Chappell Roan

Bold pop hooks, sex positivity, honest songwriting, and a heavy dose of glitter make up the world of Chappell Roan, the next multi-faceted force in pop music. Through her punchy bangers that combine fantastical narratives and heart-bearing self-reflection, the LA-based singer, songwriter, and performer born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz has emerged as the rare star who is both larger than life and real as fuck.

Chappell’s breakthrough arrived in 2020 with “Pink Pony Club,” a synth-pop smash about a small town girl who finds belonging at a West Hollywood go-go club. Named “song of the summer” by Vulture, the single immediately reached a devout audience of fellow misfits who now scream along to every word at Chappell’s impassioned shows. Throughout a momentous 2022, she sold out her first headlining tour across the country and released her debut independent singles to critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, LA Times, and Pitchfork. Now, she readies her debut album, The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess, arriving September 2023 via Amusement Records/Island Records.

A technicolor celebration of self-discovery and transformation, The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess tracks Chappell’s cinematic journey of falling in queer love for the first time, while embracing all the messy and imperfect moments in-between. Penned by Amstutz alongside Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo), the project’s early 2022 singles like “Naked in Manhattan,” “My Kink Is Karma,” and “Casual” have been praised for their “coming-of-age exuberance” (NPR) and “high drama and meticulous melody-writing” (LA Times). The LP touches every genre from the euphoric dance-pop of “My Kink Is Karma,” introspective acoustic guitar ballads like “Kaleidoscope,” the country-pop “Red Wine Supernova,” and punky new wave inflections on “Hot to Go.” With the full-length, Chappell wanted to “prove that women are multi-dimensional,” she explains. “It’s important for me to show that I’m not just some sexy pop star, I wallow in pain just as much as the next girl.”

Having opened on tour for Olivia Rodrigo and Fletcher, Chappell aims to make each of her own concerts into a celebration of embracing one's authentic self — resulting in her rapidly growing, devout fanbase that sells out tickets in mere hours. She’s an electrifyingly gutsy performer, commanding high-octane sing-alongs at her own shows, as she headbangs on stage in spectacularly campy outfits. Often featuring opening sets from drag queens, each night has a different dress theme (like “homecoming dance” and “goth, grunge, and glitter”) which creates a sense of communion among her fans — many of whom don’t usually have an opportunity to truly let their freak flag fly. “It feels like a community,” she says of her shows, “where you’re allowed and encouraged to dress up crazy, because everyone else will be too.”

The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess is a courageous, semi-autobiographical statement that acts as the origin story to Chappell Roan, which Amstutz sees as a “performance piece” that lets her explore a side of herself that she’s still wary of showing in real life. “My music is an outlet for me to feel safer and give other people a space to express their queerness,” she says. Growing up in Willard, Missouri, she repressed feelings about her sexuality due to her Christian upbringing. Yet she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an entertainer, so she took acting classes as a kid and picked up the piano at age 12. With her preternaturally impressive vocals, she became known as “the singer girl” in high school.

At age 16, Amstutz wrote “Die Young,” a brooding folk hit that brought her major label record deal that led to her 2017 debut EP, School Nights, and her move to LA in 2018. “Back then, I really liked the darkness and being mysterious and serious,” she notes. Yet she truly found her voice with the glittering “Pink Pony Club,” based on a life-changing night at a WeHo gay bar called The Abbey. Inspired by everything from Bratz dolls, burlesque, and Hannah Montana, the Chappell Roan universe is now built off “what I loved when I was little: gaudy, sparkly, fun vibes,” Amstutz explains. “I’m just trying to honor my inner child who thought she wasn’t worth anything, and prove to her that she actually is a really good person.”