1998–present
Chappell Roan News: “The Giver” Tops Country Chart
Chappell Roan is back on the charts with her first foray into country music. The singer’s new single “The Giver” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart on March 29. Roan is just the third woman, next to Beyoncé and Bebe Rexha, to lead the chart with her first-ever entry.
The hit also topped the Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales charts and landed at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Grammy winner first performed the song on Saturday Night Live in November 2024 before it was officially released on March 14.
In a recent interview with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast, Roan explained that she has no intention of leaving pop music behind but simply “had to” write a country song for herself. “I wrote a country song not to invade country music, but to really capture what I think, the essence of country music is, for me, which is nostalgia, and fun in the summertime, and the fiddle, and the banjo feeling like country queen,” the 27-year-old said. “I just think a lesbian country song is really funny, so I wrote that.”
Who Is Chappell Roan?
Chappell Roan is a Grammy-nominated singer known for the hit songs “Good Luck, Babe!,” “Pink Pony Club,” and “Hot To Go!” Born and raised in the heart of Missouri, Roan pursued music at a young age, uploading cover songs to YouTube. At age 17, she signed with Atlantic Records and released her first EP School Nights in 2017. After getting dropped by the label in 2020, Roan set out as an independent artist. The singer embarked on her first headliner tour in early 2023, scored a new record deal, then released her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess that fall. Her indie-pop songs often contain personal lyrics about relationships and lesbian identity.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Kayleigh Rose Amstutz
BORN: February 19, 1998
BIRTHPLACE: Willard, Missouri
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces
Where Is Chappell Roan From?
Chappell Roan, whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, was born in the small conservative town of Willard, Missouri, on February 19, 1998. She is the oldest child of Kara and Dwight Amstutz, who run a veterinary clinic in nearby Springfield, and was raised with three siblings, including a sister, whose names haven’t been made public.
Her upbringing was very religious. She attended church three times a week and spent summers at Christian youth camps. Roan, who is a lesbian, grew up “feeling very different,” describing her childhood as “really depressed.” “I was diagnosed bipolar when I was 22, but as a child, I think my parents just thought I was being a brat, so I had such a difficult time,” she told Variety in September 2023.
Roan’s outlets growing up included crafting and cross-country running, but she found the most solace in music, which her parents fully supported. She began taking piano lessons when she was 12 years old and started singing publicly soon after, winning her first talent show in eighth grade. By the time she was 13, the self-taught singer was writing her own songs, taking inspiration from a range of musical influences, including Stevie Nicks, Karen Carpenter, Lady Gaga, and Lana Del Rey. The following year, she tried out for America’s Got Talent. When that didn’t pan out, she started uploading cover songs to YouTube.
Despite her musical talent, Roan originally wanted to be an actor growing up. She took acting lessons in high school and planned to use music to get her foot in the door. But later, Roan abandoned this dream.
When she was 16, Roan wrote the song “Die Young” and performed it publicly for the first time at a fall festival in Missouri. Soon after, she began pitching it to record executives in New York City and Los Angeles. In order to focus on music full-time, Roan graduated from Willard High School a year early by taking online classes at Brigham Young University to earn enough credits to get her diploma.
Music Career
Roan’s hustle paid off in 2015 when she was signed to Atlantic Records as a 17-year-old. It was then that the singer adopted her stage name in honor of her late grandfather Dennis Chappell, whose favorite song was “The Strawberry Roan” by Marty Robbins.
Still living in Missouri, Roan and her parents flew back and forth from Los Angeles and New York City to work on her first EP, School Nights, which was released in September 2017. The dark and moody track list included “Die Young,” as well as four other songs.
In 2018, Roan moved to Los Angeles, where she started living openly as a queer woman. This “changed everything” for her, both personally and professionally. “I feel allowed to be who I want to be here,” she said in an interview with Rolling Stone in October 2022. Later in 2018, Roan started working with songwriter and producer Dan Nigro to create more upbeat pop songs. Together, they produced the track “Pink Pony Club,” which was inspired by Roan’s first visit to The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood. While the song was well-received, it didn’t immediately turn much of a profit, and she was subsequently dropped from her label.
Becoming an Independent Artist
Roan moved back in with her parents during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to Los Angeles in 2021. She told Paper Magazine she gave herself a year to make it as an independent artist before calling it quits. That summer, “Pink Pony Club” finally got its due, going viral on TikTok and Instagram. By the fall, she had reunited with Nigro and rebranded her music and her image.
In February 2022, she released the unapologetically queer track “Naked in Manhattan,” followed by the revenge tune “My Kink is Karma” just months later. The new songs and their accompanying music videos, which were self-funded, leaned into her queer identity and new drag-inspired look, attracting further attention on social media.
Roan performed her first headlining concert and opened for fellow pop musician Olivia Rodrigo in May 2022. By the end of the year, the rising singer released two more tracks, “Casual” and “Femininomenon.” In February 2023, Roan embarked on her headliner Naked in North America tour, featuring performances by local drag queens and campy theme nights inspired by her songs. Attendees were encouraged to dress on theme, a tradition that made a splash on social media.
Her hustle as an independent artist led to another record deal. This time, Roan signed with Nigro’s Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records, in May 2023. That summer, she created a viral TikTok dance for her August 2023 song “Hot To Go!” Her tutorial video has amassed over 6 million views on YouTube.
Debut Album: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
In September 2023, Roan released her long-awaited debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. The album received positive reviews from critics and fans for its synth-pop hooks and bold embrace of queerness. The following month, Roan was named one of Billboard’s top 10 Emerging Artists.
The singer’s album and presence as an artist really started to take off in early 2024 after she made her late-night debut on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in February. That same month, she began opening for Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS World Tour and performed in the United States and Canada. Amid the tour, which Roan joined for two months, the “Pink Pony Club” singer performed as part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series in March of that year.
Mainstream Success: “Good Luck, Babe!”
Everything changed for Roan following her campy performance at Coachella in April 2024. Videos of her set from the music festival—featuring the singer in an ‘80s-inspired look complete with crimped hair, leopard tights, and a tight tank top with the words “Eat Me”—were shared widely across the internet. Roan released her single “Good Luck, Babe!” that same month, which quickly broke into the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually peaked at No. 4. The song became a radio hit by the fall and boosted several of her other songs onto Billboard’s coveted chart as well. Roan’s sets at the Governor’s Ball (also known as Gov Ball) and Lollapalooza music festivals also helped to catapult her into mainstream success, with her album hitting No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart in August.
In September 2024, Roan won Best New Artist at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards and dedicated her win to drag artists and the larger LGBTQ community. “For all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I understand you, because I’m one of you,” she said in her acceptance speech. “And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be.”
The singer made her Saturday Night Live debut as a musical guest in November 2024. The same month, Roan received her first Grammy Award nominations. The Best New Artist nominee was also up for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Midwest Princess, along with Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Good Luck, Babe!”
Adjusting to Fame
Despite her success, Roan’s sudden rise to fame has also come with its own set of disadvantages, which the singer first addressed in August 2024. In a series of TikTok videos, she revealed some of her fans had been stalking her and harassing her online. “I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior,” she said.
Following unexpected backlash from her comments, Roan further explained in a September 2024 Rolling Stone interview that one person showed up to her family’s home and her New York City hotel room. The incidents prompted her to hire security. In a separate instance, a stranger grabbed and kissed her on the street without her consent, making her consider the possibility of dyeing and cutting her hair so she could go about her day unnoticed. “I feel like fame is just abusive,” Roan told The Face, also in September. “I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”
Bipolar Disorder
After dealing with depression and mood swings most of her life, Roan was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder at age 22. Although her diagnosis provided her with an explanation for her moods and behavior, she struggled for two years to find the right medications, leading her to enter outpatient care in 2022.
“Bipolar disorder is one of the hardest to treat because you just don’t know what’s gonna make you feel better,” she told Vanity Fair in September 2023. “I found a place that I feel good about my meds. I’m in therapy. I really try to like, take care of myself. But, oh my god, it’s so hard with this job because there’s no checking out.”
In September 2024, the singer shared she was diagnosed with “severe” depression and is attending therapy twice a week.
Political Views
Roan hasn’t been shy when it comes to commenting on the politics of today. Dressed as the Statue of Liberty during her Gov Ball performance in June 2024, she told the crowd she had turned down an invitation to sing at the White House’s Pride celebration. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all,” Roan said. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
In September 2024, the singer told The Guardian she has “so many issues” with the government and doesn’t “feel pressure to endorse” a presidential candidate. These comments sparked swift backlash, with some fans misinterpreting her views as support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
In response, Roan posted a video clarifying she intended to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, but elaborated that she still has a problem with “some of the policies on the left” regarding Palestine and trans rights. She also noted her vote isn’t an endorsement.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Roan offered a more concise picture of her political views, encouraging people to vote and vowing to “do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights,” particularly the LGBTQ community. “I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee,” she said.
She appeared on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy in March 2025, where she discussed feeling pressure to share her political opinions. “Why the f— are you looking to me for some political answer,” she asked on the podcast. “I’m a pop star. I wish I had the answers. I wish the president was a pop star, but she’s not.” Her statements have sparked backlash from fans.
Dating Life
Roan has kept her dating history relatively private, providing only a little insight into her past relationships. Before she came out as gay, the singer dated an unnamed man for over four years. They broke up shortly after Roan was dropped from Atlantic Records in 2020.
Three years later, in August 2023, she revealed she was in a relationship with a woman, who she was “scared” to kiss in public. “Even though I’m in L.A., homophobia is in the back of my head,” she said at the time. More recently, in September 2024, Roan shared she “met this girl” outside of the music industry but is reluctant to commit because of how much her newfound fame has changed her life.
Quotes
- I’m your favorite artist’s favorite artist.
- I think that people just want to be happy and reflect, sing, dance and dress up, and feel free.
- Purposeful revenge does not feel good, but revenge by accident feels awesome.
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Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
