Pop star Chappell Roan spoke about her mental health, falling in love and more at a Grammy Museum event Thursday night.
In a conversation moderated by musician Brandi Carlile, the 26-year-old singer and her producer Daniel Nigro broke down the making of several songs on her hit album. The rise and fall of a Midwestern princess. The intimate event was part of the museum’s spotlight series.
“It just took a lot of years to convince people,” Roan told the audience why it took her and Nigro years to finish her debut album.
Roan’s album, which was on record for 32 weeks Billboard 200 chart, was released in September 2023, but took five years to complete. “I had no money. I didn’t have any numbers to back me up. I had an EP that didn’t do well by music standards. I had toured, but no headlines,” she said. “There was nothing to support me.”
‘Pink Pony Club’, one of Roan’s biggest songs this year, was one of the first songs she and Nigro worked on together. It was released in April 2020. “It was the worst time to release a club song,” said Roan, which was met with laughter from the audience.
Brandi Carlile, Dan Nigro and Chappell Roan attend Spotlight: A Night With Chappell Roan and Dan Nigro.
Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The singer said the song was a “complete 180” for her and how she dressed and performed at the time. “I only wore black on stage. It was very serious,” she said. “The second moment I didn’t take myself seriously was when things started working.
Roan, who uses a stage name, confirmed a big talking point for fans of the singer. “Chappell is a character,” she said.
“I just can’t be here all the time. It’s just too much,” Roan said. She has previously spoken about the rapid fame she experienced and how it affected her. When asked about a mental health routine, the singer said it was changing, and spoke honestly about how her recent success has changed things. “My life is completely different now. Everything is not right at the moment,” she says.
“This kind of year does something to people. Every big thing that happens in someone’s career happened for me in five months,” the singer said. “It’s so crazy that things I never thought would happen happened ten times over. I think that really rocked my system. I don’t know what a good mental health routine looks like for me right now.”
Roan also talked about falling in love. The singer’s song “Kaleidoscope,” which Carlile specifically requested, tells the story of falling in love with a best friend. A very real situation for her, according to the singer. “I think it’s specific to queer relationships because it’s about falling in love with a friend,” she said, noting that queer relationships can often start as friends and develop.
“[I] told my girlfriend that I was in love with her. She said, ‘Can you give me a day to think about this?'” Roan explained to the crowd. ‘On that day I wrote that. I thought, ‘I’m going to kill myself. I gotta get something fucking together. ”
She said she has no regrets about the experience. “I’m so grateful that that happened because for the first time I got confirmation that, yes, I’m not a fraud because I say I’m gay,” Roan said. “Two, what an incredible person to fall in love with for the first time. Your best friend who you think is amazing and hilarious.
Roan made her Saturday Night Live debut last week with Pink Pony Club and a new song, “The Giver,” during the live sketch show. The 26-year-old gave the crowd some hints about “The Giver,” a strange country song. ‘It’s coming out. It’ll work out, don’t worry,” she said, noting how fun it was to write the song. “I have to bring what I knew to the table because I’m a country girl.”