All About Chappell Roan, the Newest Queer Woman to Take the Pop World by Storm
By Anna Buescher
Chappell Roan the rising 26 year old pop star has taken the world by storm. Her upbeat soprano pop has captured audiences attention and enchanted listeners from San Francisco to Paris. The rising star sprung into the limelight this year seemingly out of nowhere, but with her captivating stage presence it is no surprise that she has garnered this much fame so fast. How did she rise so quickly into stardome?
Before her fame Kayleigh Rose Amstutz lived in a small town near Springfield, Missouri. She learned piano at 10 years old and started lessons at 12. She won her school’s talent show at 13 playing “The Christmas Song ‘’ and went on to audition for America’s Got Talent. She did not get on the show, but instead began uploading music covers to Youtube. At only 17 years old Chappell Roan uploaded her first song to YouTube, her debut single titled “Die Young”. The indy soprano single is impressive for a first song, and it was no surprise she quickly was signed on with Atlantic Records. In 2020 Roan released “Pink Pony Club”, a stylistic switch from her early music that leaned more into an upbeat 80’s synth-pop style that we know and love today, however she was dropped from Atlantic Records the same year.
In 2023, Island Records released Chappell Roans debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” catapulting Roan into stardome. Early this year Chappell Roan opened for Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour and now Chappell Roan has performed at Coachella, her own World Tour, and more.
With a unique sense of style, and a fun playful attitude it is no surprise that Roan has made it so far in her career. As a queer woman she pulls from drag artists for her stage presence, and sings easily relatable homoerotic laments for the women she has been with in the past. Her stage persona is a drag persona and it brings drag into the spotlight once more sharing a new and different perspective on drag that is openly inspired by other beloved drag queens shows such as RuPaul, Trixie Mattel, or Sasha Colby.
Having a gay woman singing clearly sapphic songs reach such a high popularity is uplifting to say the least. As Chappell Roan, Renee Rapp, Dove Cameron and even more queer women fly onto the charts, the voice of sapphic women continues to spread and lesbians are granted a new voice. I cannot wait to see how Roan continues with her career and am looking forward to a possible new album this year.
About the Author
Anna Buescher is a current junior at Butler university studying Biology and French. She uses she/they pronouns and identifies as a queer woman. She is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, fungi and much much more. You can reach out to her at abuescher@butler.edu.
