Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Todd Owyoung/NBC/Sky)

Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Todd Owyoung/NBC/Sky)

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Is Chappell Roan Going To Tour The UK?

By Olivia Emily

5 months ago

Is your favourite artist’s favourite artist coming to the UK?

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Oh, Chappell Roan. From relative obscurity to being the buzziest name in pop, this Midwest Princess is on a rollercoaster career ride right now. She’s lighting up festivals across the world, with fans belting earworm tracks from ‘Pink Pony Club’ to ‘Casual’, ‘Hot to Go!’ to ‘Red Wine Supernova’. But who is Chappell Roan? And will she be touring the UK?

Who Is Chappell Roan?

The big question of the moment. Chappell Roan is a pop musician who draws inspiration from queer performance art and drag shows to write songs and sing about love, heartbreak, partying and her queer identity. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was released in September 2023 and, while the initial reception was very positive, she has only gained fans since then. As of July 2024, the singer has more than 30 million monthly Spotify listeners; in September 2023, she had around 1 million. Her exponential rise in popularity kicked off in spring 2024 thanks to her NPR Tiny Desk, performing at New York’s Governors Ball, opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour, the release of ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, and her two blow-out Coachella performances (where she famously introduced herself, ‘I’m Chappell Roan, and I’m your favourite artist’s favourite artist’, referencing drag queen Sasha Colby). By June, her monthly listeners had skyrocketed to 20 million.

Born in 1998, Chappell Roan (whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) signed a record deal with Atlantic Records as early as 2017, but she never achieved commercial success. By 2018, she had moved to Los Angeles, citing this as the first time she felt able to live openly as a queer woman. She supported Declan McKenna on his US tour in 2018, too.

In 2020, Roan started working with songwriter and producer Dan Nigro, which led to ‘Pink Pony Club’ being released in April of that year. She followed the track up with ‘Love Me Anyway’ and ‘California’, but a lack of success prompted Atlantic to drop her from the label in August 2020. Meanwhile, her boyfriend of four years broke up with her, and she worked as a production assistant, barista and nanny to make ends meet. By early 2021, Nigro had found success with Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Driver’s License’, turning his attention to the Disney star, while Roan struggled to find a collaborator she liked as much. As a result, she returned home to Missouri to work on her music while working at a drive-through.

‘I gave it a year, but I didn’t actually start making money where I could afford my rent until, like, the past maybe year,’ she recently reflected in an interview with Jimmy Fallon.

By March 2022, the songwriters reunited: Roan was signed to Sony, and the duo created ‘Naked in Manhattan’. She was selected to support Olivia Rodrigo on her Sour Tour, and also released ‘Femininomenon’ in August 2022 and ‘Casual’ in October 2022. After touring North America in February 2023, Roan released her debut full length album in September 2023, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and went on another tour. She rejoined Rodrigo on tour in April 2024, and that’s when her fame really spiralled.

In fact, the pace with which Roan’s fame skyrocketed has scared the artist; she has described so-called fans with ‘stalker vibes’, sharing that some have followed her, found out where her parents live, and where her sister works. She told Drew Afualo on The Comment Section podcast that she has ‘pumped the brakes on, honestly, anything to make me more known. It’s kind of a forest fire right now.’

Is Chappell Roan Going To Tour The UK?

Yes, Chappell Roan is embarking on a mini UK tour in September 2024. Bad news, though: tickets are pretty much sold out. If you’re still keen to go, find your preferred date here and join the waitlist.