Chapell Roan is an artist whose fame skyrocketed this year. She is known for her openly gay identity and unique style that is mainly influenced by drag queens. Over a year ago, she released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, this album ended up being included in several best albums of 2023 year end lists. By the middle of 2024, her debut album skyrocketed in popularity peaking at number one in different countries such as the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Although Roan has had lots of success, in recent months she’s faced a lot of controversy. Earlier this year on August 19th Chappell Roan posted a video on Tiktok speaking about how she is treated by fans and how she wants boundaries towards the public. A lot of people became angry with her about how straight forward her video was. It set a straight boundary between her and her fans. She explained that it has recently gotten overwhelming and how some fans are having “creepy behaviour” towards her, for example stalking her own family and where they work. She explained her gratitude to fans that appreciate and respect her boundaries but not the “superfans” that are normalised for stalking and touching her without her permission.
“Chappel Roan’s transparency with her fans is something that is very human and brave of her. We are all people and I am sure we would feel the same way (upset) if people were obsessed with us,” says junior Nick Collura.
Celebrities with mass followings are typically harassed and they no longer have privacy. Paparazzi will always follow them and can create rumors about their personal lives even if it hurts that person. Some people idolize celebrities but do not realize that they are their own people with their own issues and giving them the “space” they need can make some fans feel that they are entitled. Chappell Roan sets great examples of boundaries and how it is not okay for fans to be so engulfed in her day to day life while she’s not on stage.
Chappell Roan has become such a forward voice for pride after declining performing at the White House, as she felt she would only come if there was “liberty and justice for all”. The Gov Ball is a music festival she performed at over the summer where she had one of the biggest crowds ever with over 110,000 people. The songs, “HOT TO GO” and “Casual” had blown up on TikTok and were made into dances on the app. HOT TO GO is one of Chappell’s most famous songs which has over 400,000,000 million views and over 2 million views a day. Her single “Good Luck, Babe!” reached the Billboard top 100. Her mass following shows how she became famous overnight and how overwhelming it could all be. Having over 400 million views on a song can seem so nerve racking as so many people are so into someone’s music that it can be understanding why Chappell feels the way she does about fame and boundaries recently.
“I first learned of Chapel Roan when her song Causal became super popular on tiktok,” senior Kattie Palencia said.
Before her rise to fame she got a record deal when she was a teenager. She would perform covers of songs on YouTube as a young singer living in Missouri with her family. Her song “Die Young” was her start to fame as it made her sign to Atlantic Records at 17 years old. As a child, Chappell Roan lived in a trailer park with her family in a small town called Willard, Missouri. Starting in 2022 Olivia Rodrigo took Chappell under her wing by making her the opener for the SOUR tour. She also was a background vocalist in some of Olivia Ridrigo’s songs. Being a opener for the SOUR tour was just the beginning of Chappell’s story and anyone would be nervous and feel the same way in her position due to how small of an artist she was to someone who has huge sold out concerts in a matter of around 2 years.
It could be understood how overwhelming fame could be as it happened basically overnight in 2024. In the video it was very straightforward and forceful to show that Roan wants privacy in her private life with her increasing popularity. She made remarks to fans being creepy and harassing her. Some fans seemed to feel she was acting entitled and mean but in reality, achieving a mass following in such little time could be super scary and a big adjustment for someone.
“I think the media is acting this way towards her because the media forgets that pop stars are also people too,” said senior Lillian Boyd.
Chappell Roan has every right to feel this way and some fans need to respect her wishes so she can feel comfortable in the music industry. People like Elton John, Charli xcx and Sabrina Carpenter all have reached out to Chappell Roan to show their support for her and to be there for her while she is dealing with such negative feedback from some fans. Celebrities are people too and deserve the same respect as any other human being.
