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'That Changed My Career': Chappell Roan Says Queens Biopic Bohemian Rhapsody Inspired Her Switch to Pop
In a pre-Grammy nomination interview, Chappell Roan shared that Freddie Mercury’s iconic Live Aid scene in Bohemian Rhapsody inspired her to bring that energy to her own pop shows.
Chappell Roan credits the 2018 Queen biopic, especially Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury, for her extreme shift to pop music. The singer, 26, joined her producer Daniel Nigro at the Grammy Museum on Thursday, November 7, for a chat event moderated by Brandi Carlile. In the extensive conversation, Roan revealed that Bohemian Rhapsody helped inspire her transition to pop.
“That scene, whenever they’re performing Live Aid and they’re doing Radio Ga Ga, and they’re doing that part? That changed my career. It pivoted, and I was like, ‘I will do whatever it takes.’”
The scene Roan references is Queen's legendary 1985 Live Aid performance, where Mercury leads the crowd in perfectly synchronized clapping. Watch BELOW!
Carlile joined the chat, asking Roan if she connected her queerness to the movie, to which she replied she hadn’t reached that point in her life when she first saw it. The singer shared that the primary connection she felt with the movie as an artist was the desire to recreate the same magic with the crowd that Mercury did. “How do I do something like that? It was so powerful to just be like, to all do the same movement,” Roan recalled.
Her setlist staple, HOT TO GO, attempts to incorporate this crowd engagement, with Roan prompting the audience to spell out the song’s title. At first glance, the act appears to reference The Village People’s YMCA. Nigro also pointed out that Femininomenon has a call-and-response section in the bridge.
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When Nigro asked if people’s response to her crowd engagement had ever made her consider pushing it further, Roan replied that she always knew she wanted to write songs that would encourage audience interaction. She expressed that she believes her album The Rise and Fall of the Midwest Princess has resonated with fans because of its crowd-engagement elements and because of the extensive number of shows (83) she’s performed in its support.
Roan, who performs under a stage name and was born Kayleigh Amstutz, has had a whirlwind year. Just yesterday (Friday, November 8), she scored six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year for the aforementioned record. She acknowledged her big year the night before her Grammy nominations, saying everything that happens to artists throughout their careers happened to me in only five months.
Roan’s other Grammy nods include Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.
ALSO READ: 7 Highest-Grossing Music Biopics Worldwide: Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman and more
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