Chappell Roan on ‘The Giver’: “I wanted to make a country song saying ‘Yes, I’m a lesbian’”

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Chappell Roan surprised everyone recently by making her debut in a genre as classically American as country music. The Giver is her latest musical release—one that might seem far from her usual sound, yet is deeply connected to her roots. She opened up about this in an interview with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country, where she made it clear that she wanted to express something that came from the deepest part of her being.

“I thought it would be fun. It’s quirky and playful. I’m from southwest Missouri, I grew up on Christian and country music, and then I discovered Lady Gaga’s Alejandro. And I was like, ‘I think I like this too.’ So I kept country music close to my heart, and it feels incredibly nostalgic to drive around West Hollywood listening to Jason Aldean or Alan Jackson’s Chattahoochee… I thought, ‘I want to feel that way on stage.’ I want that feeling because that’s how I write. I asked myself, ‘How do I want to walk on stage and sing?’ and also, ‘I want to write that song,’ but in Chappell’s version,” she explained.

The singer turned the soundtrack of her childhood into an anthem of empowerment while embracing her queer identity through her music. “I think I have a special relationship with my hometown because of country music. And I want to honor that part of myself by making a country song that says: ‘Yes, I’m a lesbian, and yes, I’m ultra-pop. Yes, I’m a drag queen. You can also perform a country song’… There are so many drag queens making country music around the world. Name a girl who hasn’t sung Before He Cheats. Name a girl who hasn’t sung Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”

A Cry of Liberation in The Giver

Sexuality takes center stage in The Giver—a kind of cry for liberation that Roan hopes will help others going through similar experiences in certain parts of the U.S.:

“I don’t hate myself for not knowing everything about queer culture back then. I don’t hate myself for coming from Missouri and not knowing a single lesbian. I don’t hate myself for being in the closet and for hating myself. Of course, you hate yourself. Everyone in the Midwest and the South—especially in small towns—is taught not only to stay silent but also to hate or pray it away. And I’m not mad at myself for doing that. It was all I knew how to do. It’s all you’re told to do… I can hate myself for being a lesbian at 15 and thinking: ‘I’m a woman. I’m supposed to be there for my husband, and I’m going to learn how to cook and…’ Great. I can do that. Then I move to Los Angeles, have a revelation, and write a country song to wrap it all together. I love myself for loving country music, and I love myself for making it through. I love myself so much that I took a painful part of my past in the Midwest and turned it into a song filled with joy.”

During the interview, Roan and Bannen also discuss the history of women in country music, including Roan’s admiration for legends like Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. Because, deep down, Chappell Roan’s music is also influenced by classic female voices—like Whitney Houston…