The Tragic Truth About Chappell Roan

If you haven't tuned in yet, it's high time you did — Chappell Roan is that girl. She's dominating the airwaves and is likely on just about every other TikTok dance your thumbs scroll past. She has become besties with the likes of Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Sabrina Carpenter. Seemingly overnight, the "Good Luck, Babe!" singer is finally getting the recognition she's hustled so hard to get.

Roan's approach to her career is as bold as her music — and makeup. "I probably have one of the best deals ever in modern music because I was like: ​'F*** you guys, give me what I want or I'm going to do this myself,'" she told The Face. ​"Now I can be like: ​'Look at the numbers, b***h'" And she's not wrong. Her performance at the 2024 Lollapalooza reportedly drew a record-breaking crowd of 110,000, and she rocketed to No. 1 on Billboard's Artist 100 and Top Album Sales Charts just months after her career blew up.

At first glance, Roan might seem like your run-of-the-mill pop icon, famed for her edgy songs and penchant for decking herself out in drag-inspired outfits. But a closer look into her life will let you realize that she's anything but typical. Her rise to fame has been marred by a slew of challenges, including dealing with depression and having to repress her queerness. Here are just some of the most tragic details about Roan's life.

Chappell Roan might have rocketed from obscurity to the spotlight in the blink of an eye, but don't think for a second she's living the dream — she's far from it. While some might lap up the media spotlight and the adoration of the masses, Roan found herself spiraling into feelings of misery and alienation. The newfound fame only left her feeling alone, resulting in a diagnosis even she didn't expect to have: depression.

"I'm in therapy twice a week. I went to a psychiatrist last week because I was like, I don't know what's going on. She diagnosed me with severe depression — which I didn't think I had because I'm not actually sad. But I have every symptom of someone who's severely depressed," she said in a September 2024 interview with The Guardian, noting that it gave her clarity about the telltale signs she's been experiencing at that point, including brain fog and inability to focus.

The "Hot to Go" singer also admitted to being diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder when she was in her early 20s, a condition she believes was present since childhood. "Being bipolar, I was so depressed as a little kid and so angry. You just think you're such a bad person, and don't realize that you're really sick and need help, and our parents don't know how to deal with it," she told Daily Trojan, adding that she eventually learned how to navigate it. "I think it's like rewiring my brain to be like, 'actually, you're a good person, and you're creating a safe space and music for people to dance to.'"

Chappell Roan's stage persona is full of boldness with a dash of glitter, similar to the likes of Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. But her penchant for flamboyance stems from a childhood stuck in the conservative confines of her hometown in Missouri, where everything she said and did was under scrutiny. "I wanted to be bold and say things that might be a little edgy. I come from a super conservative area where I wouldn't even wear the things that I wear in L.A. here in public — I would just feel weird about it," she told Headliner Magazine. "So I'm just going to be everything that I am in L.A., in my music."

Her conservative, Christian hometown clashed with her sexuality, too, leading her to experience years of inner turmoil. "I pushed down the gay part of myself so deep because I was like, that can't possibly be me," she confessed to The Guardian. "It was like, 'Gay means flamboyant, gay man' and lesbian means, 'Butch girl who looks masculine'. There was not an array of queerness. And I was very mentally ill ... and not medicated, because that's just not a part of midwest culture. It's not: 'Maybe we should get you a psychiatrist.' It's: 'You need God. You need to pray about that.'"

Despite these challenges, Roan's roots continue to influence her art, with the singer sharing that her upbringing allowed her to make art that's more nuanced. "I think that, looking back — even though I probably never would have said this until I was in my 20s — thank God I grew up in the Midwest because I have such a different perspective," she shared with The Washington Post. "And I appreciate different things because of it."

Another downside of Chappell Roan's meteoric ascent to fame is the so-called fans who were quick to slap the "industry plant" label on her story. A far cry from being a label-pushed, nepo baby pop star like some of her peers, Roan has been grinding since she signed her first record deal with Atlantic Records at the age of 17. Her rise to near-superstardom was anything but instant — it took her nearly a decade, including a stint back in her hometown, thinking she'd hit a dead end in her career. Calling her an industry plant is quite unfair on her part.

"What's so sick is that people are so stupid online, and they're like, 'Industry plant! Industry plant!'" Roan said in a "The Comment Section" podcast guesting. "And it's like, this is like [my] 10th year ... professionally; [I] was signed in high school. But like, 10th year after just years and years of pushing and pushing. I'm from Southern Missouri and moved to L.A. and it's just the most cliché story ever ... But yeah, 2020 I ran out of money, moved back in with my parents, worked at a drive-thru, got dropped by my label, broke up with someone I thought I was going to marry ... and I was like, 'I'm gonna do the pop thing.'"

And while she's grateful that people are now paying attention to her work, she still couldn't help but have feelings of frustration because of how long it took. "What's so infuriating is how people are just now taking me seriously," she told Rolling Stone. "Like, 'You know what, b*****? I've been doing this s**t and you're just now catching up.'"

With the spotlight on Chappell Roan came a surge of fans, some of whom don't seem to have a concept of what personal boundary is. Roan is, of course, grateful for the support that's come her way, but she's quick to clarify that her gratitude doesn't grant anyone a free pass to cross the line.

In her Rolling Stone interview, she detailed unnerving experiences with overzealous fans, including but not limited to them tracking her flights, shadowing her in airports, and even non-consensual kisses. Fed up and could no longer take it all in stride, Roan took to Instagram to plead with fans to stop this "predatory" behavior. "I've been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don't owe you s**t. I chose this career path because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it," she wrote.

She also requested that the public stop calling her by her birth name, Kayleigh, and to distinguish between her public persona and her private life. "I don't agree with the notion that I owe a mutual exchange of energy, time, or attention to people I do not know, do not trust, or who creep me out — just because they're expressing admiration," she continued. "Please stop touching me. Please stop being weird to my family and friends. Please stop assuming things about me. There is always more to the story. I am scared and tired."

Chappell Roan's run-in with unhinged fans has taken a dark turn as well — not only are they stalking her, but they've also started terrorizing some members of her family, including her parents. On "The Comment Section" podcast, Roan shared the extent of their obsession. "People have started to be freaks, like follow me and know where my parents live and like my sister, where my sister works, all this weird s***," she vented, admitting that it almost pushed her to the edge that she started contemplating about leaving it all behind. "And I'm just like, this is the time when I was, a few years ago, that I said if stalker vibes, like [my] family was in danger, then I would quit. And like, we're there. We're there!"

As a result, Roan is intentionally laying low and has decided to dial back on her public presence to protect her loved ones and attempt to regain some semblance of normalcy. "I'm in this battle of — I've pumped the brakes on honestly anything to make me more known. It's kind of a forest fire right now, just being itself. But I'm not, I'm not trying to go do a bunch of s***," she admitted. "I don't have to be Super Chappell."