Best of KC 2024: Missouri Princess Chappell Roan’s rise and fall (and rise)  

Chappell Roan // Photo by Zoe Strohm

Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2024. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. 

Missouri and the Midwest, in general, are too often overlooked in terms of the sheer amount of talent that lives here. Chappell Roan’s Lollapalooza crowd records, major debut album breakout, and catapult into stardom all began in Willard, MO. Find that hard to believe? The Red Wine Supernova herself is actually named Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, which is the most Missouri name we’ve ever heard. 

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess initially came out in 2023, but traction really built up when she began opening for Olivia Rodrigo. The campy lesbian drag queen has since won over the hearts and aux cords of the world. Roan speaks about her Midwestern roots frequently, especially about the queer communities in these rural areas. People like to put Middle America in a corn-fed, simpleton box. Hopefully the vivid, raunchy songs about both being gay and “missing the seasons in Missouri” will change coastal residents’ perspective on the fly-over states. 

According to The Star, Chappell Roan got her trashy, provocative drag inspiration from our very own Hamburger Mary’s off Broadway Blvd. Kansas City can’t wait to see the rise, and, hopefully, never the fall, of this super-graphic, ultra-modern Midwest Princess.