Star breaks down on stage as career explodes

She’s suddenly hotter than ever, but it all got too much for this rising pop star during a recent concert as she wept at the crowd.

Rising US pop star Chappell Roan broke down on stage during a recent performance, explaining she was feeling overwhelmed about the sudden explosion of interest in her career.

26-year-old Roan – real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz – has been working in the music industry since releasing her debut single back in 2017, but is suddenly hotter than ever, with multiple songs rising up the charts.

Her 2023 debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is now nudging the top 10 in the US, some nine months after its release, and her latest single Good Luck, Babe! is climbing the charts worldwide.

Perhaps more intense is the ever-growing live audience reaction to her music: Roan performed at the Governors Ball Festival in New York last Sunday, and footage from her set shows the thousands-strong crowd performing every dance move and singing along to every word of her song Hot To Go.

“Her career has skyrocketed overnight and she deserves it so much,” one person tweeted. It’s certainly a meteoric rise for a singer who toured Australia last November playing relatively intimate shows to the faithful in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

But the relentless pace might be catching up with her. Three days – and two shows – after that festival set, Roan confessed to her audience at a Raleigh concert that she was struggling.

“I just want to be honest with the crowd,” she began, her voice shaking.

Roan told the crowd her sudden success was overwhelming.

Her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is rocketing up the charts.

“I just feel a little off today, because I think my career is going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up. I’m just being honest, that I’m having a hard time today.”

As the audience cheered in support, Roan explained that “I’m not trying to give you a lesser show, it’s just that … there’s a lot. Thank you for understanding. This is all I’ve ever wanted … it just hits me sometimes.”

It’s been a long, slow rise to “overnight success” status for Roan: After releasing several largely-ignored singles as a teen, her 2020 track Pink Pony Club represented a minor breakthrough and a big change in sound.

Released last September, her first album scored rave reviews but debuted at 127 on the US album charts, before a slow climb to its current peak position of 12.

Here in Australia, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess currently sits at number 24 on the album charts, an impressive rise from 38 the week before.

Originally published as Star breaks down on stage as career explodes