It seems like everyone has heard of Chappell Roan. Between the spring and summer, several of her songs blew up on TikTok, “HOT TO GO!” and “Good Luck, Babe!” becoming radio hits and entering the Billboard 100. A VMAs performance, several festival sets over the summer– including a sold-out Boston Calling set that I attended– and more recently cancelling several tour dates and festival spots for her own mental health.
Chappell’s rise to fame has been interesting to many, as she spent years releasing music through Atlantic Records, but never saw the reward from releasing music. She then signed a deal with Sony in 2022. After releasing her first album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan’s career took off as she toured with Olivia Rodrigo. The two share a producer, Dan Nigro. Through her tour with Rodrigo, fans began to take interest in her music. Chappell’s music skyrocketed, and the release of Good Luck, Babe! proved the growth of Chappell’s career.
In the past several weeks, Chappell has come under fire for being uncomfortable with fans coming up to her in public, not endorsing a presidential candidate for the upcoming election, and cancelling shows for other opportunities and for her own mental health. Many fans still have stuck with her through these minor controversies, even standing up for her when a recent SNL skit featured Bowen Yang as Moo Deng, the viral hippo from Thailand sharing her thoughts on her newfound fame. Set to perform on the show on November 2, some feel this skit perfectly captured Chappell’s rise to fame and the pressures it has placed on her.
I was at the Boston Calling set where it was visible just how massive Chappell and her music had become. Boston.com reported that there was at least 40,000 people at her set, and it was the only sold out day of the festival. Alongside Chappell, performances by Hozier and Megan Thee Stallion drew massive crowds, but even walking around the festival grounds it was clear so many people came for Chappell. Decked out in our best Pink Pony Club attire, my sister and I were able to see Chappell play, but the crowd control was truly insane. The festival grounds were overwhelmed with people, so much so that there were safety concerns around crowd crushing. The numerous festival sets that followed seemed to only get bigger, and numerous people commented on this impressive rise to fame.
Understandably, Chappell has become uncomfortable with the number of people suddenly becoming fans of her, particularly those forming parasocial relationships with her real name and family, rather than her drag personality ‘Chappell Roan’. Chappell noted that people were contacting her family members, and how unacceptable the predatory behavior was, “Please do not assume you know about someone’s life, personality, and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online” she said in an Instagram statement on August 23. Since then, Chappell has had to make numerous statements on Instagram and TikTok about her position on her relationship with fans, in addition to a recent TikTok about why she refuses to endorse any candidate for the 2024 Presidential Election.
It’s so clear that Chappell is receiving significant pressure from fans and non-fans alike to live up to their ideals of who she is, and it seems she is feeling this pressure. Chappell dropped out of All Things Go Festival in New York and Washington D.C. for her own mental health, and while many fans were upset about flying to one of the festivals to have the reason they were going not be performing, many also understand what she’s dealing with. The pressure of becoming so rapidly famous as she has is immense and many are calling for a well deserved break, but with several tour dates ahead of her before the end of the year, the rise of Chappell Roan is just beginning.