Chappell Roan has “pumped the breaks on anything to make me more known”

Chappell Roan has revealed she’s ‘pumped the brakes’ on her rising profile due to concerns about her privacy and safety.

The 26-year-old singer-songwriter, who released her debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ in 2023, spoke candidly about the challenges of her meteoric rise to AAA-list pop super stardom during an appearance on ‘The Comment Section with Drew Afualo’ podcast.

Roan expressed her discomfort with the increasing invasiveness of some fans, stating, “People are freaks. They follow me and know where my parents live, and where my sister works. All this weird shit.” She went on to disclose a personal promise she had made to herself: “If [I felt] stalker vibes [or] like [if my] family was in danger is when I would quit. And we’re there, we’re there. So, I’m just kind of in this battle, I’ve like pumped the brakes on honestly anything to make me more known. It’s kind of a forest fire right now … I’m not trying to go do a bunch of shit.”

The concerns come in the wake of her rapidly growing popularity, which has seen her draw massive crowds at major festivals. At Governor’s Ball in June, Chappell performed dressed as the Statue of Liberty, and reportedly turned down a White House performance for a Pride month event. Her show at Bonnaroo Music Festival had to be moved to a larger stage to accommodate the unexpectedly large audience.

Chappell has been open about her struggles with sudden fame. During a performance at the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, North Carolina, last month, she shared her feelings with the crowd, saying, “I feel a little off today, because I think my career is going really fast and it’s hard to keep up.” She added, “I’m not trying to give you a lesser show. Thank you for understanding. This is all I’ve ever wanted.”