How did Chappell Roan get famous? Rise of Pop singer explored

Chappell Roan, a singer-songwriter from Willard, Missouri, who has been working as a singer-songwriter for a decade, has found mainstream fame in 2024.

Originally named Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Roan first started making music in 2014 and has had a long journey to global fame in 2024. After being dropped by her first record label within three years, she worked hard to get her music career back on track, releasing multiple singles and opening for other singers on tours before launching her debut studio album.

The singer-songwriter made headlines with her debut performance in Coachella earlier this year and is now working on her second studio album, as per Variety.

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Chappell Roan released her debut track when she was 17

Chappell Roan's career as a pop artist started when she was 17. In November 2014, Roan uploaded her debut track - called Die Young - on YouTube, under her real name.

The track, while not gaining much public attention on YouTube, landed Chappell her first deal with a record label. Atlantic Records signed the singer in 2017. Soon after being signed, she released her debut EP, School Nights, but their partnership didn't last long.

Three years later, the Casual singer released her debut EP, Pink Pony Club, in 2020. Vox reported that the single drew inspiration from Roan's first trip to Abbey, where she was "transfixed" by the go-go dancers.

The lyrics of the song tell the story of a small-town woman who leaves her life behind to become a stripper at the Pink Pony Club. Unfortunately for Chappell, her single didn't find the success it deserved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 26-year-old followed it up with two more singles, Love Me Anyway and California.

In May 2020, ten days after California was released, Atlantic Records dropped Roan from their roster. According to Vox, the reason behind their drop was that Chappell was "underperforming."

However, Roan's Pink Pony Club found success a year later, with Vulture naming it the song of Summer 2021 in December 2021. The media outlet described the song as "a pop hit from an alternate timeline that somehow ended up in ours by accident."

Nine months later, the track hit 10 million streams on Spotify, bringing Chappell Roan back on the path of success.

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Chappell Roan and Don Nigro reunited in 2021

Dan Nigro - Chappell Roan's collaborator and the producer behind the Pink Pony Club - had worked with her briefly before he helped Olivia Rodrigo release her debut studio album, Sour.

In the second half of 2021, after Rodrigo's album was out, Nigro and Roan reunited. Soon after, Chappell released her first song as an indepent artist, Naked in Manhattan, which became her first explicitly queer song, which was followed by other independent singles like Karma, Femininomen and Casual.

In 2022, Chappell Roan was also selected to open for Rodrigo on her debut tour, an Fletcher for her My Dreams tour. The following year, the singer-songwriter signed a deal with Island Records, which made way for the release of her debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in September 2023. The album peaked in the top-10 of the US Billboard 200 album chart.

It was with this album that Chappell Roan achieved global fame. Talking about the album's creation with Variety in 2023, Roan expressed how she loved its music, which was a remarkable difference between the album and her first EP:

"I rose from the ashes of losing all my money and moving back in with my parents and working the drive-through — this beautiful project came to life from the deep pits of hell."

It has been a remarkable 2024 for Chappell Roan, finding massive success in her Coachella performance in March, followed by her equally stunning set in Lollapalooza in August. CNN reported that a spokesperson at Lolla said that Roan is set to be "the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen. It was a magical moment added to Lolla’s DNA."

Chappell Roan has also received two nominations in the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards - Best New Artist and Push Performance of the Year for her track Red Wine Supernova.