Chappell Roan, the long-toiling singer-songwriter whose rocket-ship year took her from tiny clubs to the top of pop in 2024, made herself known onstage at the Grammys, calling on record labels to offer a “livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists” in her acceptance speech for best new artist.
“Because I got signed so young, I got signed as a minor, and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people I had a difficult job finding a job during the pandemic and couldn’t find health insurance,” Roan said, calling it “so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system.”
“If my label would have prioritized artists’ health, I would have been provided care by a company I had given everything to,” she added.
Roan, 26, has made as many headlines offstage as on, bringing a Gen-Z spirit of transparency and frankness to the growing pains of rising fame. She said onstage that she had told herself is she ever won a Grammy, she would “stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music” and demand more from an industry “profiting millions of dollars off artists.”
“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” Roan said in closing.
As her songs about queer love and lust have found a larger audience, Roan has been outspoken about having grown up in conservative Willard, Mo., urging her young fan base to be themselves and stand up for what they believe in.
For Roan, that has meant being clear about her boundaries with photographers and fans, but also her broader political beliefs. She said in an interview with Rolling Stone that she had turned down an invitation to perform at the White House’s Pride celebration, but had considered going to protest the Biden administration’s stance on the war in Gaza in person.
“I’m not going to go to the White House because I am not going to be a monkey for Pride,” she said. She also faced criticism after announcing that she would refrain from endorsing a candidate in the presidential election despite opposing Donald J. Trump because she could not support “the Democratic Party that has failed people like me and you — and more so Palestine and more so every marginalized community in the world.” She later clarified that she would vote for Kamala Harris, “but I’m not settling for what has been offered, because that’s questionable.”
Roan, who performed her song “Pink Pony Club” earlier in the show, entered the night with six nominations, including album of the year (for her debut, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”), and song and record of the year (“Good Luck, Babe!”).
Read More: Grammys 2025 Live Updates: Chappell Roan Wins Best New Artist
