“Hot to Go!” singer Chapel Roan is emerging as one of the breakout pop stars of 2024.
But the “Midwest Princess”—which just Won Best New Artist at the MTV VMAs last week – she's already burning out over the “humiliating” side of fame.
“I think fame is degrading,” Roan, 26, said. The Face Told in a new cover story. “The environment of it all – the stalking, the trash talking online, [people who] Won’t leave you alone, yells at you in public – this is the expression of an abusive ex-husband.
“That's what it feels like. I didn't know it would feel this bad.”
he already drew some clear boundaries to himself with the aggressive, offensive behavior of his fans.
“I told myself, if it ever gets dangerous, I can quit,” Roan said. “It's dangerous right now, and I'll still keep doing it. But it's not the part I signed up for.”
Roan detailed one incident at the airport that he said was particularly disturbing.
”I get out of the car, it's 5:30 in the morning, and there's two guys with posters and stuff waiting for me to sign,” she told The Face. ”I know they're not fans. I said no. I was like, 'I don't sign anything at the airport, I'm sorry.'”
But the persecution did not end here.
,[One of them] Follows me to the TSA line, starts yelling at me and everybody just turns around and looks,” she explained. “He says, 'You should really humble yourself. Do you know where you are right now? Don't forget where you came from.'”
“Good luck, babe!” The singer was taken aback by the encounter: “All I was thinking was: 'What's going on?'”
Roan was hurt by these events and started crying in the airport bathroom and started messaging “The Royals” Singer Lorde asked for advice.
“He sent me a list of things I needed to do [in that situation]Roan said. “She literally wrote down eight things she wanted someone to tell her when she was going through this. And she went through hell. She was a kid!”
Roan has also struck up a friendship with Sabrina Carpenter, another rising pop star embracing new levels of fame after a hot summer,
“Nobody understands that it all really depends on you,” he said, sympathizing with the “Espresso” singer. “Nobody understands except the other artists… Sabrina [Carpenter] Even texted me: 'Hey, I'm feeling crazy. I know you're feeling crazy too.' So it's like the girls are leaning on each other.”
Roan — who will release a deluxe vinyl edition of her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” on Friday to celebrate its first anniversary — has received support from everyone from Lady Gaga and Charli XCX to Lizzo and Katy Perry.
“They were instantly, instantly supportive,” Roan said of her fellow pop divas. “It's been amazing, because I was so scared and confused.”
