The song “Good Luck, Babe!” — which captured the complex feelings of sapphic love with its upbeat melody — has amassed nearly 875 million streams on Spotify in the mere seven months since its release. This is no surprise for the immensely talented rapidly rising pop star, Chappell Roan.
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, professionally known as Chappell Roan, is an prominent singer known for her curly red hair and drag-queen aesthetic. Reaching a sudden breakthrough this past summer for her unapologetically queer lyrics and powerful voice, Roan has become one of today’s most iconic pop superstars. Her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” has reached over one billion streams.
Roan’s rise began in a small town in Missouri, where she grew up in a very conservative environment. According to an interview with The Guardian, the lesbian pop icon went to church three times a week and was taught that, in her words, “being gay was bad and a sin.” Roan grew up with a desire for fame and love for music, leading her to cover songs on YouTube and get discovered and signed by Atlantic Records at age 17.
Following this sudden development, Roan moved to Los Angeles where she quickly blossomed in the free, messy environment filled with creative self-expression, inspiring her to write her first single, “Pink Pony Club.” Unfortunately, the underperformance of this song led to a crushed Roan being dropped by the label and forced to return to the Midwest. Despite this obstacle, she persevered towards her goal of stardom. Roan continued to push through, working as a waitress back in her hometown until she had the money to move back to the city. Once she could afford to, the gutsy soon-to-be superstar continued to work small jobs in Los Angeles while simultaneously working as an independent artist on her first album. Eventually signed with producer Dan Nigro, who also produces for popular artist Olivia Rodrigo, Roan made herself the character that she is now known as today, a shamelessly queer pop-diva with songs composed of synth bops and melodramatic lyrics expressing the universal wonders of love and heartbreak.
Recently, Chappell Roan has shot into fame, her seven rocky years of hard work paying off in the skyrocketing numbers on the Spotify charts. An incredibly empowering figure serving as a pillar for the newly expanding gay-pop genre along with the overall renaissance of scandalous stage personas, the icon is just at the beginning of her career. She inspires countless artists and queer teenagers with her music, which is able to seamlessly capture heavy emotions that many go through. The themes in her music range from heartbreak and vengeance in her anthem “Casual” to the glittery celebration of queerness in songs like “Red Wine Supernova” and “Naked in Manhattan.” She is praised for her inspiringly bold stage presence and ability to excite massive audiences as seen in her recent performances at Coachella and the VMAs.
The pop star especially stands out for her appearance, as her extravagant drag-queen-inspired outfits and makeup set her apart from other artists. With this dangerously dauntless attitude pushing against fame’s boundaries that she casts out into her audiences, Chappell Roan is often associated with similarly theatrical stars including Lady Gaga, Kate Bush, and Madonna. Today, her uniquely soulful and passionately eccentric essence can be seen pushing her rapidly up towards success as seen in her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance, as well as the support she has been receiving from other big artists.
As Chappell said herself, she is your favorite artist’s favorite artist.
