Chappell Roan sings, in her hit, “California,” “To think I almost had it going / but I let you down.” Here, Roan expresses her feelings of disappointment after being dropped from Atlantic Records, the result of the underperformance of her 2020 single, “Pink Pony Club.” Little did Roan know, her fame would skyrocket only a couple of years later.
On Sept. 22, 2023, she released her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” Some well-known songs on the album included “HOT TO GO!,” “Casual” and “Red Wine Supernova.” While fans have been following from the very start of her career, her rise to fame happened in early 2024.
Many fans of pop music may have first heard of Roan’s music as she began to open for Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR” tour. At the start of Rodrigo’s second tour, for her album, “GUTS,” Roan’s journey to stardom had just begun. The videos that people were sharing online of Rodrigo’s opener went viral. Soon enough, songs from Roan’s album became audios on TikTok, a major form of music sharing. In April of 2024, Roan released her hit single, “Good Luck, Babe!” Right away, it flew into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. By the time she was scheduled to perform at Coachella and Lollapalooza, neither venue had enough room for her fans.
For the young singer’s Lollapalooza set, the organizers had to move her to one of their bigger stages so that her fans would not cause a huge traffic jam of people. She broke the attendance record for the largest day crowd in over 30 years with over 100,000 people in attendance.
From the star’s glamorous Lucha Libre outfit to her glittery Lady Liberty costume, Roan continues to impress others with her unique fashion. Her puffed-up curly red hair is a statement in and of itself while her bold makeup also compliments her style in a way that makes her not only recognizable, but memorable. Chappell Roan stated to Jimmy Fallon in an interview that she takes inspiration from drag, horror movies and theatre for her looks. Roan shared, “I love looking pretty and scary.”
Chappell Roan was nominated for 4 Grammys this year, including for Album of the Year, a high honor for an up-and-coming artist. That night, she won her first Grammy for Best New Artist. Walking to the stage with a smile as big as her hat, Roan announced her feelings on livable wages for new artists, stating that record companies should pay their artists fairly. “I told myself, if I ever won a Grammy, and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off artists would offer a living wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists,” she said to the audience. “We got you, but do you got us?”
Chappell Roan is no stranger to criticism, facing backlash for her outspoken personality. From her speaking up on being mistreated in general to confronting a paparazzi photographer for their disrespect, she has faced frequent fallout since coming into this fame. Despite all of this judgement, Roan has always bounced back. Chappell Roan expressed her support on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, never backing down from what she thinks is right and only ever coming back stronger.
Recently, Roan has begun to sing new, unreleased songs at different venues, including “The Subway” at the 2024 NYC Governors Ball Music Festival and “The Giver” when she was a musical guest on the Nov. 2 episode of Saturday Night Live.
Chappell Roan sings, in her song, “Pink Pony Club,” “I’m gonna keep on dancing,” and she has lived up to this. Motivated by the critic’s harsh words, she is going to keep on dancing, no matter if people dance with her or not.
