Chappell Roan

On August 3, 2017, Roan released her first single, titled "Good Hurt". The song was reviewed favorably in Interview, in which an article praised her "striking maturity and surprisingly deep vocals".[9][7] On September 22, 2017, she released an EP titled School Nights through Atlantic Records.[8] Also in 2017, she went on her first concert tour, the Lay It On Me Tour headlined by Vance Joy.[10]

In 2018, Roan moved to Los Angeles from Springfield, Missouri.[2][11] She later described feeling "overwhelmed with complete love and acceptance" after the move, stating that it allowed her to begin "writing songs as the real me".[12] From January to March 2018, she toured the United States with Declan McKenna.[6]

Roan began working with Dan Nigro in early 2020.[13] In April 2020, Roan released "Pink Pony Club". The single was produced by Dan Nigro, and its music video was directed by Griffin Stoddard.[2][11] A year after its release, Vulture described "Pink Pony Club" as "the Song of Summer 2021", calling it a "synthy infectious bangarang".[2] The song tells the story of a girl who leaves the small town where she lives to become a stripper in West Hollywood.[2] Roan has cited a visit to The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood, as the inspiration for it.[11][12] She told Cherwell that the song was about her desire to become a go-go dancer in Los Angeles, stating, "truthfully, I'm not confident enough to do that, so I wrote a song about it".[4]

USA Today ranked the song third on a list of the "10 best songs of 2020", directly above "WAP" and below "Levitating"; an accompanying description characterized it as dance-pop that "earnestly [celebrates] queer culture, acceptance and chasing your dreams."[14] By August 2022, the song had been streamed more than 10 million times on Spotify.[4]

"Pink Pony Club" was not profitable enough for Atlantic, who dropped Roan from the label in 2020. Her partner of four years broke up with her the same week, and she spent the next two years working as a production assistant as well as a barista and nanny to support herself. In early 2021, the success of Olivia Rodrigo's song "Drivers License" shifted Dan Nigro's focus away from Roan as he worked on Sour with Rodrigo; Roan was unable to find a collaborator whom she liked as much.[3]

Roan at the Vogue Theatre, November 2022

In March 2022, Roan released a single titled "Naked in Manhattan". The song was her first release in two years, and her first as an independent artist. It was described by NPR as a "queer girl bop" with lyrics that are "tender, nostalgic" and "flirty yet uncertain".[15] Roan also was selected to open for Olivia Rodrigo at select performances of Rodrigo's Sour Tour,[3][16][17] and for Fletcher on her "Girl of My Dreams Tour".[17]

In August 2022, she released a second independent single, "Femininomenon". Earmilk described the song as "so fun and loud but so intricate" and noted that it was different from Roan's past releases.[18] Roan stated that the song, which was produced by Dan Nigro, was an attempt to "get away with being as ridiculous as I possibly can".[18] An accompanying self-directed music video featured Roan riding a dirt bike.[18]

Roan released another single, "Casual", in 2022 after beginning work on it with Dan Nigro in 2020. The song, which has lyrics dissing a romantic partner who refuses to commit, was inspired by a brief relationship Roan had during the pandemic that ended with her partner saying they had met someone else. Morgan St. Jean additionally worked on the song, which has a sad sound inspired by Mazzy Star and Radiohead.[3]

In 2023, Roan kicked off a "Naked In North America Tour". She shared a theme with fans for each stop on the tour, suggesting outfits and providing makeup tutorials on social media,[17] while making her own camp outfits herself.[3] Concerts from the tour received positive reviews in The Harvard Crimson[17] and Variety, with Jem Aswad describing it as a concert where "you recognize when a new-ish artist's career is about to blast off" similar to Billie Eilish in 2019 or Lorde in 2013 and characterizing Roan as a superstar.[13] Roan additionally signed to Island Records under Dan Nigro's imprint Amusement Records and KRA International.[13][19][20][21]

On May 17, she released a single from her upcoming album, "Red Wine Supernova", with an accompanying music video.[3] On September 13, it was announced that Roan would open for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts World Tour in the United States and Canada from February to April 2024.[22][23] On September 22, Roan released her debut full-length album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.[24] Also in September, she began her second headlining tour of North America, the Midwest Princess Tour. Roan plans to donate $1 per ticket sold to the nonprofit For The Gworls.[25][26][27]