Chappell Roan, the 26-year-old pop singer born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, has experienced a significant rise in popularity during the summer of 2023. Recently, she headlined the closing concert of the Kentuckiana Pride Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday night, marking the festival's first-ever sold-out event. Roan performed in a red mermaid-style dress and Drag Queen-inspired makeup, engaging the audience with her hit songs.
Following her performance at the Pride Festival, Roan traveled to Manchester, Tennessee, for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Initially scheduled to perform on a smaller tent stage, her growing popularity led to her being moved to the second largest stage, the Which Stage, to accommodate her fans. The shift came after Roan gained attention opening for Olivia Rodrigo on the GUTS tour.
Earlier in the week, while performing in Raleigh, North Carolina, Roan became emotional on stage, expressing the challenges of her rapidly accelerating career. She explained to the audience that her fast rise to fame and the pressures that come with it were taking a toll on her.
Roan has been active in the music industry for over a decade, first gaining attention with her song "Die Young" at 17, which led to signing with Atlantic Records. After being dropped from the label in 2020, experiencing personal challenges including a breakup and a bipolar diagnosis, and enduring the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned to her parents' home in Missouri. She persevered as an independent artist while working various jobs before moving back to Los Angeles. There, she collaborated with producer Dan Nigro before signing with Sony in 2022 and releasing her debut album, "The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess," in 2023 under Island Records.