The Best New Artist Curse: Will Chappell Roan Keep the Throne?
Image Courtesy: Grammy Awards
On Sunday, February 2nd, Chappell Roan—one of the fastest-rising stars of 2024—took home the prestigious Best New Artist Grammy award. This award has been given to some of the most acclaimed artists of all time, like The Beatles, Lauryn Hill, and Amy Winehouse, launching their careers to stardom. But for others, this award marked the beginning of a downward spiral, one resembling an ancient curse, turning it into more of a burden than a blessing.
Image Courtesy: Them
Although not technically a “new” artist, Chappell Roan’s music career skyrocketed last year when her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, released in 2023, started to gain recognition. Roan has been releasing music since 2017, though very different from the music style she leans towards now. Her switch to a campy, queer, upbeat genre was another reason for her quick rise in success. In 2024, the pop singer released the single “Good Luck Babe,” a synthy pop song featuring operatic vocals and a bridge so infectious it’s impossible to pry it out of your head. She performed the song at Coachella and later at Lollapalooza, breaking records as her set garnered the largest daytime audience in the festival’s history.
So, there is no question that Chappell Roan has star quality, amazing vocals, catchy songs, and radiant stage presence, but is that enough for her to escape the so-called “curse” that comes with the accolade?
Image Courtesy: Rolling Stone
Best New Artist is one of the most interesting categories at the Grammy’s, often seen as a prophecy for the next big stars set to dominate the industry. The curse label most likely stemmed from the handful of artists who won the award and remained “one-hit wonders,” declining in charts, quality, and fanbase after their early peaks.
In a category featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, James Blake, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Kacey Musgraves, the winner will certainly surprise you. The “Thrift Shop” duo claimed Best New Artist, and since that moment, the name Macklemore & Ryan Lewis seems only heard on karaoke nights—usually when that one person wants to show off the rap in “Can’t Hold Us” (that’s me by the way).
Image Courtesy: Variety
The same could be said for Best New Artist of 2018, Alessia Cara. At the time, she had a Grammy win plus four nominations, three top ten hits on the Billboard charts, and a collaboration with one of the biggest Disney movies of the time, Moana. Yet now, her name and music seem to have faded into the background, gone completely unnoticed by the masses. Meanwhile, the other nominees, like SZA and Lil Uzi Vert, have only risen from their “loss.” The result of a prophetic curse—or just the inevitable passage of time in the industry?
Image Courtesy: Billboard
Chappell Roan has many reasons to believe she can stay at the top. The star performed one of her most popular songs, “Pink Pony Club,” at the Grammys and turned the award ceremony into her concert, which isn't uncommon for her. She ran across the stage, danced wildly, and even rode a larger-than-life pink pony – all while singing like an angel. The audience was captivated as everyone joined in to sing the beloved pre-chorus: “Oh Mama, I'm just having fun; On the stage in my heels; It's where I belong down at the Pink Pony Club.”
The song was born from Roan’s experience moving to LA and going to the city’s iconic gay bar, The Abbey. She told Headliner, “All of a sudden, I realized I could truly be any way I wanted to be, and no one would bat an eye. It was so different from home, where I always had such a hard time being myself.” The story behind this song and many of her others are some of the reasons I believe we will be hearing her name for years to come. She is unapologetically herself—whether she’s singing about queer love in “Naked in Manhattan,” enjoying an ex’s misery in “My Kink is Karma,” or missing your hometown in “California.”
Image Courtesy: Rolling Stone
Her authenticity goes beyond her music as well. When she got on stage to accept her award, she used her speech to call out music labels for their mistreatment of smaller artists. She said, “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy, and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry, profiting millions of dollars off of artists, would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists.”
Moments like these aren’t ordinary, certainly not those of a “one-hit wonder.” They resemble those of a true pop star cementing herself in the music world. This kind of talent only comes around so often, and what Chappell Roan possesses may be strong enough to break the curse altogether.
Strike Out,
Writer: Isabella Santiago
Editor: Grace Groover
Tallahassee