A girl from the midwest moved to California with dreams of being famous. After her first album with little success, she was close to giving up.
She opened for pop star Olivia Rodrigo during her Sour tour, and again for her Guts tour. During the Guts tour, some of Rodrigo’s fans began to take notice of this opener, and videos of her performing went viral. Suddenly her music is everywhere, and despite only having one album and a single, she went from a nobody opener to one of the most streamed singers.
Chappell Roan became uber famous almost overnight. After listening to her music, there is no denying that she deserves the fame. Her style is familiar but new, a refreshing change in the music industry. Similar to artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, she pushes boundaries singing about her sexuality in ways that are often frowned upon for female pop singers. In this day and age, there are many openly queer icons, but none quite capture the queer experience like Roan.
In some of her songs such as ‘Naked in Manhattan’ and ‘Guilty Pleasure’ her lyrics describe the process of coming to terms with being queer. In others such as ‘Red Wine Supernova’ and ‘HOT TO GO!,’ she focuses more on celebrating her queerness with a fun beat singing about a woman. ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ and ‘Femininomenon’ solely celebrate femininity.
Her music took the world by storm, but maybe even more so, her performances. She is known for wearing sparkly, over the top, revealing outfits when performing. Her iconic red curls and drag makeup sets her apart. She engages with her fans and encourages them to dance with her.
However, the more she is in the spotlight, the more people start to wonder if maybe she skyrocketed to fame just a bit too fast. Roan was adamant about setting boundaries with her fans, asking them not to approach her if they see her out of character. She stated that she felt uncomfortable when people found her real name and called her it.
At first, people found this endearing, that she was confident enough to set her own boundaries and that she wanted to be a normal person sometimes. She has canceled several of her shows and stepped back from social media saying she needs to focus on her mental health and protect privacy.
Roan had a few obsessive fans that caused this, one finding out where her sister worked. Some have applauded her for ending the stalking before it got too far, as it has for other celebrities. Singer Taylor Swift once patrolled her house with a water gun because she had stalkers trying to trespass.
However, the public has started to turn on her. People have begun to see her less as a strong, confident star, and more as an overdramatic diva who got too famous too fast.
Personally, I think her step back was warranted. She became famous so fast, an adjustment that can’t possibly be easy.
At heart, she is just a girl from Missouri, and we can hope that she soon steps back into the spotlight and releases more music for her fans to enjoy, but for now, it seems that she’s gotten away. Hopefully she has a chance to get out of California to enjoy the midwest brown leaves this season.
