This summer, a new artist emerged from the massive conglomeration of pop music: Chappell Roan. Her style of music is under the “camp-pop” umbrella, with its 1980s synth-pop and 2000s pop hit influences. Her stylized aesthetic is almost directly drawn from modern drag but one may also note similarities between some of Chappell Roan’s costumes and thoes of Miss Piggy.
Chappell Roan’s rise to a music icon begins with the uploading of an original song “Die Young” under her birth name, Kayleigh Rose, to YouTube in 2014. The following year, at age 19, Roan signed onto Atlantic Records and continued to release an EP, “School Nights,” in 2017.
In 2020, Chappell Roan released what would become one of her most popular songs, “Pink Pony Club.” However, even though “Pink Pony Club” gained much critical acclaim and stayed relatively popular from 2020 to 2022, Roan was dropped by Atlantic Records, and her producer, Dan Nigro, went on to work on Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” album.
After a short break, Roan came back to the music scene as an independent artist in 2022 with the release of “Naked in Manhattan.” Though Roan was openly queer by this time, “Naked in Manhattan” was her first brazenly lesbian song.
From there on, Roan’s career began to skyrocket, releasing “Femininomenon” in August 2022, being hired as the opening act for Olivia Rodrigio’s 2022 “Sour” Tour, headlining her own tour in February 2023 (and famously hiring drag queens for her opening acts) and releasing more songs such as the incredibly popular “Red Wine Supernova” and “Hot to Go!”
In September of 2023, Roan released her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” The album was incredibly successful and listed as one of the best albums of the year by many critics. She also began her second headlining tour.
It is interesting here to note that while Roan was having much success with her music, she was still relatively unknown. There are a couple of factors to keep in mind. “Pink Pony Club” and the release of her album occurred during COVID-19, which likely stunted her growth.
Also, because of her unashamed connection to the LGBT community, Roan’s first fans and supporters were obviously in the minority.
It was not until April 2024 that Chappell Roan entered the public view with the combination of her hit single “Good Luck Babe” and her performance at Coachella.
“Good Luck Babe” has all the old pop piano ballad feels from the 2000s but is still aligned with Roan’s brash and unapologetically unique sound. The single debuted on Billboard’s Top 100 at #77 and eventually rose to #4. At the same time, her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” rose to second place.
From there, the rest is history. Chappell Roan continues to be one of the most listened-to artists of 2024. She has become an icon in the LGBT community as well as a bridge between the niche and indie pockets of enthusiasts and the larger outside world of pop.
In its recent article predicting the 2024 Grammy nominations, The Rolling Stone predicted that Chappell Roan will be making multiple appearances this upcoming award season, even though she is competing with established names such as Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande.