Chappell Roan has insisted her new country single was just “for fun”.
The 27-year-old star – whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz – shocked fans with her latest tune ‘The Giver’, but she’s reassured everyone that she’s not abandoning the pop style that made her famous.
She told ‘Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen’ on Apple Music: “I really just did it for fun. I’m not switching genres or anything.”
However, she teased: “It’s not no forever.”
For Chappell, she actual holds country music close to “her heart” given her upbringing in Missouri.
She explained: “I’m from southwest Missouri, grew up on Christian and country, and then found ‘Alejandro’ by Lady Gaga and I was like, ‘I think I like this, too.’
“So, I have kept country in my heart… And it’s so incredibly nostalgic to drive in West Hollywood and [play] Jason Aldean or Alan Jackson’s ‘Chattahoochee.’ ”
For her country song, she “just thought it would be funny” to explore the genre, while she described her tune as “campy and fun”.
She was inspired by Big and Rich’s 2004 track ‘Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)’, and really wanted to capture the joy of their song.
She said: “I was like, ‘I want to feel that way on stage. I want to feel that’.
“Because that’s how I write. I’m like, ‘How do I want to walk around on stage and sing?’ And I was like, ‘I want to write that song, but Chappell’s version.’ ”
Chappell previously revealed how her grandfather was the inspiration behind her stage name, including his own favourite music.
Speaking to Cherwell back in August 2022, she said: “My grandfather’s name was Dennis K. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honour.
“Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him.
“Roan came from his favorite song, which was called the ‘Strawberry Roan,’ an old Western song about a pinkish red horse. It’s a very sentimental name.”