Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, professionally known as Chappell Roan, has taken the world by storm this year with her high-energy, easy-to-dance-to songs. She has become one of the biggest breakout pop stars of 2024; creating a lavish 1980’s influenced pop, deflected through a queer lens, creating a drag-inspired persona, garnering attention on social media for her theatrical performances, and gathering praises from critics for her upbeat and chirpy songs.
Since the release of her September 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan has hit milestones for her performances at Coachella and Gov Ball music festivals and skyrocketed to fame after the viral success of her single, “Good Luck Babe!” hit the Billboard Hot 100.
But Chappell did not get to where she is now without some difficulties. The truth is that her music career began almost a decade ago, however it ended before she got a chance to show herself to the world.
At the young age of 17, she was signed to Atlantic Records after she wrote an original song “Die Young”. Roan adopted her stage name in honor of her late grandfather, Dennis Chappell, whose favorite song was “Strawberry Roan” by Marty Robbins. She later ended up moving to Los Angeles, where she still resides today. As a queer woman coming of age, living on her own in a big city like L.A. was a huge game changer for Roan. Roan told Rolling Stone in 2022, “That changed everything.”
Roan’s freedom in Los Angeles eventually cultivated her 2020 single, “Pink Pony Club”, inspired by her experiences at The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood. While Pink Pony Club became a hit the following summer, it didn’t get much revenue at the time of its release, which ultimately caused her to be dropped by her label. She continued to work independently.
After moving back in with her parents and working at a donut shop for a while, she teamed up with Daniel Nigro and, by May 2022, released 2 new tracks, “My Kink is Karma” and “Naked in Manhattan”. The new songs and their music videos leaned more into her queer identity and drag-inspired look. They were also self-funded and entirely produced by her friends. She later ended up releasing more tracks, “Casual” and “Femininomenon”, and also opened for singers like Olivia Rodrigo and Fletcher.
Chappell hit more milestones in her career, such as going on her first tour in early 2023, Naked in North America. Her independent career came to an end in May 2023 when she signed with Nigro’s Amusement Records, an imprint under Island Records.
Following its release in September, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess has received high praises from fans and critics. Since then, her presence as an artist has taken off; with Roan earning a spot on the top 10 of Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart nearly a month later.
Roans momentum shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The pop singer continues to dazzle the world with her performances, performing at NYC’s Gov Ball early in September, making headlines for her music and her message. She reveals that she turned down a chance to perform at the White House. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all,” Roan said. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
Even though Roan is back with a major record label, that will not affect her ability to do her own thing. She is determined to keep creative reign on everything and do things on her own terms, including expressing herself and giving her audience a performance they will never forget.
