Chappell Roan has revealed her stage name is inspired by her late grandfather.
The singer-songwriter – whose hits include Good Luck, Babe, Hot To Go and Pink Pony Club – told BBC Radio 1: “I go by Chappell Roan because my grandpa’s name was Dennis Chappell and then Roan is a reference to his favourite song called The Strawberry Roan.”
The Strawberry Roan, by Marty Robbins, is an old Western song about a pinkish-red horse.
In the same interview, Roan revealed the sage words of advice her grandfather shared with her, which she constantly thinks about today.
“There is something that he said that I think about every move I make with my career, business, whatever,” she revealed. “He says, ‘there are always options. It is not a scarcity of opportunity’.”
It’s not the first time the singer, who was born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, has opened up about where her name came from.
In a 2022 interview with Oxford student newspaper Cherwell, she said: “I have never felt super connected to my real name Kayleigh. My grandfather’s name was Dennis K. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honour.”
“Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him,” she added.
“It’s a very sentimental name. I do still wish my name was not Kayleigh in real life, though.”
Roan was raised in Missouri and aspired to be an actress, according to the BBC.
But when she entered a singing competition aged 13 and won, her life took a different direction and she started writing her own songs, one of which caught the attention of Atlantic Records who signed her at the age of 17.
Discussing how her grandfather supported her in her formative years, Roan previously told the BBC: “He was very funny and very smart. And I don’t think he ever questioned my ability.
“A lot of people were like, ‘You should go completely country’, or, ‘You should try Christian music’. And he never told me to do anything.
“He was the only person that was like, ‘You don’t need a plan B. Just do it’.”