Chappell Roan
Revolutionizing pop music with bold hooks, technicolor performances, and unabashed honesty, Chappell Roan is “your favorite artist’s favorite artist.” The LA-based, GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and performer started her own “femininomenon” after the release of her 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess—which saw six of its songs charting on the Hot 100. Yet it was “Good Luck, Babe!” that became 2024’s defining hit, peaking at #2 on the US Spotify chart and topping year-end lists from Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, NME, and The Guardian. Nominated for six awards at the 2025 GRAMMYs, Chappell stole the night with her exuberant performance of her breakout 2020 hit “Pink Pony Club,” which prompted a full-room sing-along, and her powerful Best New Artist acceptance speech advocating for artists’ mental health, which moved the audience to tears.
The multi-faceted star now preps a 2025 headlining tour and teases her new era with “The Giver,” a lesbian country anthem that she debuted live on SNL. Not only did the song receive clamoring praise for its raucous western instrumentation and heart-baring lyrics, but it also sparked attention for its cheeky exclamation in the bridge: “Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right.” With “The Giver,” Chappell continues to trailblaze her unique vision of pop music — one that challenges the status quo, celebrates queer expression and, above all, is about being authentic to your true self.
A larger-than-life performer inspired by drag and burlesque, Chappell Roan has a reputation for making every show into a dance party that everyone wants to join. In 2024, she brought her fantastical songs to life on The Midwest Princess tour, a string of headlining dates across the US, UK, and Europe that sold out in minutes. On top of her blowout appearances at major festivals like Coachella and Governors Ball, she made headlines for her Lollapalooza set, which was reported to draw a record-breaking crowd of 110,000 people. Her highly conceptual theatrics and costumes for Jimmy Fallon, Colbert, SNL and the 2024 MTV VMAs set the internet alight. And while she spent the beginning of the year opening for Olivia Rodrigo on the GUTS tour, she was met with thunderous applause when she made a surprise appearance for Rodrigo’s Chicago stop later in October to play her sleeper hit, “HOT TO GO!” which had gone viral that summer with a dance challenge.
A critical smash, Midwest Princess established Chappell as a breakthrough songwriter who could combine fantasy with self-reflection. Penned by Chappell alongside producer Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo), the project showcases her journey of falling in queer love for the first time, as she embraces all of its messy, imperfect moments. To express the whirlwind ride of her coming-of-age, the LP touches every genre from the euphoric dance-pop of “Red Wine Supernova” to the country-influenced dream pop of “Casual.”
“I wanted to prove that women in pop are multi-dimensional,” Chappell says of Midwest Princess. “It’s important for me to show that I’m not just some sexy pop star, I wallow in pain just as much as the next girl.”
Growing up in Willard, Missouri, Chappell repressed feelings about her sexuality. After winning her school talent show at age 13, she first gained confidence to pursue her dreams of being a performer. At 16, she released “Die Young,” a brooding folk song that brought her a major label record deal, leading to her 2017 debut EP, School Nights, and her move to LA in 2018. “Back then, I liked being mysterious and serious,” she says.
The character of Chappell Roan, in all her fabulous glory, truly began to take shape with the 2020’s “Pink Pony Club,” about a small town girl who finds belonging at a West Hollywood go-go bar that was inspired by Chappell’s real-life experiences in LA. Despite it being named “song of the summer” by Vulture, Chappell suddenly found herself without a label. Determined to make it work on her own, she steadily built her audience in 2022 through self-released singles like “Naked in Manhattan” and “My Kink Is Karma,” which were praised for their “high drama and meticulous melody-writing” (LA Times).
Ahead of Midwest Princess, she signed with Nigro’s Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records, and continued to forge her career with the self-determination that she could have only gained from being independent. Her experience of doing it herself has led to her being fiercely protective of her integrity — which is clear as she advocates for her own boundaries with fans or calls for artist healthcare at the GRAMMYs, with Teen Vogue claiming the pop star “might change celebrity [and] toxic fan culture forever.”
The Chappell Roan project itself is a tool for healing, as she uses it to embrace all the gaudy, sparkly, fun things she cherished as a kid. “I’m just trying to honor my inner child who thought she wasn’t worth anything, and prove to her that she actually is a really good person,” she says.