Roan’s Journey
Chappell Roan began her journey to stardom in 2014 with her first song “Die Young” at sixteen years old. At seventeen, she signed with Atlantic Records and in 2019, released an EP called “School Nights”. In 2020, she released “Pink Pony Club” and Atlantic Records dropped her a couple months later. Throughout the years, she continued to independently create her own music and became close to famous pop star Olivia Rodrigo, joining her tour, GUTS, as the opening act. This caught attention within the media and launched Chappell into plenty of performances of her own, including:
- Roan’s Naked in North America Tour in 2023
- NPR’s Tiny Desk in March of 2024
- Coachella in April of 2024
- New York’s Governors Ball Festival in June of 2024
- Lollapalooza in August of 2024
These performances showcase her album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and her incredible, drag persona with catch phrases like “your favorite artist’s favorite artist”. This is a nod to Sasha Colby, who Roan has continuously credited for the phrase as originally being “your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen”. The difference in the crowds at these performances are apparent by going from what looks like thirty people in a single room at NPR’s Tiny Desk compared to an estimated 100,000 people at her “Good Luck, Babe!” performance in Lollapalooza. The rise in numbers of those in the crowd as well as the star reaching 45.1M listeners per month on Spotify, Roan’s songs continue to be played as viral sounds on TikTok and even theme songs at football games.
Roan’s VMAs performance
The only other artist that I have seen show as much dedication to crediting and pulling inspirations from drag queens for costume and performances, has been Lady Gaga herself. Lady Gaga performed “Paparazzi” in a blood-soaked costume, and the beginning of Roan’s performance immediately hits it off with a similar bang. Roan sets “fire” to the castle set behind her, dancing and singing in full body armor. This is also one of her first performances with the inclusion of backup dancers, and by the end of the performance, every single one of those dancers is lying on the floor after a “bloody” fight. As the song comes to a close, the blazing castle behind her burns red like embers in a dying fire.
There are a couple theories as to who the artist is trying to represent within this performance, some of my favorites being Joan of Arc and Julie d’Aubigny. Although her carpet look highly suggest that it is a reference to Joan of Arc, personally, I believe the performance is highly representative of when Julie d’Aubigny, a queer, sword fighting opera singer in the 17th century, burnt down a convent in order to save her female lover. Regardless of who Roan was emulating, her performance was fantastic!
Roan’s Speech
When Chappell Roan won the VMAs Best New Artist award, Sasha Colby presented her by saying, “You have all watched her blow up…Your favorite drag queen’s favorite artist, here is my daughter, Chappell Roan!” This is a highly significant term and role in drag history, and it was a beautiful moment between the two. As Roan takes the stage, she reads a speech of her diary.
“I dedicate this to all the drag artists who inspire me. And I dedicate this to queer and trans people that fuel pop, to the gays who dedicate my songs to someone they love or hate”
Chappell Roan at the VMAs
Her constant uphill track in fame and award for Best New Artist can only be described as deserved because she is an artist that continues to uplift and advocate for the LGTBQ+ community. Whether you only love her music, her performances, her drag references, or her advocacy, we can all agree that she deserved this award!