LOS ANGELES, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chappell Roan won the
2025 best new artist Grammy award on Sunday, beating out fellow
nominees including popular "Please Please Please" singer Sabrina
Carpenter.
Roan, emotional after receiving her first Grammy, took the
stage sporting her signature drag-inspired makeup and a large
yellow cone hat.
"I told myself that if I ever got to stand up here in front
of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels
and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists
offer a liveable wage," Roan said.
She expressed her own experience as a minor that was signed
by a record label and eventually dropped from that contract,
leaving her unable to afford health insurance.
"We (music artists) got you, but do you got us?" she added
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell
Roan, was nominated in six Grammy categories this year,
including song of the year for "Good Luck, Babe!"
Roan rose to fame after she released a series of independent
singles, including the disco power-pop song she wrote, "Pink
Pony Club," which didn't top charts until four years after its
initial release.
"Pink Pony Club" was inspired by the real-life West
Hollywood, California bar that the singer visited called "The
Abbey."
Known for her bright blend of 1980s pop with elements of
disco and techno-pop, the Missouri-born singer spawned a cult
following after her "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess"
album debuted in 2023, which led to her album of the year Grammy
nomination.
Fans flocked to the sold-out 2024 Kentuckiana Pride Festival
and 2024 Lollapalooza music festival to see the rising
pop-singer.
She also opened for Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts World Tour in
2024.
Roan's big break came after auditioning for "America's Got
Talent" and not getting selected as a contestent, and then
trying to build up her YouTube channel in 2013, mostly singing
cover songs.
The 26-year-old wrote her own original song called "Die
Young," which she performed at various showcases until she was
signed by Atlantic Records in 2015.
Roan, who is openly queer, explores themes of LGBTQ+ rights,
feminism, and drag queen culture in her music.
From 16-time Grammy-winner Adele, who won the best new
artist award in 2009 for "Chasing Pavements" to popular names
like Dua Lipa, who won the award in 2019, the honor has been an
early indicator of artists that will rise to the top ranks of
the music industry.