By Kenzie Smith, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Over the past couple of years, female pop stars have been on the rise, from Sabrina Carpenter to Olivia Rodrigo, but over the past few months, a new pop icon has come into the spotlight: Chappell Roan. Although Roan’s stardom appears rather sudden, her career with music started ten years ago when she released her first self-titled EP at the age of 16 under her real name, Kayleigh Rose.
Roan’s path to the fame she now has entered was rocky. In 2019, she took a step back from public involvement to work on her mental health and new music, and then in 2020 she was dropped by her label Atlantic Records due to not being a very profitable artist and COVID-19 interfering with her ability to tour. In 2021, Roan turned to TikTok to share her musical abilities, which led her to door-opening opportunities in 2022.
Following Roan’s signing to Sony in March 2022, she opened for Olivia Rodrigo in May and Fletcher in October. Roan’s opening for Rodrigo has resurfaced on TikTok as some people share that this performance is what influenced them to look further into Roan’s music, while others share how crazy it is that they had no idea who Roan was at the moment but now consider themselves huge fans.
Album Cover: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan
In February 2023, Roan finally kicked-off on her own tour, “Naked in North America,” selling out every single venue. In 2024 Roan’s fame propelled rapidly with her performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk as well as at Coachella, the New York’s Governors Ball festival, Lollapalooza and most recently the MTV Video Music Awards.
With these recent performances, Roan has proved her musical talent as well as solidified her popstar stage presence. Notable moments include when she shouted “I’m your favorite artist’s favorite artist!” at Coachella in reference to drag queen Sasha Colby, when she dressed as Lady Liberty at the New York’s Governors Ball festival and at the VMAs, when she performed “Good Luck, Babe!” in a chain-mail knight suit referencing Joan of Arc. There she was nominated for Performance of the Year, Best Trending Video and Song of the Summer and won Best New Artist.
Not only is Roan having career-defining moments, but she may also be redefining the boundaries between celebrities and their fans. Roan took to TikTok in August to call out “fans” who have been harassing and stalking her, saying that it represented inappropriate and crazy behavior. Roan received a lot of support in response, but some people claim that the type of behavior described by Roan is part of being a celebrity.
Roan responded to these posts on TikTok stating, “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking whatever is a normal thing to do to people who are famous. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it okay. That doesn’t make it normal.”
She ended her video emphasizing that she’s “allowed to say no to creepy behavior.”
Roan has also been applauded for clapping back at a cameraman at the VMAs. While Roan was walking the VMAs black carpet, a cameraman yelled “Shut the f*** up,” to which Roan responded, “You shut the f*** up. No, not me, b***h.” Roan later explained her reaction in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“This is quite overwhelming and quite scary. I think for someone who gets a lot of anxiety around people yelling at you the carpet is horrifying, and I yelled back. I yelled back. You don’t get to yell at me like that,” Roan stated.
Some view Roan’s authenticity and boundary-setting as a breath of fresh air to the music industry, while others criticize her in these areas. Nevertheless, her fame is undeniable and a spotlight will be on Roan as her career continues to grow.
This article originally appeared on page 18 of the No. 1 October 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
