Underneath the platinum blonde Hannah Montana wig at Webster Hall, Chappell Roan didn’t just reveal her true hair—she revealed her full self. As an iconic scene from Hannah Montana played overhead, where Miley Stewart confesses her secret identity to her best friend, Kayleigh Rose Amstutz—known to the world now as Chappell Roan—symbolically peeled back one layer of pop persona to expose another. It was a moment of transformation, homage, and self-liberation, all wrapped in a camp spectacle that perfectly mirrors her artistry.
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Born and raised in Willard, Missouri, Chappell Roan is the unapologetic pop-rock alter ego of Kayleigh, a 24-year-old queer artist raised in conservative Christian culture. Her stage presence—loud, joyful, campy, deeply queer—is an intentional rebellion against the suppression she experienced growing up. With her signature curly red hair and a voice ready to belt anthems from drag bars to stadiums, she’s redefining what it means to be a pop star on her own terms.
Building a Pop Persona to Heal a Queer Identity
At the core of Chappell Roan’s music is a journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and unlearning. In an interview from Island Records' offices in Manhattan, Kayleigh spoke candidly about the lingering effects of religious trauma, especially around sexuality.
“My music is the outlet for that,” she says, reflecting on the bold, sexually expressive lyrics she sometimes second-guesses. “But as a person—as Kayleigh—I don’t know when that’s going to go away. I’m not the character of Chappell Roan in real life.”
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The distinction between her stage persona and her private self is clear. While Chappell sings about kink and queer fantasies, Kayleigh is currently choosing celibacy. “This is the first time I’ve ever been single on purpose,” she shares. “It’s freeing… I didn’t realize how much I was putting myself through hell just to maybe find someone who would be attracted to me.”
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| Photo by Ryan Clemens |
It’s a tension that can sometimes lead to discomfort, especially when fans conflate her onstage persona with her private self. “I get it, though,” she admits. “What the f*ck could I expect?”
Themed Shows, Drag Queens, and a Mission of Queer Joy
Roan’s recent sold-out national tour is more than a concert series—it’s a celebration of queer identity in all its messy, glittering forms. Each night has a different theme. In Houston: rhinestones and rainbows. Seattle: goth, grunge, and glitter. Nashville was a slumber party. Los Angeles and New York were branded “So You Wanna Be a POP STAR,” featuring her and her band dressed as pop icons—Hannah Montana, Avril Lavigne, Lana Del Rey, and David Bowie.
Though the outfits and aesthetics change, the heart of the tour remains the same: creating a safe, joyful space for queer people to dance, sing, and feel fully themselves.
In each city, Roan features local drag queens as opening acts, paying homage to the drag culture that shaped her and giving back to the communities that support her. The importance of this representation came into sharp focus in Nashville, where she performed the same day Tennessee passed a bill restricting public drag shows.
“To know that I was one of the last all-ages shows with drag performers [for now] is just… heartbreaking,” she says through tears. “But I am not scared. The queer community is strong. We will overcome hate. We always do.”
She’s not just speaking out—she’s putting action behind her words. A portion of proceeds from her tour goes to For the Gworls, a nonprofit supporting Black trans people with rent and gender-affirming healthcare. In Nashville, she partnered with The Oasis Center to provide therapy funding for queer youth.
“Pink Pony Club” and the Journey Back From Rock Bottom
Chappell Roan’s breakout hit, “Pink Pony Club,” was born from a euphoric moment at The Abbey, a famous gay bar in Los Angeles. “They have fog shooting out when the beat drops and dancers swinging from the ceiling,” she remembers. That night, she envisioned a better world—and then wrote a pop anthem about it.
Despite its popularity, the song didn’t catapult her into fame overnight. In 2020, after releasing it, she was dropped by Atlantic Records and moved back home to Missouri. She was living in a twin bed in her parents’ office, broke, reeling from a breakup, and in a period of hypomania caused by Bipolar II. “Everything was telling me to stop,” she says. “But I had one last shot to go back to L.A., and I did.”
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Working as a nanny, donut shop employee, and production assistant, she scraped by until she signed with Sony in 2021. Her fans, many of whom discovered her music during the pandemic, had no idea those early singles were written during her darkest moments. When she finally toured in 2022 and saw their response, it was deeply validating.
“It was a dream come true of the career I made up in my head as a teenager,” she says.
The Road Ahead: New Album, Big Anthems, and Fierce Protection of Queer Joy
Now preparing for the release of her debut full-length album, Chappell Roan continues crafting music that lives and breathes with vibrant emotion and theatrical flair. Two weeks before her 2023 tour launched, she wrote the electric crowd-pleaser “HOT TO GO!” complete with a cheer-inspired dance the entire audience joins in on.
She envisions the stage the way Freddie Mercury saw Wembley Stadium—everyone moving together in unison, swept up in the music. With tracks like “Femininomenon” and “Casual” (the latter described as “Aquamarine, but gay”), she’s leaning further into narrative pop, with art film-inspired visuals and cabaret-influenced performances.
Her album tells the story of a girl who leaves her small, conservative hometown for the city and experiences queerness, heartbreak, clubs, joy, and everything in between. It’s the story of Chappell Roan—a fictional persona, yes—but also a deeply personal journey.
And as she looks back on her hometown show in Missouri, filled with more queer people than she had ever seen there before, she reflects on what she’s created: a real-life Pink Pony Club.
“You have to protect it,” she says. “Queer joy, queer safety, queer love. I have to protect it.”
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