Chappell Roan Says She Only Wanted To Sing Country Music Until She Heard This 2000s Pop Banger

A full four months after debuting the song on Saturday Night Live, Chappell Roan has finally unveiled her new single The Giver.

The track sees the chart-topper throwing herself into country music, although in interviews to promote The Giver, Chappell revealed that this was actually a genre she grew up listening to.

Speaking on Kelleigh Bannen’s country music show for Apple Music, the Grammy winner pointed out that she was raised in south-west Missouri, and therefore “grew up on Christian and country [music]”.

In fact, Chappell claimed that it was only when she heard Lady Gaga’s Alejandro for the first time that she “was like, ‘I think I like this, too’”, leading to her embracing pop music.

However, she maintains she always “kept country in my heart”.

Pop devotees concerned that this marks a permanent change for Chappell can breathe a sigh of relief, too, as she insisted: “I really just did it for fun. I’m not switching genres or anything.”

In a separate interview with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly Podcast, Chappell also explained: “I can’t call myself the Midwest princess and not acknowledge country music straight up. That is what is around me in the grocery stores. That’s what is playing on the bus.

“I know that my heart really wanted to write a country song, and I’m trying to really articulate that it’s not me trying to cross genres and be like, ‘hey, you know, look at me’. I’m not trying to convince a country crowd that they should listen to my music by baiting them with a country song. That’s not what I feel like I’m doing. I just think a lesbian country song is really funny, so I wrote that.”

Take a listen to The Giver for yourself below:

The Giver marks the first new material from Chappell in almost a year, since her 2024 breakthrough single Good Luck, Babe! in April 2024.

Since then, Chappell has been named Best New Artist at both the Grammys and VMAs, and more recently scored her first UK number one with Pink Pony Club – an impressive five years after the song was first released.