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.