Chappell Roan has reflected on her rise to fame, saying she would “be way bigger” and “still on tour” if she “wore a muzzle”.
The ‘Red Wine Supernova’ singer has been open about her opinions on fan culture and frequently spoken honestly about her rapid ascent to stardom. Last year, she discussed the normalisation of extreme fan behaviour, which she has described as “stalking” and people “talking shit online” who “won’t leave you alone”.
She also compared fame to “an abusive ex-husband”, and took to TikTok to share her thoughts on “weird” and “creepy” followers. She then went on to call out the “predatory behaviour” of so-called “superfans”, including “nonconsensual physical and social interactions”.
Now, she’s spoken about her decision to be open about her experiences of stardom. “I’ve been responding that way to disrespect my whole life – but now there are cameras on me, and I also happen to be a pop star, and those things don’t match. It’s like oil and water,” she told the BBC.
“I think, actually, I’d be more successful if I was OK wearing a muzzle,” she continued.”If I were to override more of my basic instincts, where my heart is going, ‘Stop, stop, stop, you’re not OK’, I would be bigger. I would be way bigger… And I would still be on tour right now.”
She went on to say that she chose not to extend her 2024 tour to protect her physical and mental health – a decision she credits her late grandfather for.
“There’s something he said that I think about in every move I make with my career. There are always options,” she said. “So when someone says, ‘Do this concert because you’ll never get offered that much money ever again’, it’s like, who cares?”
She continued: “If I don’t feel like doing this right now, there are always options. There is not a scarcity of opportunity. I think about that all the time.”
Speaking to NME at the beginning of 2024, Roan reflected on her decision to scale back pre-gig meet and greets into “a VIP experience with group questions” saying that one-on-one interactions were triggering her social anxiety. “What fans say to me is really flattering and I’m so thankful, but sometimes I would have panic attacks after because I felt so overwhelmed,” she told us. “It was a lot to take in and then do a show.”
Her ascent to stardom saw her land a UK Number One album in August, win the Best New Artist prize at the MTV VMAs the following month, and later earn six nominations at the Grammys 2025. She has also been announced as a headliner of next year’s Reading & Leeds and Primavera Sound, and this month she was crowned the winner of BBC Radio 1’s Sound Of 2025.
Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe’ was also named as NME’s best song of 2024. “With ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, Roan set out to write a ‘big anthemic pop song’. It was an unqualified success: over subtly insistent synth-pop, Roan serves up home truths to someone desperately trying to deny their queerness,” the entry read.