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The Rise and Rise of Chappell Roan

The Rise and Rise of Chappell Roan

Public Opinion
June 27, 2024

A Note from Jack

After a year of an on-again off-again flirtation with running I finally found my groove a few months ago. The clear turning point was when I added a couple Chappell Roan songs to my Spring 2024 running playlist. At first I added Casual and Red Wine Supernova and found myself not hating the hard parts of the runs. So, I added My Kink is Karma, Pink Pony Club and HOT TO GO! Then Good Luck, Babe! Was released so I added that… More recently I’ve ditched the running playlist all together and only listen to Chappell. I’m fully addicted to running again, or just really into Chappell Roan. Something about her music is just fucking exciting. Down below Quinn writes about how she suddenly became one of the hottest pop stars of the moment, and Henry shares his experience watching her Gov Ball performance.

Chappell Roan’s Not-So-Sudden Rise

By Quinn Moreland

The pop girls have been busy. Sabrina Carpenter, famously working late ’cause she’s a singer, has two tracks on the Top 100; Charli XCX is cementing her cult classic status while continuing her long flirtation with the mainstream; Camila Cabello is doing overtime trying to sell indie sleaze.

But Chappell Roan.

Let's talk about Chappell Roan. For the past few months she’s been having a magical breakout that may seem sudden but is actually the hard-won result of years spent toiling in the song machine.

Origins of a Midwest Princess

Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, she grew up in Missouri and started performing as a teenager, unsuccessfully auditioning for America’s Got Talent and uploading covers to YouTube. She began writing original songs and signed to Atlantic Records in 2015. She began using the stage name Chappell Roan and released her debut EP, School Nights, in 2017.

The following year, Roan relocated to Los Angeles and later began working with producer Dan Nigro, then known for his Long Island indie band As Tall As Lions and collaborations with Sky Ferreira and Carly Rae Jepsen. Together, they wrote “Pink Pony Club,” a joyous ode to the transformative power of West Hollywood nightlife. Though the song and others one-offs were gradually gaining traction, the spring of 2020 was a terrible time for the music industry and Roan was dropped by Atlantic.

Thrift Store Pop Star

After licking her wounds, Roan pulled herself up by her glittery, bedazzled bootstraps. She stopped trying to be a “put-together pop girl” and began building the Chappell Roan aesthetic, leaning into camp, queerness, and a theatricality studied at the School of Gaga. “As time has gone on, I realized that no matter how hard that label experience was for five years, it was the biggest blessing ever,” she later told Rolling Stone. “And being independent has taught me I can do it by myself.”

By 2022, Roan had reunited with Nigro, who was a bit busy working with one Olivia Rodrigo, and the pair began making music that reflected Roan’s newfound sense of self—“Casual” is a modern heartbreak anthem while the unabashedly ridiculous “Femininomenon” features a chorus that wants to “Get it hot like Papa John.” Roan steadily began building an audience on TikTok without pandering, though the dance moves that featured in the “Hot to Go!” video screamed virality.

In September 2023, Roan dropped her first full-length, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Released via Nigro’s Island Records imprint, Amusement Records, the record was critically acclaimed but was not a huge commercial success.

It’s a Femininomenon

Roan kicked off 2024 with a series of dates opening for Rodrigo’s Guts tour, which surely introduced her music to a wider audience—Roan’s monthly Spotify listeners increased more than 500% from February to April. In April, she released the single “Good Luck, Babe!” which received 7 million streams in its first week and appeared in the Spotify Top 10. By the time Coachella rolled around later that month, the stage had been set for Roan to ascend to the next level of stardom. Roan unleashed her powerhouse vocals to a ravenous, overflowing crowd who sang along to every word. After the first weekend of Coachella, “Good Luck, Babe” debuted at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.

By June, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbed into the top 10 of the Billboard 200, an unusual feat even by the publication’s standards (albums tend to premiere at certain spots, not claw their way up). (Declined) invitations to perform at the White House’s Pride celebration followed as did massive crowds at New York’s Governors Ball festival, which in turn led Bonnaroo to bump her up to a bigger stage.

Roan herself seems thrown off by the whirlwind. “I think my career is just kind of going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up,” she told a recent audience. “I’m just being honest … I’m having a hard time today.” The responses online seemed genuinely compassionate. Rise or fall, Roan has given her audience plenty of reasons to care about her work and wellbeing.

Henry’s Experience at Gov Ball

Going into Governors Ball, I knew most of the fans there that day were there for Chappell Roan. The crowd was fully packed from front to back for Chappell, and her set was at 5pm on Sunday. I remember walking in, and I was with a couple friends that were so excited about her and I had heard so much hype, I was going in thinking, damn, this is going to be cool I guess. As soon as it opened up, she came out of an apple as the Statue of Liberty, fully painted green. The entire performance matched that energy. I had never seen such an engaged crowd so early in the day, or a crowd of that scale so early in the day. The engagement and interest for the other acts compared to Chappell was night and day. And it was so infectious. I knew and heard of some of the songs, but I found myself Shazaming and trying to figure out every song throughout. They were so good live, and I was thinking I need to hear this again. That’s a tell-tale sign for an amazing artist and performer—if you don’t resonate with a song on streaming but are fully converted after a live show. The most unforgettable moment was seeing the entirety of the enormous crowd dance in unison to “HOT TO GO!”