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It’s a femininomenon! How Chappell Roan slow-burned her way to stardom


The US singer’s debut album is set to hit UK No 1 nearly a year after it was released, as fans fawn over her maximalist pop, queer themes and magnificent displays of camp

Roan draws from the mega-pop of the 2010s, from Lady Gaga to Taylor Swift – then laces it with sexually frank asides and lavish doses of camp, and performs it with a maximalist, absurd aesthetic indebted to drag, John Waters and Freddie Mercury. “Post-Lorde, Halsey, Clairo, even Rodrigo – they’re all indebted to singer-songwriter traditions and making quiet, minimalist music.” From Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2023 film Poor Things to British band the Last Dinner Party and Roan, baroque aesthetics are now everywhere. Many pop stars who have experienced viral fame experience burnout – UK singer-producer PinkPantheress, who rose through TikTok, announced last week that she was cancelling all forthcoming dates to focus on her wellbeing – or are unable to translate one hit song into a career.

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