Chappell Roan Seeks the Line Between IRL and URL.
As she transitioned from cult queer-pop hero to zeitgeist-shaping star, the young pop singer has been candid about handling the demands of stardom, both onstage and online.
For Chappell Roan, who has been working in the pop music industry for several years, the recent surge in praise has been long overdue, gratifying, and a touch perplexing. Perhaps the most electrifying breakout star of the year, she has songs about lesbian romance, a strong artistic gift, and, most notably, an extraordinarily moral sense of how a famous person should be treated.
She is being hugged and tested at the same time. The previous few weeks, in particular, have given Roan with a case study in the distinction between IRL and URL fandom — the people who come up to commune with you vs the people who make you the object of their study and discourse online — and which she should stake her future on.
Last Tuesday, in Franklin, Tenn., she took a mid-show break to examine the 7,500 people who had come to see her play at the FirstBank Amphitheater.
“I know how hard it is to be queer in the Midwest and the South,” she told me. She grew up in Willard, Missouri, almost seven hours west, and resented her conservative surroundings. As a young person, she added, “I really needed a place where people weren’t going to make fun of me for how I dressed or who I liked.”
For the night, the amphitheater just outside Nashville served as such a venue. Carved into a limestone quarry, the open-to-the-sky site felt enclosed and protected. A location to have personal but noisy conversations away from prying ears and eyes.
For the night, the amphitheater just outside Nashville served as such a venue. Carved into a limestone quarry, the open-to-the-sky site felt enclosed and protected. A location to have personal but noisy conversations away from prying ears and eyes.
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