In 2014, a 17 year old girl by the name of Kayleigh Rose Amstutz uploaded her first song, “Die Young,” to YouTube. Ten years later, she’s performed to crowds of tens of thousands under the name Chappell Roan, rising to unprecedented levels of global success in the span of just a few months.
Whether it’s listening to the radio on the ride home or letting your algorithm recommend you some new music, you’ve probably heard at least one of Chappell Roan’s songs before. With the release of hit single “Good Luck, Babe!” in April of this year, Roan’s music has skyrocketed in popularity, launching her from a singer flying under the radar to one of America’s biggest pop stars in the blink of an eye. Critics have praised her for her 80s-style aesthetic and music, bringing a refreshing feel to modern pop.
“It gives the sound of, like, older music,” AMHS senior Camille Ross said, regarding her songs. “Her music sounds really fresh and original compared to current pop music, since it doesn’t really sound like other pop music. That coupled with her personality and looks makes it sound and feel really iconic.”
Having garnered over 43 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 500 million streams on her most popular song, she has finally reached the success she dreamed of since the release of her first song — however, not everything in her music career has been sunshine and rainbows. Roan has experienced plenty of ups and downs over the last decade in the music industry, starting when she left her small Midwestern hometown to pursue music.
In 2017, Roan moved to Los Angeles to work with her label, Atlantic Records, spending three years in the Golden State and producing song after song. However, none of her music seemed to strike a chord with the audience — she remained relatively unknown during her time in California, and after a single she released in 2020 underperformed, she was dropped by Atlantic. After these events, she returned to her hometown of Willard, Missouri, where she continued to write music while working multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. Roan continued to reside in Missouri until being diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 22, after which she realized that continuing to create music in her current state was unproductive. With this new revelation in mind, she returned to Los Angeles, determined to continue her musical adventures with a fresh new look and renewed passion to create.
Slowly but surely, after her return to Los Angeles, Roan began to amass a cult-like fanbase, re-designing her appearance to feature bright, flashy colors and overly elaborate dresses and costumes. In a 2022 interview with the Rolling Stone magazine, she described herself as “the pop star of Good Will” and “a DIY queen,” citing her style as the kind of pop star a kindergartener would draw. She adopted an 80s-style synth-pop approach to her music, shifting her image to reveal more of herself and her identity while also offering a fresh new sound to modern pop.
In addition to leaning more into the campy, theatrical, 1980s aesthetic, Roan chose to display more of her queer identity through her music. Many of her songs tell the story of various queer experiences Roan has had throughout her life and the exploration of her sexuality, especially in relation to her relationships and people she’s met. She describes the persona of Chappell Roan as a drag queen version of herself, saying that this mentality has helped her become a more confident person – both onstage and in the background. Throughout her career as artist, Roan has strived to make queer people feel as comfortable in her audience as possible, hiring drag performers to open her shows and singing at LGBTQ+ friendly bars to accommodate as many people as possible.
“I like her music not just because it’s catchy, but because it normalizes queer love,” Emma Fang, a fellow senior, said. “Specifically sapphic love. Since her music is so popular, it helps make it feel more mainstream.”
In 2022, after five long, grueling years of trying to carve out a place for herself in the music industry, Roan finally managed to find success with the re-release of her single “Pink Pony Club.” Due to the close-knit community of fans she had built through her performances, the re-release was considerably more successful than the initial release, and Roan was signed to Island and Amusement Records after two years of not having a label. She then continued to release a variety of singles over the next year and a half, including hit songs like “Femininomenon” and “HOT TO GO!” The release of these singles culminated in the September 2023 release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
In the meantime before releasing her debut, Roan also performed at concerts across the country, even opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tour in San Francisco and serving as the opening act for Fletcher’s American Tour. She embarked on her first headlining tour in February of 2023, and after the release of her debut album, began a second tour with shows taking place in Europe as well as America. She opened again for Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour from February to April of 2024, performed on the Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, and collaborated with NPR for their Tiny Desk Concert series.
After years and years of hard work followed by a rapid ascent to success, Roan released “Good Luck, Babe!” in April 2024, which quickly became her best performing song ever released. She performed at festivals such as Coachella, the Governors Ball, and Lollapalooza, where her shows attracted some of the largest crowds ever seen in the festival’s 33-year run.
With her refreshing take on pop music, bubbly and flashy personality, and connection to the queer community, Chappell Roan has cemented her legacy as one of the most prominent pop stars of the 2020s. Where she goes from here remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – her impacts on modern music will not be forgotten anytime soon.
