Chappell Roan, the Missouri-born pop artist who rose to fame with her album *The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess*, recently shared candid thoughts about her career, fame, and pressure to conform in the entertainment industry. Speaking on BBC Radio 1, Roan shared her experience with fame. Specifically, she had a case about maybe not speaking up enough for her thoughts and feelings would have actually hindered her career a little further. In one striking quip, she said that she would be “way bigger” if she had been “OK wearing a muzzle.”
The singer made the comment after her continued struggles with the demands of fame. Roan recalled how, after instances in which she spoke out against mistreatment or voiced discomfort with the industry’s expectations, she has frequently been labeled a “diva.” One of the more high-profile examples Roan cited was during the MTV Video Music Awards, where she confronted a photographer taunting stars on the red carpet. Roan’s meltdown went viral, with legions of fans applauding her for standing up for herself and others chastising her for failing to “act normal.” As Roan looked back, it crystallized the contradiction she feels as an artist-how often the instinct that would compel her to speak her mind gets at cross-purposes with the silent, well-groomed image that both the public and media want their celebrities to put forward.
“I was looking around, and I was like, ‘This is what people are okay with all the time? And I’m supposed to act normal? This is not normal. This is crazy,'” Roan remembered. She said that although this has been her reaction to disrespect all along, cameras and newfound celebrity life turned a private reaction into a public spectacle. “It’s like oil and water,” she said, comparing the contrast between how she really is and how the media represents her.
Roan’s comment about the muzzle serves to frame the tension that exists between authenticity and career success within the entertainment industry. She said that if she had just gone along with what was expected of her, like being quiet and not rocking the boat, she would probably be more commercially successful. “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,” Roan said. She thinks that in putting her mental and emotional well-being first, she has had to make difficult choices-like cutting her 2024 tour short—to preserve her health. These decisions are ones that may have cost her more widespread fame but were vital for her long-term happiness.
Roan also recalled how one counsel from her deceased grandfather finally set the course of her career. He had said, “There’s always a choice.” That has been a helpful mindset for Roan to make decisions in her life and career based on her well-being rather than money. When big-paying opportunities came along, like touring, she learned to counterbalance her mental health and happiness against superficial success.
Yet Roan will not be deterred from staying true to herself, no matter how hard. This is proof that success, particularly with the six Grammy nominations she has had, does not necessarily have to be different from authenticity and integrity in the music industry. Success for Roan means not the art of being in the limelight but, rather, creating art to make her heart tingle, even if this should mean a failure to meet the industry expectations.
She looks to the future, and Roan continues to put her mental and physical health first amidst the labyrinthine ways of fame. In her eyes, the true measure of success is not in how much you gain but whether you can remain yourself through it all.
