Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan (born February 19, 1998, Willard, Missouri, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter known for song lyrics that embrace queer culture and for her bold makeup and costumes inspired by drag queens. Her music incorporates various styles, including synth-pop, rock, and disco, with influences from the popular music of the 1980s and 2010s. Roan first broke into the mainstream with her 2020 single “Pink Pony Club” and later proved to be a pop mainstay with anthemic tracks such as “HOT TO GO!” (2023) and “Good Luck, Babe!” (2024), the latter of which earned more than 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. In 2025 she won the Grammy Award for best new artist.

Early life

Kayleigh Rose Amstutz is the eldest of four children born to Kara and Dwight Amstutz, the owners of a veterinary clinic in Missouri. She grew up in the small town of Willard, attending Christian youth camps during the summer and church three times a week. In interviews after her music career took off, Roan spoke about feeling different and depressed while growing up in a religious environment on account of her mental health challenges and sexuality (she identifies as a lesbian).

Amstutz demonstrated music talent at an early age, taking piano lessons, joining her school’s choir, and attending music camps. In 2015 she went to New York City to perform in record label showcase events and earned a contract with Atlantic Records at 17 years old. One year later she assumed her stage name, Chappell Roan.

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“Pink Pony Club” and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

In 2017 Roan released her first EP with Atlantic, titled School Nights, and opened for touring acts such as Vance Joy and Declan McKenna. By 2018 she had moved to Los Angeles and began to work with producer and songwriter Dan Nigro. Their first collaboration, “Pink Pony Club”—a single that tells the story of a queer dancer from Tennessee working in a gay club in West Hollywood—was shelved for a year by her label. After the track was released in April 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlantic dropped Roan from her contract. Heartbroken, she returned to Missouri and worked at a drive-through coffee shop.

It was not until she secured a publishing agreement with Sony in 2022 that she released her next track, “Naked in Manhattan,” another collaboration with Nigro. In this new stage of her career, Roan rebranded her stage persona as a drag queen diva with a campy, over-the-top aesthetic.

Also in 2022 she opened on tour for Olivia Rodrigo, whose debut album, Sour (2021), was also produced by Nigro. Following more singles—including “My Kink Is Karma” and “Femininomenon”—Roan embarked on a headline-making tour of her own in February 2023 that included performances by local drag queens. Later that year her single “HOT TO GO!” dropped, accompanied by a music video featuring a dance reminiscent the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” that quickly spread on social media.

In September Roan released her debut LP, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, under Nigro’s new imprint, Amusement Records. Featuring Roan’s dramatic new look on the cover, the album received positive reviews from critics for its synth-pop elements and exuberant expressions of queerness. She was named Billboard magazine’s top new artist of 2024, and she joined Rodrigo for another tour in support of Rodrigo’s sophomore LP, GUTS (2023), for which Roan contributed background vocals.

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A turning point in Roan’s career was her bold set at the Coachella music festival in April 2024. Dressed in a pink butterfly costume, she commanded the stage, and videos of her performances began to circulate online. Her single “Good Luck, Babe!” entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at number four in September. Meanwhile, Midwest Princess reached number two on the album chart. Later that year Roan was nominated for six Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year for “Good Luck, Babe!” She performed “Pink Pony Club” at the awards ceremony and took home the Grammy for best new artist. She also released the singles “The Giver”—Roan’s take on country music—and “The Subway,” which rocketed to number three on the Hot 100 chart upon its debut.

Views on fame and support for the LGBTQ+ community

The breakneck speed of Roan’s rise was not without its bumps. In the summer of 2024 Roan took to social media to call out fans who touch her without her consent and harass her family and friends. Garnering both praise and criticism, the posts initiated a discussion on the price of fame and fans’ parasocial relationships with celebrities. Many other recording artists, including Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Charli XCX, and SZA, expressed support for Roan in her struggles with fame and others’ admiration for her music.

Roan has also been outspoken about her struggles with depression and mood swings she has experienced as a result of mental illness. She told Vanity Fair in 2023 that she was not diagnosed with bipolar disorder until her early 20s and that finding the best treatment was a long journey. Additionally, Roan has been open about her sexuality and often acknowledges the support she receives from her queer fans. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2024 Roan won the award for best new artist and dedicated it to drag artists and the LGBTQ+ community in her acceptance speech:

For all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I understand you, because I’m one of you. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be.