Who Is Chappell Roan? A Need-to-Know Artist Who’s Hot to Go

You haven’t heard of the femininomenon that is Chappell Roan? Well, good morning! We hope you had a lovely rest underneath that rock of yours, but it’s time to strap on your heels and hit the Pink Pony Club dance floor.

Pop princess and pure delight incarnate Chappell Roan has exploded onto the scene in a way many musicians could only dream of. You may have heard some of her sounds ripping through TikTok like wildfire over the past few months.

But who exactly is she, and why do the queers care so much? Here’s what makes this gay icon oh-so mother — and most likely your favorite artist’s newest favorite artist.

Who is Chappell Roan?

Chappell Roan isn’t a person, exactly; she’s a drag persona portrayed by the highly talented Kayleigh Rose Amstutz. The young Missouri native found herself through the magic of drag as many queer people do, and out of this pressure cooker popped the loud, vibrant, and downright delicious performer known as Chappell Roan.

Roan’s initial musical musings were a far cry from her current sound and had more angst-laden undertones. We’re never opposed to some good old-fashioned bang-flippin’ tunes, but her 2020 single “Pink Pony Club” showed off a much brighter sound that would define her breakout debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.

It didn’t take long for her impressive list of absolute bangers to get stuck in our heads all day. She has a penchant for catchy, bubblegum tunes that deliver depth and raw emotion — one of many reasons her music resonates with so many people.

The lyrics of her songs are whimsical and smart, and the music is dripping with brooding synths and high-energy vocals. It’s all wrapped up in the impossibly fun and unique package that is the performer herself.

Where is Chappell Roan from? Her upbringing and sexuality

Amstutz was born in a small town — Willard, Missouri — where she grew up attending church three days a week but couldn’t resist the tempting allure of salacious pop divas like Kesha and Lady Gaga.

In her late teens, she adopted the Chappell Roan moniker as a combination of her late grandfather’s name, Dennis Chappell, and his favorite song, “The Strawberry Roan” by Marty Robbins. Soon thereafter, Atlantic Records signed Roan after the label saw one of her covers on YouTube.

Roan’s relationship with queerness and sexuality

The pop musician felt different from a young age but knew she always wanted to be a star. Chappell Roan’s sexuality played a big part in her music from the beginning; it was a crush on an older Mormon student that compelled her to write her first love songs in her early teens.

Throughout high school, Roan consistently shrugged off her queerness as a phase she’d grow out of. As a god-fearing girl from the Midwest, there wasn’t much room for self-expression — let alone a campy alter ego. So, like many queer people, Roan fractured herself into two people: the girl who would go to Bible study and the girl who would sneak out to express her true self.

After years of self-exploration and romantic trial and error, Roan now identifies as a lesbian. She has led a new generation of sapphic singers that’s still gaining steam.

How it all started

After moving from Missouri to the gay mecca of LA to pursue music stardom, she finally found a place where she felt free to be herself: The Abbey. It was through the magic of that famed West Hollywood gay bar that the young girl from Willard began to see herself in a new light.

This formative experience inspired 2020’s “Pink Pony Club,” a paradigm shift in her artistic trajectory. Like many queer folks, finding community was a game changer for her, and Roan slowly but surely began to shift her persona to a brash and unapologetic celebration of everything queer.

Despite the song’s current popularity, it wasn’t an immediate hit. Atlantic Records dropped Roan shortly after its release due to underwhelming sales. This brought her back to her hometown of Willard, but she was determined to return to LA. After saving up some cash and cranking out a few independent singles, Roan answered the sapphic siren song of the West once more.

From there, her music slowly gained momentum. TikTok took a shine to “Pink Pony Club,” leading Vulture to name it the 2021 “Song of the Summer” more than a year after its release. Similarly, her debut album took several months to peak on the charts. Fortunately, she had a dedicated cult following to spread the gospel. Preach, ladies!

Becoming Chappell Roan

The drag performance of Chappell Roan was Amstutz’s outlet for being overtly queer and overcoming the expectations about what she could or should look like. It certainly shows in her wig-snatching performances and camp masterpiece music videos.

In interviews, she has described the persona as a catch-22; on the one hand, it allows her to shine without shame despite her nature as a reserved homebody. But it’s also an act she needs to phase in and out of seamlessly while out in public, creating all new expectations regarding her public perception.

Chappell Roan’s songs: The work of a cunning linguist

Roan’s queer fanbase is fiercely loyal because she’s telling our stories. Many of Roan’s lyrics talk about queer love and heartbreak — things you don’t often see in mainstream pop songs outside of superficial lip service. (We’re looking at you, “I Kissed a Girl.”)

Instead, Roan’s tunes just feel like love songs that happen to be queer, and they carry all the unique joys and baggage of LGBTQ relationships. “Naked In Manhattan” provides a fantastic example: “Touch me, baby, put your lips on mine / Could go to hell, but we’ll probably be fine.”

Ironically, these lyrics were written well before Roan had even kissed a girl — like much of her early music. Still, that didn’t stop her from conjuring powerful expressions of yearning, lust, affection, and everything else we feel when love isn’t so simple and societally accepted. Pop artists have always seen success when writing about these subjects, but Roan’s lyrics are supremely raw examples of a queer voice that’s speaking up for the lovesick lesbians among us.

Good luck, babe!

So, where is Chappell Roan now? It might be hard to believe, but being an international pop sensation has kept her quite busy the past few months! Her first album contains several viral hits, including “HOT TO GO!,” “Red Wine Supernova,” and “Casual.”

“Good Luck, Babe!” is the current earworm delightfully infecting everyone who listens to it, and Roan hinted that it potentially could be a jumping-off point for a new era, similar to how “Pink Pony Club” kicked off her queer renaissance. Her new sound will likely push an even more stark juxtaposition between lyrics and musical choices. The bouncy synth-pop beat underpins a mournful tale of compulsory heterosexuality.

Roan has also suggested she’s “experimenting” with her sound, toying around with ’90s pop rock. We certainly can’t wait to see what she’s cooking up.

The rise and rise of Chappell Roan

There’s something so refreshing about the music of Chappell Roan; it feels familiar and nostalgic yet undeniably fresh. And for the LGBTQ community, it’s a level of representation we haven’t seen since Mother Monster stepped onto the scene and made us put our paws up. No matter where Chappell Roan’s trajectory takes her, we’re optimistic that we’ll have a lot more incredible music where that came from.

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Who Is Chappell Roan? A Need-to-Know Artist Who’s Hot to Go