As Chappell Roan continues to take the pop world by storm, Billboard is taking a look back through the singer’s career thus far to see how she got here in the latest edition of Billboard Explains.
After growing up in Willard, Mo., Kayleigh Rose Amstutz (Roan’s birth name) began uploading covers and original songs to YouTube as a teenager. Signing her first major-label deal with Atlantic Records at age 17, Roan went on to release her debut EP School Nights in 2017 with the label’s support. But after dropping her single “Pink Pony Club” in 2020, Roan was dropped from Atlantic’s roster.
Forming a writing partnership with superstar songwriter Dan Nigro, Roan kept releasing new music, leading to her Billboard chart debut in October 2023, as she debuted at No. 8 on the Emerging Artists chart. She would later top the chart for three weeks starting in May 2024.
In recent months, Roan has performed at increasingly larger stages to increasing attention from fans. After serving as an opener for part of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour, Roan made headlines with her performance at Coachella. Since then, her music has quickly risen up the charts — four of her songs recently entered the Billboard Hot 100 (her breakout hit “Good Luck, Babe!” hits No. 19 on the chart dated June 29), while her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time nine months after its release.
After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about RM’s chart success, Stray Kids’ chart success, Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs and more.
