Chappell Roan, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Missouri, recently gained heavy traction, rising to fame this past summer. She has garnered high praise from critics for her upbeat songs and performance, along with accruing interest through social media in her drag-inspired style and representation of the queer community. 

Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, grew up in Willard, Missouri, where she started her musical career at 14. She began by uploading videos of herself onto a YouTube channel. Three years later, she signed with Atlantic Records and moved to Los Angeles, California, to continue her dreams of becoming an artist. She soon adopted her stage name, “Chappell Roan,” as a dedication to her late grandfather, Dennis Chappell, whose favorite song was “The Strawberry Roan,” by Marty Robbins. 

However, Roan’s record label dropped her five years later, in 2020, for her “underperforming” music. She stuck with her love of music and sang as an independent artist for many years, working part-time jobs on top of her singing career. In early/mid/late 2023 she started to gain popularity on TikTok where she posted short videos of her music. 

Roan’s journey took a turn for the better in 2022 when she began writing music with Daniel Nigro, a songwriter and producer with close ties to musician Olivia Rodrigo. Because of this, Roan was an opening artist for many of Rodrigo’s shows, giving her the exposure she desperately needed to continue her career. She also opened for musician Fletcher. By the end of 2022, she had released four new tracks: “Naked in Manhattan,” “Casual,” “My Kink is Karma,” and “Femininominon.” All the songs included music videos, two of which were self-funded and produced. 

Since then, Roan’s popularity has only grown. In May of 2023, she signed a contract with Nigro’s Amusement Records, telling Grammy.com a year later that during that time, her album “got too big to be independent anymore.” She continued to gain traction on Tiktok, starting a viral dance to her song “Hot To Go!” and encouraging fans to participate in the dance at her concerts. Her song, “Casual,” was also trending on TikTok, with the hashtag #casual, having over 1.2 million posts. In April 2024, Roan performed at Coachella for the first time, sporting two different outfits each night: a bright pink butterfly dress, and a tank top with the words “Eat Me,” on the front and leopard print tights. 

Since Coachella, Roan has sung to sold-out stadiums and even reached a record crowd for the stadium at her show in Chicago with over 110,000 people buying tickets. She was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Last June, she was asked to perform for the Pride celebration at the White House, but she turned down the offer due to conflicting views. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come,” said Roan, according to Teen Vogue. 

Roan’s music brilliantly embraces LGBTQ+ themes, discussing the ups and downs of being queer, whether it be in relationships or life. She has quickly become a voice for queer individuals, representing a community that is usually overlooked in the media. Roan has proven that her success and musical career will not prevent her from staying true to herself, highlighting her sexuality and values throughout her songs. 

“I think people like to party, and I think my project feels like a party,” Roan told People last September, referring to her music. “I think that people just want to be happy and reflect, sing, dance and dress up, and feel free.”

Students at Ida B. Wells High School agree. “Her music is so much fun to dance to,” said Savannah McCrae, a junior at IBW. “It also shows that no matter where you’re from, there’s people with similar stories and it does get better… [Roan] is like, I see you. I hear you. You’re not alone.”