No one could have predicted the uprising of queer icon, Chappell Roan in 2023, all the way into 2024. She went viral after releasing her debut album, The Rise, and Fall of a Midwest Princess.’ Her song ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ broke into Billboard Hot 100. Her songs revolve around mostly LGBTQ+ topics and algorithms.
Chappell Roan’s full birth name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz. She got her name ‘Chappell’ from her grandpa’s last name. She was born on February 19th, 1998. She is an American songwriter and singer. She works with collaborator Dan Nigro. Not only are her songs based around queer topics, but they are also mostly inspired from 1980s synth-pop and early 2000s pop songs. Her aesthetic is fully and heavily inspired by drag queens and her music was considered ‘campy.’
Chappell was signed to Atlantic Records in May of 2015. She was 17 years old when she released a single called ‘Die Young’ on YouTube in November 2014. That is when she adopted the stage name, Chappell Roan,’ as we know her as today. Besides her first song, she would upload videos of song covers and other original songs. She had then gone on to release her debut EP called, ‘School Nights in 2017’, with the help of her label’s support.
February 2024, Chappell Roan made her late-night debut on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’ She performed her song, ‘Red Wine Supernova,’ in a wedding dress. A while after that, she performed her set in a huge wig and drag makeup for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series. After a while, in 2020, Chappell Roan was dropped from her label’s roster. It was said by Vox that Chappell’s music was ‘underperforming.’
Chappell Roan had a humbling beginning before she became famous. She was raised in a trailer park as a young child. It was said that she lived in the heart of the Midwest. She described her hometown as ‘Conservative and Christian.’ She attended church three times a week during her childhood. She said she ‘wanted to feel like a good person but had this part of me that wanted to escape so badly.’ She snuck out often and struggled with her upbringing. Then she and her family moved to a house in Willard, Missouri. Willard, Missouri had a population of 6,000. Now she has moved up to Hollywood.
She wrote her first song, ‘Die Young,’ at a summer camp at ‘Interlochen Center for the Arts.’ She stated that the song changed her trajectory forever. She traveled to New York several times for several musical showcases. She released her first professional single, ‘Good Hurt,’ on August 3rd, 2017. The song made a good impression, and her song was reviewed favorably. She was praised often for her ‘striking maturity and surprisingly deep vocals.’
She went on to release one of her hit songs, ‘Pink Pony Club,’ in April of 2020. After the success of Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Driver’s License,’ Chappell’s collaborator, Dan Nigro, shifted his focus to Olivia, and Chappell had gone back to Missouri to work on her music independently. The only reason she could not work with a collaborator is because she could not find one, she really liked and could work with. At the same time, she was producing music alone and working in a drive-through.
Now, in 2024, her songs are going viral everywhere. Songs such as ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ ‘Hot to Go,” “Red Wine Supernova,’ ‘Casual,’ and other songs. Chappell had gotten the opportunity to open for Olivia Rodrigo’s, ‘Guts World Tour,’ in Canada and US from February to April 2024. In April, she also got to perform at Coachella. In September, Roan performed at the ‘2024 MTV Video Music Awards’ and got the award for ‘Best New Artist.’ She reached number 1 on ‘Billboard Artist 100’, in October, and had the biggest sales week for her debut album.