From the Donut Shop to a World Tour: Chappell Roan Is Doing Pop Her Way

Stream Chappell Roan for clear skin and flourishing crops. The singer-songwriter has the kind of charisma that inspires the evolution from fan to stan, playing concerts that feel like a party and releasing tracks that strike right at the heart of desire. 

Even if you haven’t heard of her, you’ve surely heard her, at the club or on the radio. With wry lyrics, pumping rhythms that make you want—no, need—to dance, and full, synth-and-drum-kit-heavy production, her songs (among them, “My Kink Is Karma”; “Pink Pony Club,” with over 14 million streams on Spotify; and “Naked in Manhattan”) put her sonically somewhere at the intersection of Carly Rae Jepsen, Charly. Bliss, and Olivia Rodrigo, whom she opened for during last year’s Sour tour. Not to mention her style, which I’d describe as glitter cowgirl from space (compliment). It’s all for the benefit of her mighty band of fans, some of whom have attached themselves, perhaps too closely, to the scrappy indie artist’s persona. And things are about to get even bigger.

“I haven’t even written my best song yet,” the 25-year-old tells me over Zoom, casually confident. After a whirlwind headlining tour, with her first full-length album scheduled for a fall release, Roan has the perspective of a much more seasoned performer. 

“I look at my career as like, If it’s meant to happen, it’ll be. I work very hard. But as far as opportunities and stuff that I get, I’m not relying on this album to make or break me.” Having been signed to a major label as a teenager, then dropped from their roster just when live performance became impossible (COVID, you may remember it), Roan is no stranger to the ups and downs of the industry. Those experiences have left her with a deep appreciation for all she’s accomplished. “My dreams already came true. I sold out a headline tour, and got to do it my way. This album is amazing, but it doesn’t validate more of the fact that I’m a true artist.”

In Glamour’s latest New Here, the woman born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz reveals the inspiration behind her brand-new single “Red Wine Supernova” (out today), her grueling journey to the brink of stardom, and the music (and products) that help her through.

Glamour: For the uninitiated, can you give me a quick background on who you are, where you come from?

Chappell Roan: I’m from the Ozarks in Missouri. And I was signed to a major label [Atlantic Records] when I was a teenager, and then I got dropped 2020, when everyone got dropped. I’ve been indie for two years. [Editor’s note: Roan signed with Island Records in 2023.] And now that my career has started to pick back up, my world has changed. I worked at a donut shop. And rebuilt myself from the ground up and [adopted] a new brand of, “I’m pop’s DIY Pop Princess.” So here we are! Just got done with my first tour and working on finishing up my first album.

That’s amazing. Can you tell me how you got signed the first time? And the emotional journey that led to this album?

I got signed off of YouTube.

So, very DIY. 

Very DIY. Always a DIY Queenie. It was the best thing to happen to me, getting dropped. Because it really tested what I was made of. I was very, very close to quitting. I thought that I would go to school and just not do music anymore. I ran out of money, I was living with my parents during the pandemic. I was working the drive-through. Like a lot of us were. A lot of us lost our jobs. And so I think that emotional journey wasn’t very different from the average person’s journey of, like, defeat. And a little bit of a rock bottom. But that’s why, now, it’s so amazing, because I realized how far I’ve come. And there’s all this stuff I really appreciate and try not to take for granted.

Was there a moment that made you decide not to quit?

I don’t know if there’s a moment. Because to be honest, nothing really started clicking until about a year ago. And now this year, it’s like, boom, boom, boom, every week is something crazy. I think I was just like, I’m going to be so upset if in 20 years, I look back, “Damn, if I just would have tried a little bit longer, if I just would have hung on a little bit longer…who knows what could have happened?” So that’s what I did. I was like, “I’m just gonna hang on as long as I can. And I’m gonna work at this. I’m going to be a nanny, work at the donut shop, be a barista, until it becomes completely unbearable.”

A lot is riding on this album, but not everything is. I’ll work at the donut shop for six months again, I don’t really have any shame about that. I liked working at the donut shop.

You just wrapped up your tour. I would love to know what that experience was like. And then, it was pretty different from other tours I’ve seen. Your opening acts were drag queens, and you did a Hannah Montana moment, playing a couple songs in a blonde wig and then taking it off. That kind of blew my mind. So I would love to hear about how you went about designing the tour and all those interesting elements.

I wanted the show to be a party. And every show was themed. We had three local drag performers from every city that we did. The themes were based off of my songs or things that were in my world, so I really was like, “How do I dress up as Hannah Montana? Oh, pop star theme because I love Hannah. And I grew up with her.” We had a “Pink Pony Club” theme, we had a “My Kink Is Karma” theme. We had Rainbow Night, Goth Night; it was super fun. I wanted it to feel different and fun. And it was really fucking hard. I feel like it broke me a little bit mentally, because of how emotionally draining it was, but fulfilling at the same time. Touring is hard. Especially in a van. It was worth it because of how fulfilling it was emotionally, but physically, it was just so crazy and hard.

What was the most emotional part for you, the actual time on stage or time away from your family?

The most emotional part was the VIP meet-and-greets. Because people would tell me really heavy things. It’s such an interesting world we live in where everyone wants to see who you really are on social media. What people want is to see your personality, and to connect with you. But there’s this delusion that they know you and that they can tell you anything. And it’s like, No, I don’t want to hear the trauma because I have to then go process that, and then go perform a show like I didn’t hear all of that.

Toward the end, I was having panic attacks between the meet-and-greets and the shows, because of how intense the stories were that people were telling me. It was not just a couple stories; I was meeting sometimes 90 people a night. So that was the most emotional part of the tour. But the most fulfilling part emotionally was being on stage and seeing everyone dressed up, and it was so special. I mean, it’s all emotional, but the meet-and-greets, I don’t think I can do that again. I know a lot of artists, as you grow, they can’t do it anymore. Because of this. Oh, my God, the boundaries, there’s none, you know?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s never happened to me, but I can imagine, you want to be there for the person, but also, you don't know them.

I don’t know them. They think they know me. Very weird. Super weird.

You’re trying to throw a party every night, you’re trying to have a positive experience.

With queerness there’s an element…the show is pretty queer. And I promote that it’s a safe space. And it became a not safe space for me. When it comes to queerness, a lot of people have trauma with coming out. Or how their family responded, or their hometown. Within queerness there’s unfortunately, a lot of trauma that people go through. And my music has helped a lot of people through that trauma. And I love that. Let that be that, though. Personally, as Kayleigh, I can’t handle that responsibility. 

You mentioned queerness being an inspiration and Hannah Montana being an inspiration. Are there any other artists that you grew up with who inspired you to get into music and how you approach your career?

I love Lady Gaga so much. I grew up with her. I was so lucky. I really had the golden age of 2010s pop stars, I had Kesha and Gaga, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream came out when I was 13. It was amazing. It was so inspiring, because everything was so over the top. Those girls and then also, I love Bratz dolls. I love the fashion of the Bratz.

I love that. Going back to life on the road, do you have any products that you travel with that you found particularly helpful?

I love skin care. I use Weleda Skin Food, the original one, every day. I know it’s a really heavy moisturizer. But I love it. And then I have this Korean honey mask that I use, I think the brand is called I’m From, and it’s called Honey Mask. I always wear a satin bonnet cap when I sleep because I have long hair and hotel pillows are usually weird cotton and mess up my hair.

Do you have a preshow ritual? I know some people drink tea or do the nebulizer.

I have an insane, insane vocal kit that I do. I had a vocal coach for two months before going into this tour. I have weird lozenges, and I warm up with metal straw kits where I blow into straw. 

Okay…

Yeah, crazy. And then I have a nebulizer where you inhale saline.  It moisturizes your actual vocal cords. It’s intense. I drink teas and drink a ton of water, but a lot of it is warming up. Really warming up. And then, as I do my warm ups I’m doing my makeup.

You do your own makeup?

I do my own makeup and hair for the most part.

Do you enjoy that?

Yeah, I love doing it. I switched to all MAC makeup because I was over trying to find dupes. I need what works and MAC’s worked forever. So I switched.

Do you have any plans for how you’re going to celebrate your album coming out?

I would love to throw an experiential album release, where you can go and experience the album. I don’t know what we’re gonna do. But I want to throw a party-slash…. Billie Eilish did the Billie Eilish Experience with her album that came out, and she had different rooms for different songs and stuff like that. I want to do something like that.

I’m picturing a pink room with lights.

I’d love to do some type of experience, the Chappell Experience where you can go in, and hopefully by then I know how to DJ. I’ve always wanted to do that. I really want to learn how to DJ so bad. I get so annoyed with every time I’m out, I’m like, “Stop trying to be cool playing music that people don’t know. People just want to hear Britney!”

Can you talk to me about your involvement in the visuals that go along with your album and music videos? Are you a Pinterest person?

I’ve been an avid Pinterest user for like a decade. I’m obsessed with Pinterest. I have a board for everything. It’s me and my friend Misha Sitar, who graphic-designs all my stuff and helps make my merch, and I’m very, very, very involved with every visual. I’m the creative director. It’s me and Misha, and my friends from summer camp running the whole show.

Literally from your childhood summer camp?

Yeah. Kids from summer camp. One girl helps me with my social media. Another directs the live videos. We have people who edit and act, and it’s just kids from summer camp. 

That’s amazing, I love it. 

It’s really crazy.

Do you have any type of vision for this album or how you hope people experience it or listen to it? Some albums are meant to be played in the car, and some are meant for the club. Do you have a place or an audience you felt like you were making this for?

The whole album is meant to be played live. A lot of bridges are call and response, because I want to have audience participation. This whole show, the whole shebang…the top of the pyramid is the live show. The best place to listen to it is at the show. It’s all arranged for that. But other than that, this is something that you could, exactly like what you said, screaming in the car with your friends. Or a slumber party vibe. Fun!

Is there anything else you want to add or tell readers as they get to know you and your work?

This whole project is about giving back to the queer community and creating a safe space for queer people to dress up and be themselves and bring their partners and no one’s gonna make fun of you at my show for dancing and being silly. This is meant to give back to the community that gives me so much, so a portion of every ticket goes to a queer charity, whether that be For the Gworls, which is a black trans charity, or we had some of it go to, I think it’s called the Oasis Center in Tennessee where a lot of queer youth are struggling, especially right now with all the bans. This project is more than just a musical project. It’s for a greater cause. And we have another queer anthem coming out! It’s called “Red Wine Supernova.” It’s a super-fun pop party song. So I’m very excited for that.

I assume that’s a reference to “Champagne Supernova,” but with a different kind of wine.

It’s like the gay girl version.

Lesbian Oasis.

Yes, Lesbian Oasis.