Chappell Roan Shares Why Debut Album Tour Will ‘Give A Safe Space’ to Queer Community: ‘It Feels Like Magic Onstage’
variety.comEllise Shafer Chappell Roan’s debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” has been almost a decade in the making.
Roan’s career had a fairy-tale beginning: After posting covers on YouTube, she was signed to Atlantic Records at just 17, which took her from small-town Missouri to Hollywood.
She released an EP in 2017, “School Nights,” but in 2020, Roan was dropped by the label. Motivated by the rejection, Roan reinvented herself and her music — with the help of Olivia Rodrigo’s go-to producer Dan Nigro — trading her singer-songwriter roots for campy, euphoric pop that begs to be blasted in gay clubs.
Now 25, Roan is proud to say that her album, out Sept. 22, is the “absolute opposite” ofher first effort. “I love this music, and that’s a big difference between my EP and now,” Roan says. “I rose from the ashes of losing all my money and moving back in with my parents and working the drive-thru — this beautiful project came to life from the deep pits of hell.” Why was it important to nod to your Midwestern roots in the album title? I knew I needed to put the Midwest in there because it’s so important to my project.
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