After opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour, Chappell Roan’s career has exploded. She’s self-admittedly “your favorite artist’s favorite artist,” and she’s one of the hottest names in the pop game right now. Since joining forces with Rodrigo, Roan has performed at Coachella, had a viral moment dressed in Statue of Liberty drag at the Gov Ball, and is even headlining her own tour across North America. As much as we all love her… it turns out we might have been saying the singer’s name entirely wrong this whole time.
Roan has shot into the spotlight rather quickly, a feat she discussed at a show in Raleigh, NC on June 12. She admitted that her “career is going really fast and it’s hard to keep up.” It must be incredibly daunting going from a lesser-known, but still relevant artist to a national superstar in the span of a few months. Since her rise has been so quick, it seems that we’ve forgotten (or aren’t aware) of the correct pronunciation of her name. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Her Name Is Pronounced Like “Chapel Rowan”
It’s a common theme in Roan’s career that people have been pronouncing her name wrong. In full transparency, I think I may have even said her name wrong a time or two. Seriously, I looked up “Chappell Roan name pronunciation” on TikTok and a bunch of videos will pop up full of interviewers, music creators, and fans saying her name completely wrong.
In a video on @bettysgardensong’s TikTok account, the “Pink Pony Club” singer let her fans know exactly how to pronounce her name. “If you’ve been saying ‘Shapell Rowe-anne,’ this is your final warning,” she said on-stage at one of her recent shows. “It’s Chapell Roan, babe,” she added, pronouncing her first name the way you’d say “wedding chapel” and her last name “rowan,” almost as if you were “rowing” but with an “n” at the end.
Chappell Roan’s Isn’t The Singer’s Real Name
In case you didn’t know Chappell Roan isn’t even the singer’s real name, but just a stage name. Kayleigh Rose Amstutz is the woman behind Chappell Roan. But how did she come up with her stage name?
While speaking to Cherwell.org in August 2022, Roan revealed that she created the persona as a tribute to her late grandfather.
Roan admitted that she “never felt super connected to [her] real name Kayleigh,” which led her to create a new name for her career as an artist. To “honor” her grandfather, whose name was Dennis K. Chappell, the “HOT TO GO” singer pulled his last name as her first. Roan came from one of his favorite songs, “Strawberry Roan,” and that’s how Chappell Roan was born!
“Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him,” she said. “Roan came from his favorite song, which was called the ‘Strawberry Roan,’ an old Western song about a pinkish-red horse. It’s a very sentimental name. I do still wish my name was not Kayleigh in real life, though.”
It’s heartwarming to know that Chappell Roan came from the singer’s love for her grandfather. Once again, she’s proving just how well-thought-out of an artist she is — all the way down to the meaning of her stage name.