Kayleigh Rose Amstutz (born February 19, 1998), known professionally as Chappell Roan (/ˌtʃæpəl ˈroʊn/ ⓘ CHAP-əl ROHN), is an American singer and songwriter.
Her debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023), was released through Island Records and received critical acclaim.
It was a catalyst for the success of her debut album, which eventually topped the charts in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand and reached number two on the US Billboard 200.
[5][6][7] Her mother, Kara (née Chappell),[8][9] is a veterinarian; her father, Dwight Amstutz, is a retired Naval Reservist who also managed the family's veterinary practice in Springfield, Missouri, and earlier trained as a registered nurse, working in neurological and burns intensive care units.
[22][23] Roan described missing many childhood experiences in the "messy" beginning of her music career, including her prom and high school graduation.
[3][32] She has since stated this was the first time she felt able to live openly as a queer woman,[8] as well as feeling "overwhelmed with complete love and acceptance", allowing her to begin "writing songs as the real [her]".
[34] In April 2020, Roan released "Pink Pony Club", which she has described as a "hard left turn" from School Nights.
[8][17] That December, USA Today ranked "Pink Pony Club" third on a list of the "10 best songs of 2020"; an accompanying description characterized it as dance-pop that "earnestly [celebrates] queer culture, acceptance and chasing your dreams".
[40] A year after its release, Vulture described "Pink Pony Club" as "the Song of Summer 2021", calling it a "synthy infectious bangarang".
The tour, ending in the spring of 2024, traveled across North America and had shows in London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, and Amsterdam.
[66] Roan opened for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour in the United States and Canada from February to April 2024.
In June 2024, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess entered the top ten on the Billboard 200 for the first time, with over 40,000 equivalent album units sold.
Roan said that her publicist was supportive, but warned her that doing so at the White House would likely compromise her and her family's safety, which is why she decided to decline the invitation instead.
[86] Responding to Roan's support for Palestine, Bill Maher claimed that, paradoxically, she would be "thrown off the roof" by locals in Gaza for her camp style.
[87] Roan debuted an unreleased song titled "Subway" as part of her performance at the Governors Ball Music Festival, continuing to work towards a new album.
[88] At a concert in June, Roan spoke to the crowd about dealing with her rapid increase in popularity, stating "I think my career is just kind of going really fast and it's really hard to keep up.
[92] Roan appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on November 2, 2024, along with host John Mulaney, where she performed and teased a new country-tinged song titled "The Giver".
[103] After the release of her debut single, "Good Hurt", her style was described in Interview as "pop sound [...] infused with a dark and unsettling tone that underscores her intense, somber lyrics.
[107] In a Vox feature, Constance Grady described Roan's vocal style in her early music as the "indie girl slur that was so popular at the time" and likened it to singing in cursive.
[112] Writing for the official Grammy Awards site, Kelly Nguyen lauded Roan's "near-perfect vocal stability".
[31] In 2023, on an exclusive interview for Pop Crave, Roan stated that she listened to Lorde, Del Rey and Goulding throughout her entire high school years.
[18] In 2023, a Variety article described Roan as "glammy and pop and embracing her femininity and shared Gen-Z generational experiences, and also very queer-positive.
"[34] Roan has also cited Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj as inspiration for her attitude towards making people feel confident with her music.
[120] Discovering artists like Katy Perry, Kesha, Britney Spears, and Pink during her adolescence also influenced her to start writing music and construct her onstage persona.
[124] While on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Roan stated her stage looks reference horror movies, burlesque, and theater.
[133] She has been praised for her "unapologetic authenticity" and "expression of her queerness and femininity" in her music and live performances, inspiring young women to embrace their own sexuality.
[136] Roan has been praised for her "punkish" attitude towards the status quo for queer performers and applauded for "rewriting the rules of lovelorn pop".
[41] While "Chappell Roan" began solely as a stage name, she has since called it her drag persona[154][16][41] and likened it to Hannah Montana,[153][155] describing the character as "more open and confident [...] especially regarding sex" than her real self.
[7][16][149] Following her rapid commercial breakthrough, Roan spoke frequently of the pressures of her newfound fame and condemned behavior from some fans that she considered "creepy" and "invasive".
[156] In multiple social media posts, she expressed feeling unsafe as a result of public harassment and stalking from fans, which included attempts to contact members of her family.