Another Big Pop Superstar Just Teased a Country Crossover

Who Is Chappell Roan Anyway? | WVAU

Pop-to-country crossovers ramped up in a big way in 2024, with two out-of-genre artists — Post Malone and Beyoncé — producing what were arguably the two biggest country albums of the year.

That trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down any in 2025. It’s only mid-February, and already, a couple of massive names from the pop genre have expressed some interest in the country format.

The latest of those is Chappell Roan, who picked a creative way to tease the release of her country-flavored unreleased song, “The Giver.”

Roan sent a preview of the new music via an Instagram Stories slide, where she posted a number fans could call to hear a preview of the track.

It seems that calling the number could result in hearing a few different snippets of the song: A fan account for the star aggregated all the different possible results in a social media post.

According to Billboard, Roan debuted “The Giver” on Saturday Night Live last November. Her performance was subsequently pulled from SNL‘s channel as well as her own — perhaps to clear the way for her own separate rollout of the song’s release.

Though Roan hasn’t released country music in the past, it makes sense that she might be interested in dabbling in the genre. She often performs in cowboy hats, and her hit single “Pink Pony Club” references “leaving Tennessee,” alluding to some small town roots.

The singer — who recently won Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammy Awards — also has some big fans in the country genre. Miranda Lambert has talked about her fandom for Roan, and she and Kelly Clarkson covered her song “Good Luck, Babe!” on an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Chappell Roan Comes Down on Music Industry in Grammy Acceptance Speech: “Do You Got Us?”

The “Pink Pony Club” singer-songwriter took home the award for best new artist, a highly competitive category this year, at the 2025 show and used her speech to urge record labels to take care of their artists.

Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Chappell Roan took home the highly anticipated best new artist award at the 2025 Grammys, and she used her win to highlight the treatment of developing artists in the music industry.

Victoria Monet, the 2024 winner of the category, returned to the Grammy stage to announce Roan as this year’s winner. The “Hot to Go!” singer-songwriter thanked her fellow nominees, “whose music got me through this past year.” Roan brought a notebook to the stage to deliver remarks she said she had always told herself she would say if she were ever to find herself in this position.

“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,” Roan said, met with cheers from the crowd.

Roan went on to explain that she was signed as a minor and when she was previously dropped from her label, she had no job experience or health care insurance, adding that she had a hard time trying to find a job in the pandemic. “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanized to not have help,” she said.

“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” Roan questioned, finishing her acceptance speech. It was met with applause from the crowd. Fellow nominee Sabrina Carpenter looked teary eyed when the camera panned to her following Roan’s speech.

The tight race for best new artist was full of performers of some of the year’s biggest hits including Benson Boone, Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Roan, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims. The artists, minus Carpenter, Roan and Khruangbin, performed a medley before the award was given out. Carpenter and Roan, both up for the biggest award of the night, album of the year, performed separately in the ceremony. The pre-award performances showcased the musical diversity in this year’s class of nominees.

Roan brought the Grammys crowd to the “Pink Pony Club” with her performance. On theme with the night, Roan said of her love of Los Angeles, “‘Pink Pony Club’ is my love letter to L.A. I love this city. L.A. gave me the courage to be myself because ultimately it is where I feel the most free.”

Read Roan’s speech in full, below.

Hello, thank you to my fellow nominees whose music got me through this past year. Brat was the best night of my life this year. My hat’s going to fall. It’s going to be OK. [Laughs]. Thank you all who listened to get me here today and Dan [Dan Nigro] and Island Records, Amusement Records, my friends and my family, and above all my Papa Chappell, who I named myself after.

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 in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists. Because I got signed so young… I got signed as a minor, and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and could not afford health insurance.

It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanized to not have help. And if my label would’ve prioritized artist health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to. So, record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.