On November 2nd Chappell Roan appeared as the host for ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL), an American late-night comedy programme that puts those who have influenced pop-culture at the forefront of comedy skits. Among Chappell Roan, other musicians, like Ariana Grande and Jay-z, have taken to performing on the programme.
The Missourian singer performed renowned songs off her latest album, ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess’, such as ‘Femininomenon’ and ‘Pink Pony Club’; both songs hold testament to the pride and openness of Roan’s experiences as a queer woman in the Midwest. During her performance of ‘Pink Pony Club’, the audience could be heard singing along, which is a first in SNL history!
Who could be a more fitting crowd to be the first to hear an upcoming song? A premiere of ‘The Giver’, a country-themed song, occurred in Roan’s second performance of the night. The single is seen to tie the culture attached to Roan’s Midwestern upbringing to her proud queerness. ‘The Giver’ is one of the singles confirmed to be on Chappell’s upcoming album; whilst there is no confirmed release date for this coming album, an Instagram post captioned ‘Album kinda popped off imo but it is time to welcome a hot new bombshell into the villa’, so it is safe to assume production of the genre-fused album is underway!
Although she has been seen to break records and attract new fans, Chappell Roan has recently had backlash for her view on ‘parasocial’ relationships, a one-sided relationship that one forms with a lack of consent or acknowledgement from another party. Roan commented that as consumers of her art, we are not entitled to a relationship with her, or any artist, as we have no true connection. Whilst she may come across as entitled herself, the artist and her family had been victim to harassment and stalking- I’d be mad too! After expressing her emotions on TikTok where she felt as if her privacy had been under-valued by the lack of respect from ‘fans’, many went to calling her ungrateful and out of touch.
Despite this, Roan is yet to be toppled as one of the most influential pop singers of the modern era! With 43.5M monthly listeners, Chappell Roan has still managed to retain a positive fanbase.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072562/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GlBOeep6PqTfFi59PTUUN