Chappell Roan says releasing country single The Giver is ‘bold and scary’ move
By Jessica Coates, PA
Chappell Roan has released her long-teased country-inspired single The Giver, describing the genre shift as “bold and scary”.
The American singer-songwriter’s latest venture is complete with fiddles and banjos, marking a departure from her usual pop anthems.
The 27-year-old said the new single – the first since her 2024 breakout hit Good Luck, Babe! – did not mean she was permanently pivoting from pop music.
With the song embracing an old-school country twang, Roan – whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz – called the decision to release a “full ass country song” a “bold and scary move” after dominating the pop genre last year.
Writing on Instagram after the track’s release, she said: “(I am very scared as I type this lol) but I think that’s the entire point of chappell roan. Be bold and scary and have fun.
“Some of you may be new to the country scene and not quite sure what to make of me having a fiddle and banjo in my song.
“It is something different and sometimes different can feel bad because it’s unfamiliar, but I encourage you to give her another shot.”
A post shared by ･ﾟ: *✧ Chappell Roan ✧*:･ﾟ (@chappellroan)
The singer first debuted the tune during a performance on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Over the next few months, Roan teased the single by setting up a hotline that gave callers a preview of the song and putting billboards across the US showing her dressed as a lawyer, a dentist, plumber or construction worker.
She told Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast earlier this week she thought it would be “funny” to release a “lesbian country song” fusing her Missouri roots and queer identity.
“Well, I can’t call myself the Midwest princess and not acknowledge country music, straight up,” Roan said, referencing the title of her 2023 album.
“That is what is around me in the grocery stores. That’s what is playing on the bus.
“I know that my heart wanted to write a country song, and I’m trying to really articulate that it’s not me trying to cross genres.
“I’m not trying to convince a country crowd that they should listen to my music by baiting them with a country song. That’s not what I feel like I’m doing. I just think a lesbian country song is really funny, so I wrote that.”
Roan has become famous for her drag-inspired costumes and eccentric stage persona, from dressing up as the Statue of Liberty or glittering ringmaster to a prom queen sporting a towering wig, paste white makeup and lipstick-stained teeth.
The Hot To Go! singer recently topped the UK charts with her single Pink Pony Club, which recalls her first visit to a West Hollywood gay club.
Her stage name honours her late grandfather, Dennis K Chappell, by merging his last name with a word from his favourite cowboy-country classic, Strawberry Roan.
Roan performed Pink Pony Club at the Grammys in February, when she won the award for best new artist, and later scooped two Brit awards for international artist of the year and international song of the year for Good Luck, Babe!