete love and acceptance" after the move, and that it allowed her to begin "writing songs as the real [her]."[26] From January to March 2018, she toured the United States with Declan McKenna.[14]

Roan began working with songwriter and producer Dan Nigro in early 2020.[27] In April 2020, Roan released "Pink Pony Club", which she has described as a "hard left turn" from School Nights.[28] The single was produced by Nigro, and its music video was directed by Griffin Stoddard.[2][25] Roan has cited a visit to The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood, as the inspiration for the song.[25][26] She said that the song expressed her desire to become a go-go dancer in Los Angeles, stating, "truthfully, I'm not confident enough to do that, so I wrote a song about it."[21]

Roan released two more singles, "Love Me Anyway" and "California", in May 2020.[29][30] However, her releases were not profitable enough for Atlantic, who dropped Roan from the label in August 2020.[16][31] Her boyfriend of four years broke up with her the same week, and she spent the next two years working as a production assistant as well as a barista and nanny to support herself.[16][10] Despite this, USA Today ranked "Pink Pony Club" third on a list of the "10 best songs of 2020"; an accompanying description characterized it as[dance-pop that "earnestly [celebrates] queer culture, acceptance and chasing your dreams."[32] A year after its release, Vulture described "Pink Pony Club" as "the Song of Summer 2021," calling it a "synthy infectious bangarang."[2] By August 2022, the song had been streamed more than 10 million times on Spotify.[21]

In early 2021, the success of Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License" shifted Nigro's focus from Roan as he worked on Sour with Rodrigo; Roan was unable to find a collaborator whom she liked as much.[16] She then briefly moved back to Missouri to work on her music independently while working in a drive-through.[33]

2022–present: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess[]

In 2022, Roan moved back to Los Angeles to continue working on her music independently while working a series of odd jobs, including as a production assistant and working in a donut shop. She then earned a publishing deal with Sony, and by March 2022, was able to work with Dan Nigro again to create and release "Naked In Manhattan".[34] The song was her first release in two years, her first as an independent artist, and her first to express same-gender attraction. It was described by NPR as a "queer girl bop" with lyrics that are "tender, nostalgic" and "flirty yet uncertain."[35] Roan also was selected as the opening act for Olivia Rodrigo for performances on Rodrigo's Sour Tour[16][36][37] and for Fletcher on her "Girl of My Dreams Tour."[37]

In May 2022, she released a second independent single, "My Kink Is Karma" and followed up in August with "Femininomenon". Earmilk described the song as "so fun and loud but so intricate" and noted that it was different from Roan's past releases.[38] Roan stated that the song, which was produced by Dan Nigro, was an attempt to "get away with being as ridiculous as I possibly can."[38] An accompanying self-directed music video featured Roan riding a dirt bike.[38] Roan released another single, "Casual," in October 2022, which she had begun working on with Dan Nigro in 2020. The song, which criticizes a romantic partner who refuses to commit, was inspired by a brief relationship Roan had during the COVID-19 pandemic that ended with her partner saying they had met someone else. Nigro produced the song, which has a melancholy sound inspired by Mazzy Star and Radiohead.[16]

In February 2023, Roan embarked on the Naked in North America Tour, her debut headlining tour.[39][40] Each stop on the tour had a theme, with Roan suggesting outfits for fans while making her own camp costumes herself.[37][16] Inspired by Orville Peck, Roan chose to book drag queens as openers for the tour.[41] Concerts from the tour received positive reviews in The Harvard Crimson[37] and Variety, with Jem Aswad describing it as a concert where "you recognize when a new-ish artist's career is about to blast off" similar to Lorde in 2013 and Billie Eilish in 2019.[27]

On March 10, 2023, Roan released the music video for "Casual". She then released the single "Kaleidoscope" after signing with Amusement Records (Nigro's imprint of Island Records), which was also the first release on the label.[27][42] On May 17, 2023, she released the single, "Red Wine Supernova", with an accompanying music video.[16] Rolling Stone praised the song as "a queer hookup anthem."[43] In August 2023, she released her third single of the year, "HOT TO GO!" along with its own music video.

On September 22, 2023, Roan released her debut full-length album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,[44] and began her second headlining tour, the Midwest Princess Tour. This tour, ending in the spring of 2024, traveled across North America and had shows in London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, and Amsterdam.[45] Roan donated $1 per ticket sold to the nonprofit For the Gworls[46][47][10] and opened each show with drag performers.[48]

Roan opened for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour in the United States and Canada from February to April 2024.[49][50] In Roan's first week of the tour, her streams rose by 32%.[51] Also in February, Roan was a musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[52] In March, NPR Music released Roan's Tiny Desk Concert performance.[53][54]

On April 5, 2024, Roan released the single "Good Luck, Babe!", described as "the first song of the next chapter".[55] The song speaks about compulsory heterosexuality, describing a woman trying to deny her romantic feelings for Roan and for women in general.[56][57] Praised by Billboard as a "well-deserved breakthrough", the song received 7 million streams in its first week, was listed in the Spotify Top 10, and debuted at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.[58]

Also in April, Roan performed at Coachella.[59][58] At this time, Roan saw growing success on Spotify, with several of her songs listed on its Daily Top Songs USA chart,[58] and her monthly listeners increasing more than 500% from February to April.[60]

Artistry[]

Chappell Roan writes most of her songs by herself, but has co-written some with other songwriters.[22] After the release of her debut single "Good Hurt," her style was described in Interview as "pop sound [...] infused with a dark and unsettling tone that underscores her intense, somber lyrics."[23] In 2018, she described her musical style as a mix of organic and electronic sounds, with a pop tone,[14] and as "dark pop with ballad undertones."[11] In her songs written while she was a teenager, according to Atwood Magazine, she "brought the hardship and turbulence of our teenaged years to life with a candidness and vividness seldom seen from her peers."[61]

Roan has cited inspirations including the artist Abbey Watkins, the film The Beguiled, and musical artists alt-J,[23] Stevie Nicks, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey.[24] A 2017 review of her debut EP in PopCrush compared her sound to the latter two artists.[62] She has stated that the song "Stay" by Rihanna inspired her to begin writing music.[11] In 2023, a Variety article described Roan as "glammy and pop and embracing her femininity and shared Gen-Z generational experiences, and also very queer-positive."[27]

Personal Life[]

Roan currently lives in Los Angeles, California.[34] While she was raised Christian, she has said that she no longer identifies with the church, and that her current relationship with religion is "evolving".[33] She is a queer woman,[63][18][64] has expressed disinterest in dating men,[65][66] and said that those who called her a lesbian "weren't wrong".[67]

Roan was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder when she was 22 years old, a disorder which contributed to her difficult childhood.[8][63] She has described therapy and medication as being helpful for her.[8][68] She said that she came to her "tacky pop star" appearance after discussing her inner child with her therapist.[63]

While it began as a stage name,[69] Roan has called Chappell Roan her drag persona[33][9] and likened herself to Hannah Montana.[68][70] She describes Chappell Roan as more open and confident, especially regarding sex, than her real self.[6][9][66]

Tours[]

Headlining[]

Supporting[]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Extended Plays[]

Singles[]

Awards[]

Gallery[]

"Do you picture me like I picture you?"
To view the Chappell Roan gallery, click here.

References[]

  1. ↑ Paz, Keylee (2023-02-21). Chappell Roan Celebrates Birthday with a Euphoric Performance at Bronze Peacock in Houston (en-US).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Alter, Rebecca (May 27, 2021). Sorry But the Song of Summer 2021 Is This Stripper's Delight From Summer 2020 (en-us).
  3. ↑ D'Souza, Shaad (2023-12-29). Chappell Roan, pop's next big thing: 'I grew up thinking being gay was a sin' (en-GB). The Guardian.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Holman, Gregory J.. Chappell Roan is a singer from Willard. She just made the big time. (en-US).
  5. ↑ Richards, Megan (2023-11-03). Chappell Roan Talks Boston Show, Debut Album, and More (en-US).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chappell Roan on Audience Participation, Playing a Character and Being Horny (en-GB).
  7. ↑ Chappell Roan: how an unforgettable night at a gay club led to Pink Pony Club.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Chappell Roan doesn't care if she's going to hell (en) (2023-10-14).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Sherman, Maria (2023-10-03). A conversation with Chappell Roan, the yodeling, queer pop icon of tomorrow (en). Associated Press.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Shafer, Ellise (September 22, 2023). Confessions of a 'Midwest Princess': How Chappell Roan's Debut Album Arose From the 'Deep Pits of Hell' to Become a 'Dream Come True' (en-US).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lindsay, Kathryn (January 3, 2018). The Drop: Exclusive Music Video Premiere For Chappell Roan's "Die Young" (en).
  12. ↑ Roan, Chappell. Today I got to perform "The Christmas Song" at the Willard Middle School talent show, just like I did in 2011. That was the first time I ever sang out....
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 From School Days to 'School Nights': Former Willard Student Hits All the Right Notes (en).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kato, Brooke (February 20, 2018). Chappell Roan to show off evolving sound at The Lost Horizon (en-US).
  15. ↑ Yohn, Madison (2023-02-17). We Sat Down With Chappell Roan, A Springfield Native Turned Pop Artist (en-us). Springfield Missouri Convention & Visitors Bureau.
  16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 Spanos, Brittany (October 27, 2022). Chappell Roan Is the Independent 'Thrift Store Pop Star' Ready to Take Over the World (en-US).
  17. ↑ Troye Sivan Saw Chappell Roan's Success Coming a Decade Ago (en-US) (2024-04-22).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Azzopardi, Chris (2023-11-12). An interview with Chappell Roan, who is being call the 'queer pop moment' (en-US).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Daw, Stephen (December 20, 2022). Chappell Roan's Big Year: How the DIY Indie-Pop Star 'Casual'-ly Thrived in Her Post-Label Era (en-US).
  20. ↑ Holman, Gregory J.. Chappell Roan is a singer from Willard. She just made the big time. (en-US).
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Ribner, Sonya (August 12, 2022). Slumber Party Pop: A New Authenticity with Chappell Roan (en-GB).
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Holman, Gregory J. (August 17, 2017). Chappell Roan is a singer from Willard. She just made the big time. (en-US).
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Czemier, Zuzanna (August 1, 2017). Exclusive Track & Video Premiere: 'Good Hurt,' Chappell Roan (en-US).
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Samel, Ketki (October 5, 2017). Chappell Roan soars at Herbst Theatre despite lack of audience connection (en-US).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 V Exclusive: Chappell Roan's 'Pink Pony Club' out NOW! (April 3, 2020).
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Wass, Mike (April 3, 2020). Chappell Roan Reinvents Herself With Genre-Bending "Pink Pony Club".
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 Aswad, Jem (March 1, 2023). Rising Star Chappell Roan Meets Her Moment With Ecstatic New York Show: Concert Review (en-US).
  28. ↑ Levine, Nick (2024-02-05). Chappell Roan: the pop supernova who feels like one of the 'Drag Race' girls (en-GB).
  29. ↑ Love Me Anyway (en) (2020-05-01).
  30. ↑ California (en) (2020-05-29).
  31. ↑ Exclusive Interview with 'Chappell Roan' (en-US) (2022-06-19).
  32. ↑ Ryan, Patrick (December 16, 2020). The 10 best songs of 2020, including Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Cardi B (en-US).
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Fromson, Audrey (September 18, 2023). Chappell Roan on Making Pop Music and Giving Back.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Kaplan, Ilana (September 27, 2023). Chappell Roan on Her Love of Drag Queens and Her Debut Album That 'Feels Like a Party'.
  35. ↑ Kinnaird, Madeline (March 15, 2022). Chappell Roan, 'Naked In Manhattan' (en). NPR.
  36. ↑ Treadgold, Emily (March 4, 2022). Chappel Roan's "Naked In Manhattan" is a shimmering story of young love (en-US).
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 Moiseieva, Anna (March 10, 2023). Chappell Roan Concert Review: Cambridge's Pink Pony Club.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Treadgold, Emily (August 17, 2022). Chappell Roan wants to create a "Femininomenon" [Interview] (en-US).
  39. ↑ Chappell Roan announces highly anticipated debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess out September 22.
  40. ↑ Daw, Stephen (2022-12-20). Chappell Roan's Big Year: How the DIY Indie-Pop Star 'Casual'-ly Thrived in Her Post-Label Era (en-US).
  41. ↑ Chappell Roan on Her Love of Drag Queens and Her Debut Album That 'Feels Like a Party' (Exclusive) (en).
  42. ↑ Graves, Shahlin (March 10, 2023). Watch: Chappell Roan shares 'Casual' music video..
  43. ↑ J., Blistein (2023-12-01). The 100 Best Songs of 2023 (en-US).
  44. ↑ Carter, Daisy (August 11, 2023). Chappell Roan shares new track 'HOT TO GO!' (en).
  45. ↑ Chappell Roan Tours & Concerts (2024).
  46. ↑ Geiger, Amy (May 17, 2023). Chappell Roan shares "Red Wine Supernova," announces fall tour (en).
  47. ↑ Chappell Roan (en-US).
  48. ↑ Eggertsen, Chris (November 15, 2023). Chappell Roan In L.A.: 5 Highlights From the Electrifying Final Stop of the Rising Star's U.S. Tour (en-US).
  49. ↑ Blistein, Jon (2024-04-03). Chappell Roan Lectured at Harvard and Bid Farewell to Olivia Rodrigo's 'Guts' Tour (en-US).
  50. ↑ Olivia Rodrigo's Streams Rise Following Guts World Tour Kickoff — And Opener Chappell Roan's Are Up Even More (en-US) (2024-02-28).
  51. ↑ Olivia Rodrigo's Streams Rise Following Guts World Tour Kickoff — And Opener Chappell Roan's Are Up Even More (en-US) (2024-02-28).
  52. ↑ Fu, Eddie (2024-02-16). Chappell Roan Performs "Red Wine Supernova" on Colbert (en-US).
  53. ↑ Mier, Tomás (2024-03-21). See Chappell Roan Transform NPR's Tiny Desk Into a Drag Prom Fantasy (en-US).
  54. ↑ Chappell Roan's Tiny Desk Concert Is Here and It's Peak Femme Camp (en-US) (2024-03-21).
  55. ↑ Chappell Roan - "Good Luck, Babe!" (April 5, 2024).
  56. ↑ Spanos, Brittany (2024-04-05). Chappell Roan Won't Tempt Fate on New Single 'Good Luck, Babe!' (en-US).
  57. ↑ Cramer, Jude (2024-04-09). The writer of this gay anthem has a heartwarming message for queer folks (en-US).
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Jocelyn, Hannah (2024-04-18). Not Just 'Luck': Why Queer Pop Star Chappell Roan Broke Through to the Hot 100, And Why It Matters (en-US).
  59. ↑ Chappell Roan on Her First-Ever Coachella and the Magic of Makeup (en-US) (2024-04-14).
  60. ↑ Weekman, Kelsey (2024-04-25). Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan are pop stars in the making. How opening tour gigs, TikTok and Coachella are keys to their success. (en-US).
  61. ↑ Mosk, Mitch (February 1, 2018). Premiere: Chappell Roan's Haunting "Bitter" Dwells in Darkness (en-US).
  62. ↑ Tan, Emily (November 28, 2017). Chappell Roan Heals a Broken Heart With 'School Nights' (en).
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 Chappell Roan on Making Pop Music and Giving Back (en-US) (2023-09-18).
  64. ↑ Springfield-native Chappell Roan brings 'queer celebration' to homecoming concert (en-US) (2023-01-29).
  65. ↑ Chappell Roan's Gloriously Unserious Pop (en-US) (2023-08-02).
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Underneath Chappell Roan's Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages (en-US) (2023-03-09).
  67. ↑ Mendez, Moises (March 1, 2024). Chappell Roan on Making ‘Unabashedly Gay’ Music: TIME.
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 Wheeler, Sage (2023-03-30). Chappell Roan: The 'Kaleidoscope' interview (en-US).
  69. ↑ Cardenas, Cat (2023-11-28). Chappell Roan Redefines the "DIY Pop Star" (en).
  70. ↑ Alter, Rebecca (2023-08-02). Chappell Roan Just Wants to Be Hannah Montana (en).
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