Chappell Roan

In 1998, Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell Roan, was born in Willard, Missouri. Even though she was raised in a conservative, Christian environment, Roan eventually discovered pop music —and her own songwriting prowess — as a teenager. She began attending summer camps where she honed her craft, eventually writing the song “Die Young” and later releasing it on YouTube. The ballad would gain the attention of record labels, and the 17-year-old would be signed to Atlantic shortly after.

At 20, Roan released her first and only EP on Atlantic, the moody School Days. In the years following, she would connect with producer and songwriter Daniel Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Caroline Polachek) who would help her transition her sound into brighter, bigger pop anthems like her heroes Katy Perry and Lady Gaga had built their careers on. Shortly after releasing the song “Pink Pony Club” in 2020, however, Roan would be dropped from her label.

Roan’s career would start anew in 2022 when she began releasing music as an independent artist. Still working with Nigro, Roan relaunched herself as a campy, drag queen-pop diva with catchy revenge anthems like “My Kink Is Karma” and passionate power ballads like “Casual.” She eventually released her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess under her new label home, Island, in 2023.

Roan’s career, however, would get a major boost six months after dropping her album when a perfect storm of career highlights put one-off single “Good Luck, Babe!” on the charts and Roan on the map. Opening for Olivia Rodrigo and rousing sets at Coachella had all eyes turn towards Roan and her burgeoning career. “Good Luck, Babe!” would eventually crack the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and her midday sets at festivals like Bonnaroo, Governors Ball and Lollapalooza would garner bigger crowds than the headliners. —Brittany Spanos