Chappell Roan on course for UK Number One album – almost a year after debut’s release
Chappell Roan is on her way to claiming her first UK Number One album, with breakthrough debut ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’.
Released last September, the album marked the long-awaited debut LP from Roan and, while it did well on the US charts, it had less of an impact in the UK.
However, following the singer’s huge surge in popularity over the past few months, the debut has been making waves in England and is on course for the top position on the charts – nearly a year after it first arrived.
The rise in her profile comes thanks to the huge global success of her one-off single ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, as well as the support slot she locked in on Olivia Rodrigo’s huge run of ‘Guts’ tour dates.
Currently, ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ is sat at the Number Two spot on the Official Singles Charts, and ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’ has moved up three places midweek in the album charts thanks to the release of a vinyl variant (via Official Charts).
At the time of writing, two of Roan’s singles have already made it to the UK Top 40 singles charts: ‘HOT TO GO!’, which peaked at Number 19, and ‘Red Wine Supernova’ climbed to Number 38.
Other competitors for the UK Number One album are Charli XCX, who has been dominating the music charts this summer with her hit album ‘Brat’, Jack White’s latest record ‘No Name’ (currently at Number Six), Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s ‘VULTURES 2’ (Nine), Sam Smith’s reissued 2014 debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ (22) and 86TVs’ self-titled album (27).
Around the time of its release, Roan’s debut album was given a glowing four-star review by NME, with Hannah Mylrea describing it as laden with “unabashedly fun anthems”.
“Sharp pop moments shine brighter than some of the weaker ballads that pad out the lengthy tracklist,” it read. “Yet ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’ is a display of Roan’s bold and brazen pen, where she places searing revelations alongside some deliciously cheeky choruses.”
More recently, the singer made headlines for her huge set at Lollapalooza 2024 – which may have made history.
On August 1 (Friday), Roan performed at the long-running Chicago festival, and amassed an audience so big it started making waves on social media as people packed out the main stage at Grant Park.
While it is impossible to confirm the exact number of people who caught Roan’s set at Grant Park, a spokesperson for Lollapalooza confirmed to CNN that her set was “the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen. It was a magical moment added to Lolla’s DNA.”
Two sources close to Roan and Lollapalooza also told CNN that Roan’s set has rivalled attendance numbers for most headliners and is potentially one of Lollapalooza’s most-watched sets ever. Lollapalooza boasted a daily attendance of 110,000 fans in Chicago this year.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
