Chappell Roan Says She Drives Around West Hollywood Listening To Jason Aldean, & Her Fans Are NOT Happy

Casey Young·
COUNTRY MUSICNEWS
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Chappell Roan Jason Aldean
Apple Music

Chappell Roan is a fan of Jason Aldean’s music? Don’t think I would’ve guessed that…

The pop sensation is gearing up to release a “country” song tomorrow called “The Giver,” which is part of a forthcoming (unofficially announced) album she’s working on and is going to be a huge single in terms of announcing the project and probably getting a ton of radio play. She’s been doing some press with country media members leading up to the release, and has said multiple times how much she loved country music and was exposed to it a ton growing up in rural Missouri.

If you follow music even from afar, you’ve probably heard of her 2023 breakout album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which featured hits like “Pink Pony Club” and “Good Luck, Babe!” She was nominated for several Grammy’s this year, and ended up taking home the coveted Best New Artist trophy at the show in February.

While Chappell’s music is extremely pop and fun, she says she felt like writing a country song just for “fun,” and in a new interview with Kelleigh Bannen for Apple Music, Chappell said it’s still “nostalgic” for her to drive around West Hollywood and listen to Jason Aldean and Alan Jackson (she loves “Chattahoochee,” so I think she has pretty good taste):

“I wanted to write a country song, because I just thought it would be funny. It’s campy, and it’s fun. You know, I’m from southwest Missouri, grew up on Christian and country and then found ‘Alejandro’ by Lady Gaga and I was like: ‘I think I like this too!’

So I have kept country in my heart and it’s so incredibly nostalgic to drive in West Hollywood and have Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, ‘Chattahoochee.’ I love how, ‘Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,’ I was like, ‘How can I, I want to feel that way on stage, I wanna feel that. ‘cause that’s how I write.

I’m like, how do I wanna walk around the stage and sing? I wanna write that song, but like, Chappell’s version. I really just did it for fun, I’m not switching genres or anything, but it’s not no forever.”

And after seeing the clip from the aforementioned interview and hearing that Chappell likes some of Jason’s music (she said nothing about his politics or him as a person), some of her fans were not happy about the fact that she even mentioned him, and they let her have it on X:

I obviously don’t think this is going to hurt her album or ticket sales, but I have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear her say that. While I honestly don’t listen to much of his music these days, songs like “Fly Over States” and “The Truth” will always be hits to me. They’re nostalgic, coming of age songs, for millennials across the country.

But Chappell Roan’s pop music fans only know Jason Aldean from the way he’s been portrayed in the liberal media… a racist, Trump-loving, redneck, MAGA country music guy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, Chappell is openly lesbian and the country song she’s putting out tomorrow, “The Giver,” has already been dubbed a “lesbian country anthem” by some of her fans after she debuted it on SNL several months ago now, mostly because of this line in the bridge about how “only a woman” knows how to treat a woman right:

“All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right, well only a woman knows how to treat a woman right.”

But she made a point last year to explain that her personal politics are more nuanced than most would think, and I remember her catching some flack, because she wouldn’t publicly endorse Kamala Harris during the 2024 Presidential Election:

@chappellroan♬ original sound – chappell roan

At the time, she shared a TikTok clarifying that she wasn’t voting for Trump, and would be voting for Kamala, but that it was rather begrudgingly. She cited a number of issues she had with the Democratic party, and clarified that she would “always question those in power,” no matter who it was or is. She made a point to say that just because she’s a member of a particular group of people, doesn’t mean that a certain political party gets an automatic vote from her:

“Hear it from my mouth, if you’re still wondering. No, I’m not voting for Trump and yes, I will always question those in power and those making decisions over other people. And I will stand up for what’s right and what I believe in. And like, it’s always at the forefront of my project.”

Obviously, the same fans who were mad at her for not jumping up and down for Kamala Harris last year are most likely the same one who are mad about her mentioning Jason Aldean as a nostalgic country artist that she still enjoys listening to. But in this destructive age of social media, everything you say and do is turned into a life or death political statement. It’s exhausting…

Good for her for not being afraid to say she still listens to Jason Aldean and Alan Jackson, although, I suspect the “clarification” video is coming soon. She even mentioned Big & Rich’s “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy,” so just wait until they found out who wrote that one…

Anyways… here’s her full performance of “The Giver” on SNL:

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