Chappell Roan Says ‘It’s Really Hard to Keep Up’ With Her Career

Good luck, babe, like, for real. Photo: Getty Images

Chappell Roan has been on a breakneck rise lately: cracking the Hot 100, drawing massive festival crowds, even turning down the White House. And at last night’s show, the performer shared some of her complicated feelings around all that. “I’m trying to figure out how to say this,” she began, before tearing up. The audience cheered and encouraged her as she continued. “I just want to be honest with the crowd, and I just feel a little off today ’cause I think that my career’s just kind of gone really fast and it’s really hard to keep up,” she said. “And so, I’m just being honest that I’m just having a hard time today.” She added that she didn’t want that to affect the show, but “there’s a lot on my mind.”

Roan was headlining Raleigh’s 6,000-capacity Red Hat Amphitheater, which was four times bigger than the show’s original venue to meet her increased demand. Bonnaroo just moved her set from a tent to one of its main stages in anticipation of another huge crowd. It’s a big change from last year, when Roan was getting ready to release her debut album and playing 1,000-cap clubs. “So I just thank you for understanding,” she continued. “This is all I’ve ever wanted, it’s just heavy sometimes, so thank you.”