Chappell Roan is embracing country music

Chappell Roan is the pop star of the moment. Her Best New Artist win at the 2025 Grammy Awards only confirmed it, in case there was any doubt. Eclectic, chameleonic, camp: Roan has carved out a space for herself in the competitive U.S. music scene, creating an identity that is perhaps truly one of a kind. She’s openly gay, draws inspiration (in part) from drag queens, and above all, isn’t afraid to take risks. This is evident in her latest single, The Giver, which she describes as a queer country anthem. Almost an oxymoron, considering the deep ties between country music and the more conservative segment of the American population—one that likely disagrees with everything Chappell Roan does, says, and represents. Yet, as she herself put it: "Country can exist in a queer space, and a queer space can exist in country." This song is proof of that. While the sound is unmistakable—the fiddle, along with the banjo, is a hallmark of country music—the perspective is flipped. This time, it's a lesbian woman speaking, and she doesn’t hold back when addressing country boys who think they understand women so well: "All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right | Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right | She gets the job done." 

The Music Video and the Visual World of The Giver

A form of empowerment that is brilliantly translated into the song’s visuals. In the official lyric video, we see Chappell Roan embody four different characters, all traditionally associated with masculinity: a lawyer, a plumber, a carpenter, and a dentist. Once again, Roan’s love for costuming takes center stage. This time, however, she steps into male roles, but with a twist: the lawyer is serious yet leans into the office siren aesthetic, while the carpenter wields a drill and a work vest—along with two exaggerated pigtails (a clear nod to the country aesthetic). In short, Chappell Roan tells us—through lyrics, music, and imagery—that women can not only do "men’s jobs" but can do them even better. It’s a statement that feels like a modern reinterpretation of the ultimate female empowerment anthem, Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain, the undisputed queen of country pop.

Chappell Roan and the Choice of Country

Now, the question arises: why did Chappell Roan write a country song? The hits that made her famous—Good Luck (Babe)! and Pink Pony Club—belong to a completely different genre, one that could be described as ultra-pop with '80s and '90s influences. That’s the world where Roan built her character and narrative. The reason behind this apparent shift—or rather, a detour—lies partly in her roots but even more so in the essential freedom that seems to drive Chappell Roan’s artistic choices. Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in southwest Missouri, she grew up surrounded by "Christian religion and country music." Writing The Giver, she explained, helped her make peace with that part of herself. Much like the protagonist of Pink Pony Club—a Tennessee girl who moves to California against her mother’s wishes and starts performing in a gay nightclub—Roan had to leave home to truly discover herself. Now, having found that self-awareness, she chose to return to her roots. Plus, as she pointed out, "I just thought writing a country song could be fun"—especially since "country is extremely camp." Inevitably, though, this choice carries a hint of provocation.

Country Music and Straight White Men

Country music has long been dominated by the straight white male—American, conservative, and firmly rooted in tradition. Partly due to historical reasons and partly due to later political instrumentalization, it has become the ultimate traditionalist and nationalist genre, overwhelmingly shaped by a male (and heterosexual) perspective. Of course, there have been exceptions: from country queens like Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Shania Twain—to name a few—to Beyoncé, who, with her award-winning album Cowboy Carter, made history as the first Black woman to take on—and succeed in—a genre long dominated by white artists. Now, Chappell Roan marks another milestone, proving that music can be free from stereotypes. She celebrates an artist’s right to choose, to evolve, and to resist being confined by genres and labels. At the end of the day, all you need is a fiddle, a banjo, and a story to tell.