I think within a month or two she’s going to have a team sorting this stuff out for her to be honest. As you say her meteoric rise has made adjustment awkward and she’s had some missteps but I don’t think they’ll matter in a few months time. And someone will coach her not to say that “doing drugs in public” is the main thing she misses about being a nobody 😂
I think there's a bigger tension than you're acknowledging - she's risen on the back of very intense parasocial relationships that are obviously overwhelming to be at the centre of. A team (and there is absolutely already a team at this point, she has not been DIY-ing it) isn't going to be able to fix the conflict between the demand on her from fans and her ability to supply that. It's a tough situation to be in. Not insurmountably tough, but one that she can only resolve by drawing a much harder line between private and public.
I honestly disagree with that assessment. She’s a normal gen Z girl with an insta. She’s not a talentless hack who gets contracts or performance opportunities only because she has a built in loyal fan base, she’s someone who has dedicated stans because of her talent. The course of her rise is rapid but traditional- she opened for a big star, drew attention, got exposure in a couple of key places- the tonight show, tiny desk concert- and exploded not because her stans were doing work for her but because once you hear the music you become a fan because it’s genuinely great.
I'm giving her fanbase as much credit as she has! She's incredibly talented (reread the post - I say that the songs were already great when she got dropped by her first label - or look back at the archive to see me raving about "Naked in Manhattan" earlier this year). But by her own account she didn't make it until she made the decision to push herself on social media, because fanbase is integral to success. Even in publishing, you have to show you have a preexisting audience before you can get a publisher to invest in you.
I don’t think we disagree that much, but I’ll put it this way- there’s a difference between getting a book published after building a TikTok following by reviewing cosmetics, and getting a book deal because your self published novel was incredibly successful, and I’d say Roan is in the latter category.
Like I had never heard of her, but saw the tiny desk concert and became a stan almost instantly lol
The album is the first whole album I’ve listened to multiple times basically since Spotify became a thing. It’s not the stans, it’s the music. It’s fun, clever, catchy and great.
I may be misinterpreting Sarah, but I thought her point wasn’t about whether Roan is a good artist or has loadsa fans (your good self included), but whether those self-protective adjustments you’re referring to will turn out to be palatable to HER, especially in the long run.
That’s a fair point and one which I have no answer to- but I have to say that someone who’s been dedicatedly pursuing a career since they were fourteen is probably not going to quit because they’ve achieved massive success.
My main disagreement is the implication that offending the fans will somehow terminate the rise, or that she’s dependent on that loyalty for her success. I don’t think that’s true, I think she’s very talented and the work is genuinely infective on its own, and that’s why she has the loyal fanbase.
Lots of people have pursued success and found that the bargain wasn't as happy as they'd hoped (think of brilliant Kelis sacking off music to live on a ranch and cook). Artists need their fans - the music might be fantastic, but I'm currently reading a biography of Lawrence from Felt who is an object lesson in the fact that good music can only take you so far if don't want to or can't make yourself do the fame bullshit. But having fans exerts a massive, crazy-making psychological pressure on you. And every successful artist either finds a way to mitigate that, or ends up resiling from their fame.
I’ve just finished reading Toxic — which I really enjoyed, especially as a Gen Xer who pointed and mocked and bought Heat along with everyone else — and to see this kind of analysis applied to Chappell Roan (who I think is terrific) is really interesting. I’d love to see her be as successful as she deserves in a way that’s manageable for her. I think if we’ve learned anything from Britney and Aaliyah (to choose people you wrote about) it’s that the people they surround themselves with need to enforce those boundaries too. She needs a Tree Paine, a Liz Rosenberg. Here’s hoping she will find them and keep enjoying the music part for a long while to come. Great article - thank you.
Absolutely this. Or to pick another horrible example, look at what happened to Matthew Perry when the team close to him were not invested in his wellbeing or even survival. Fame puts you in a position of enormous vulnerability. You need an inner circle that can hold the line for you.
I hadn’t heard of Chappell Roan until a few weeks ago when a friend shared one of her songs. But it’s really refreshing to hear that she is setting boundaries with other people, notably her fans.
Also, I have ordered your book and very excited to start reading it when it arrives!
lol nah the rise is just beginning. The nonsense can’t hurt you when you put out an album like THAT.
The album is great… but if you don't have an effective way to handle the fame part, that is going to hurt.
I think within a month or two she’s going to have a team sorting this stuff out for her to be honest. As you say her meteoric rise has made adjustment awkward and she’s had some missteps but I don’t think they’ll matter in a few months time. And someone will coach her not to say that “doing drugs in public” is the main thing she misses about being a nobody 😂
I think there's a bigger tension than you're acknowledging - she's risen on the back of very intense parasocial relationships that are obviously overwhelming to be at the centre of. A team (and there is absolutely already a team at this point, she has not been DIY-ing it) isn't going to be able to fix the conflict between the demand on her from fans and her ability to supply that. It's a tough situation to be in. Not insurmountably tough, but one that she can only resolve by drawing a much harder line between private and public.
I honestly disagree with that assessment. She’s a normal gen Z girl with an insta. She’s not a talentless hack who gets contracts or performance opportunities only because she has a built in loyal fan base, she’s someone who has dedicated stans because of her talent. The course of her rise is rapid but traditional- she opened for a big star, drew attention, got exposure in a couple of key places- the tonight show, tiny desk concert- and exploded not because her stans were doing work for her but because once you hear the music you become a fan because it’s genuinely great.
You’re giving her fanbase much too much credit.
I'm giving her fanbase as much credit as she has! She's incredibly talented (reread the post - I say that the songs were already great when she got dropped by her first label - or look back at the archive to see me raving about "Naked in Manhattan" earlier this year). But by her own account she didn't make it until she made the decision to push herself on social media, because fanbase is integral to success. Even in publishing, you have to show you have a preexisting audience before you can get a publisher to invest in you.
I don’t think we disagree that much, but I’ll put it this way- there’s a difference between getting a book published after building a TikTok following by reviewing cosmetics, and getting a book deal because your self published novel was incredibly successful, and I’d say Roan is in the latter category.
Like I had never heard of her, but saw the tiny desk concert and became a stan almost instantly lol
The album is the first whole album I’ve listened to multiple times basically since Spotify became a thing. It’s not the stans, it’s the music. It’s fun, clever, catchy and great.
I may be misinterpreting Sarah, but I thought her point wasn’t about whether Roan is a good artist or has loadsa fans (your good self included), but whether those self-protective adjustments you’re referring to will turn out to be palatable to HER, especially in the long run.
That’s a fair point and one which I have no answer to- but I have to say that someone who’s been dedicatedly pursuing a career since they were fourteen is probably not going to quit because they’ve achieved massive success.
My main disagreement is the implication that offending the fans will somehow terminate the rise, or that she’s dependent on that loyalty for her success. I don’t think that’s true, I think she’s very talented and the work is genuinely infective on its own, and that’s why she has the loyal fanbase.
Lots of people have pursued success and found that the bargain wasn't as happy as they'd hoped (think of brilliant Kelis sacking off music to live on a ranch and cook). Artists need their fans - the music might be fantastic, but I'm currently reading a biography of Lawrence from Felt who is an object lesson in the fact that good music can only take you so far if don't want to or can't make yourself do the fame bullshit. But having fans exerts a massive, crazy-making psychological pressure on you. And every successful artist either finds a way to mitigate that, or ends up resiling from their fame.
People do be crazy
I’ve just finished reading Toxic — which I really enjoyed, especially as a Gen Xer who pointed and mocked and bought Heat along with everyone else — and to see this kind of analysis applied to Chappell Roan (who I think is terrific) is really interesting. I’d love to see her be as successful as she deserves in a way that’s manageable for her. I think if we’ve learned anything from Britney and Aaliyah (to choose people you wrote about) it’s that the people they surround themselves with need to enforce those boundaries too. She needs a Tree Paine, a Liz Rosenberg. Here’s hoping she will find them and keep enjoying the music part for a long while to come. Great article - thank you.
Absolutely this. Or to pick another horrible example, look at what happened to Matthew Perry when the team close to him were not invested in his wellbeing or even survival. Fame puts you in a position of enormous vulnerability. You need an inner circle that can hold the line for you.
I hadn’t heard of Chappell Roan until a few weeks ago when a friend shared one of her songs. But it’s really refreshing to hear that she is setting boundaries with other people, notably her fans.
Also, I have ordered your book and very excited to start reading it when it arrives!