Chappell Roan is no longer just “your favorite artist’s favorite artist.”
After a string of viral festival performances — videos of which showed massive crowds growing week after week — the once-niche pop singer has ascended to mainstream success.
Roan, who is known for the queer themes in her music and her drag-inspired aesthetic, is among the recent crop of artists who have hit unforeseen career highs in recent months, despite being considered part of pop music’s “middle class.” This designation has typically been associated with artists who have cultivated devout online fan bases, but who are not necessarily household names.
A-list pop stardom has become increasingly difficult to achieve. But some music industry experts say the recent rise of Roan and others — including Sabrina Carpenter, Tinashe and Charli XCX — is a testament to their authenticity and ability to foster such strong fandoms.
Pop stardom used to be about creating music for the widest possible audience, said Louis Mandelbaum, better known as DJ Louie XIV and the host of “Pop Pantheon,” a podcast that dissects and ranks pop stars’ legacies.
“There were indie bands that could kind of build local audiences and there were other types of music where you could have more of a niche career,” said Mandelbaum. “But when it came to sort of being a pop star, there was really only this one way to operate.”
As a diverse array of genres have risen in popularity, artists are able to find success — to varying degrees — with niche sounds. Taking a look at the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 songs chart, the genres often span from country to rap to pop — and beyond.
Mandelbaum pointed out that some of the most popular artists today, such as Billie Eilish or SZA, make music that may not be recognizable to the general public.
“That was not true of, you know, ‘Teenage Dream’ [by Katy Perry] or ‘Escapade’ [by Janet Jackson] or ‘Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough’ [by Michael Jackson],” Mandelbaum said.
Instead of being “pop” as in popular across the culture, artists like Roan, XCX, Carpenter and Tinashe treat “pop” as a genre to be built upon rather than a trending sound.
Morgan Milardo, managing and artistic director of the Berklee Popular Music Institute, said live performances have also been integral in creating communities around these artists.
Roan’s debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which came out in September, did not appear on the Billboard 200 albums chart in its opening week, according to the outlet. It only entered the chart in April 2024, following Roan’s stint as an opener for Olivia Rodrigo.
Her album has slowly climbed to the top 10 of the Billboard 200. She also has multiple songs on the Hot 100. Milardo pointed to the decision to move Roan to a bigger stage at the Bonnaroo music festival following the turnout for her set at the Governors Ball festival as another sign of her ascendance.
“Moving an artist based on a festival that they performed the week before is pretty unheard of,” said Milardo, who has worked on the festival circuit. “And so that growth, the metrics, the streaming data, watching it skyrocket through the roof after each festival, that’s not a coincidence.”
Carpenter, who snagged the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with her hit “Please Please Please,” also rose in popularity after opening for Taylor Swift and performing midday at the same big festivals as Roan. She was recently chosen to replace Tyler, the Creator as a headliner at Outside Lands, a move Milardo said usually takes a couple years for an artist of Carpenter’s stature to achieve.
“It’s like we’re seeing the direct correlation and the direct connection between what’s happening on the charts and what’s happening on streaming platforms versus what’s happening in touring, and specifically the festival circuit,” said Milardo.
It is also impossible to divorce the success of these stars from the current cultural and political climate, according to Milardo.
The authenticity of these artists, who are known for being brash and unapologetically themselves, is refreshing at a time when the rights of women and LGBTQ people are being threatened.
“Part of why they attract such a loyal fan base is because they’re allowing their fans to be authentic too, and they’re developing community and creating camaraderie for their fans,” said Milardo.
Charli XCX, the British pop star considered a cult favorite among music fans, snagged her highest-charting album to date with her club record “Brat,” which dropped on June 7. The album has inspired people to aspire to a “brat summer,” which encourages them to be messy, candid and unapologetic.
Mandelbaum said pop music fans crave “idiosyncratic” musicians today.
With Roan in particular, Mandelbaum said, “her identity and her music is speaking to something deep inside of youth culture right now, particularly as it pertains to the representation of queer people in mainstream pop.”
This synergy has made Roan “the right person for the right time” and allowed her to break through in a way pop musicians have not done in a while, said Mandelbaum.
Even with the recent wave of success these artists have achieved, the standard rules of pop stardom have not been imperative to their overall career. Hit singles are “almost incidental,” said Mandelbaum.
“It’s about speaking to this cult fan base directly,” Mandelbaum said, “and making idiosyncratic music that pleases them.”
