'Felt betrayed': Grammy winner Chappell Roan calls out record labels
What's the story
Chappell Roan, the newly crowned Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys, used her acceptance speech to call out record labels for their lack of support toward artists. The 26-year-old singer, known for her hit Good Luck, Babe!, demanded that music labels offer a "livable wage and health care" to artists. "I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care," she said.
Personal experience
Roan's personal struggles inspired her plea on stage
Roan opened up about her own struggles as a young artist. She was signed as a minor and later dropped by her label. "I got signed as a minor. When I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had...quite a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and [could not] afford insurance." "It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized."
Call to action
'Labels, we got you, but do you got us?'
Roan stressed that record labels should treat artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance. "If my label had prioritized it, I could have been provided care for a company I was giving everything to. Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection." She ended her speech by asking, "Labels, we got you, but do you got us?"
Twitter Post
Take a look at her speech here
Chappell Roan’s full acceptance speech at the #GRAMMYs after winning Best
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 3, 2025New Artist. pic.twitter.com/pS96uvRhFn
Career path
Roan's career journey and future prospects
Recognized for her bold, campy style inspired by drag queens, Roan started her career as a teen, posting songs on YouTube as Kayleigh Rose. She was signed by Atlantic Records in 2015 but dropped in 2020. In 2023, she signed with Dan Nigro's independent imprint Amusement Records and released her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess with Amusement Records and Island Records. In 2024, she dropped the follow-up single Good Luck, Babe! which achieved commercial success.