Chappell Roan is the most interesting thing that happened at Coachella
The Midwest Princess has just
G-Club
April 15th, 2024
April 15th, 2024
There were glorious years when Coachella was the ultimate event. A gathering of influencers, stars of all kinds, glittery outfits, desert dust, and Californian sweat. We followed it with love and participation on social media, dreaming of one day being there ourselves, with our flower crowns and Texan boots. Then, something broke. Maybe it was COVID, maybe it was the deep-rooted fatigue we now feel towards anything sponsored, towards influencers taking 6 flights a week and changing 3 looks a day. In any case, Coachella is not what it used to be, and a viral moment doesn't make up for days and days of a music festival.
Chappell Roan's Set at Coachella
Luckily, amidst a duet by Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey, and technical issues with Grimes and others, she, Chappell Roan, the rising star of American synth-pop music, livened up the situation. Rising, well, not really. Despite being young (born in 1998 in Missouri), the girl (real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) has been singing for years, and as early as 2017 she was dubbed "the new Lorde." Sometimes, however, one attempt isn't enough to win over the audience, and in this case, California's most hyped stage can be helpful. And it was. Just think, searches for her name have grown worldwide by 324% in just the past week compared to the previous 12 months. On Twitter, everyone is wondering who this red-haired singer is. A breath of fresh air, with her all-female band, her 1980s drag queen makeup, and her t-shirt reading: "Eat me."
Career and Songs of a Promising Artist
Roan started playing the piano at 10-11 years old. At 13, she performed publicly, and at 14-15, she shared song covers on YouTube. A few years later, she began writing her own songs. At 17, she released Die Young, her first self-written piece to gain some online success. She performed in New York and signed with Atlantic Records. In 2018, she moved to Los Angeles and started living openly as a queer woman. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was released in September 2023, featuring singles like My Kink Is Karma, Pink Pony Club, and Casual. It's produced by Dan Nigro, who has been collaborating with Chappell Roan for years. Critic reviews have been enthusiastic, and along with social media success, they landed her a spot at Coachella. The rest is history, or almost. Contemporary history, let's say.
Queerness and Other Themes in Her Music
According to one review published in The Line of Best Fit, Chappell Roan's music: "Tackles every corner of sexuality, psychology, desire, and human lust, all wrapped in catchy and engaging choruses." The singer agrees. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, besides being her debut album, is also a journey into herself, her way of dealing with her queerness and what it means to her and the world. "When I started writing this album, I was in a 4-and-a-half-year relationship with a man," she told Rolling Stone. "I was writing about girls, thinking about girls. I was writing about a part of me that I've always wanted to feel and experience: that of complete freedom, sparks. I thought I could trap it in songs, to make it live only in that dimension." "I would like to represent queer girls in high schools, who just want to be ladies, become wives, and then free themselves and turn into dragons. This album is for teenage girls who thought it was just a phase. It's for myself."