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Chappell Roan

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Chappell Roan
Birth nameKayleigh Rose Amstutz
Born (1998-02-19) February 19, 1998 (age 26)
Willard, Missouri, United States
GenresDark pop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Years active2017–present
Labels
WebsiteChappell Roan

Chappell Roan (born 1998) is an American singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. A pop music artist, she writes most of her own songs and has described her style as "dark pop with ballad undertones."

When she was 17 years old and in eleventh grade, Roan uploaded a song titled "Die Young" to YouTube, leading Atlantic Records to sign her to the label. In summer 2020, she released a song titled "Pink Pony Club", which was later described as "the Song of Summer 2021" in Vulture. As of 2022, she was an independent artist.

Early life

Chappell Roan was born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in Willard, Missouri.[1] When she was 10 or 11, she began playing the piano.[2] At 14 or 15 years old, she began uploading cover versions of songs to YouTube, drawing attention from various record labels.[3] When she entered her teen years she began songwriting.[2] When she was 17 years old, she uploaded a song titled "Die Young", and was subsequently signed to Atlantic Records.[1] She was in eleventh grade at the time.[4] Amstutz took the stage name Chappell Roan in honor of her grandfather, Dennis K. Chappell, who died of brain cancer in 2016; his favorite song was "The Strawberry Roan". She has expressed dislike for her real name.[5]

Musical career

Early releases

On August 3, 2017, Chappell Roan released her first single, a song titled "Good Hurt". The song was reviewed favorably in Interview, in which an article praised her "striking maturity and surprisingly deep vocals"[6][4] On September 22, 2017, she released an EP titled School Nights. Also in 2017, she went on her first concert tour, the Lay It On Me Tour headlined by Vance Joy.[7]

In 2018, Roan moved[1] to Los Angeles from Springfield, Missouri.[8] She later described feeling "overwhelmed with complete love and acceptance" after the move, stating that it allowed her to begin "writing songs as the real me."[9] From January to March 2018, she toured the United States with Declan McKenna.[3]

"Pink Pony Club"

In April 2020, Chappell Roan released the song “Pink Pony Club”, which was later described in Vulture as "the Song of Summer 2021". According to the article in question, the song is a "synthy infectious bangarang" that (in reference to its 2020 release amid the COVID-19 pandemic) is "the song of summer of our time, just not the correct time".[1] “Pink Pony Club” tells the story of a girl who leaves the small town where she lives to become a stripper in West Hollywood;[1] Roan has cited a visit to The Abbey in West Hollywood as the inspiration for the song,[8] which has been described as "highly autobiographical".[9] She told Cherwell that the song was about her desire to become a go-go dancer in Los Angeles, stating that "truthfully, I’m not confident enough to do that, so I wrote a song about it".[5] "Pink Pony Club" was produced by Dan Nigro;[1] a music video for the song was directed by Griffin Stoddard.[8]

USA Today ranked the song third on a list of the "10 best songs of 2020", directly above "WAP" and below "Levitating"; an accompanying description characterized it as dance-pop that "earnestly [celebrates] queer culture, acceptance and chasing your dreams."[10] By August 2022, the song had been streamed more than 10 million times on Spotify.[5]

As an independent artist

In March 2022, Chappell Roan released a single titled "Naked in Manhattan". The song was her first release in two years, and her first as an independent artist. It was described by NPR as a "queer girl bop" with lyrics that are "tender, nostalgic" and "flirty yet uncertain".[11] Roan also was selected to open for Olivia Rodrigo at the San Francisco performance of Rodrigo's Sour Tour.[12] In August 2022, she released a second independent single under the title "Femininominon"; Earmilk described the song as "so fun and loud but so intricate" and noted that it was different from Roan's past releases. Roan stated that the song, which was produced by Dan Nigro, was an attempt to "get away with being as ridiculous as I possibly can". An accompanying self-directed music video featured Roan riding a dirt bike.[13]

Musical style

Chappell Roan writes most of her songs by herself, but has co-written some of them with other songwriters.[6] After the release of her debut single, her style was described in Interview as "pop sound [...] infused with a dark and unsettling tone that underscores her intense, somber lyrics".[4] In 2018, she described her musical style as a mix of organic and electronic sounds, with a pop tone,[3] and as "dark pop with ballad undertones."[2] In her songs written while she was a teenager, according to Atwood Magazine, she "brought the hardship and turbulence of our teenaged years to life with a candidness and vividness seldom seen from her peers."[14]

Roan has cited inspirations including the artist Abbey Watkins, the film The Beguiled, and musical artists alt-J,[4] Stevie Nicks, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey;[7] a 2017 review of her debut EP in PopCrush compared her sound to the latter two artists.[15] She has also stated that the song "Stay" by Rihanna was what inspired her to begin writing music.[2]

Discography

Chappell Roan discography
EPs1
Singles10
Music videos5

Extended plays

Title Album details
School Nights

Singles

Title Year Album
"Good Hurt" 2017 School Nights
"Bitter" 2018 Non-album single
"School Nights"
"Pink Pony Club" 2020
"Love Me Anyway"
"California"
"Naked in Manhattan" 2022 TBA
"My Kink Is Karma"
"Femininomenon"
"Casual"

Music videos

Title Year Director
"Good Hurt" 2017 Griffin Stoddard
"Die Young" 2018 Catie Laffoon
"Sugar High" 2018 Ethan Seneker
"Pink Pony Club" 2020 Griffin Stoddard
"Naked in Manhattan" 2022 Ryan Clemens and Chappell Roan
"My Kink Is Karma" 2022 Hadley Hillel
"Casual" 2022 Ryan Clemens

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Alter, Rebecca (May 27, 2021). "Sorry But the Song of Summer 2021 Is This Stripper's Delight From Summer 2020". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Lindsay, Kathryn (January 3, 2018). "The Drop: Exclusive Music Video Premiere For Chappell Roan's "Die Young"". Refinery29. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Kato, Brooke (February 20, 2018). "Chappell Roan to show off evolving sound at The Lost Horizon". The Daily Orange. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Czemier, Zuzanna (August 1, 2017). "Exclusive Track & Video Premiere: 'Good Hurt,' Chappell Roan". Interview. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Ribner, Sonya (August 12, 2022). "Slumber Party Pop: A New Authenticity with Chappell Roan". Cherwell. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Holman, Gregory J. (August 17, 2017). "Chappell Roan is a singer from Willard. She just made the big time". Springfield News-Leader. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Samel, Ketki (October 5, 2017). "Chappell Roan soars at Herbst Theatre despite lack of audience connection". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "V Exclusive: Chappell Roan's 'Pink Pony Club' out NOW!". V Magazine. Interview with Chappell Roan. April 3, 2020. Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ a b Wass, Mike (April 3, 2020). "Chappell Roan Reinvents Herself With Genre-Bending "Pink Pony Club"". idolator. Retrieved December 26, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Ryan, Patrick (December 16, 2020). "The 10 best songs of 2020, including Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Cardi B". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Kinnaird, Madeline (March 15, 2022). "Chappell Roan, 'Naked in Manhattan'". NPR. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  12. ^ Treadgold, Emily (March 4, 2022). "Chappel Roan's "Naked In Manhattan" is a shimmering story of young love". Earmilk. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Treadgold, Emily (August 17, 2022). "Chappell Roan wants to create a "Femininomenon" [Interview]". Earmilk. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  14. ^ Mosk, Mitch (February 1, 2018). "Premiere: Chappell Roan's Haunting "Bitter" Dwells in Darkness". Atwood Magazine. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Tan, Emily (November 28, 2017). "Chappell Roan Heals a Broken Heart With 'School Nights'". PopCrush. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
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