Elton John’s Advice on Fame
Elton John has shared valuable insights with Chappell Roane on coping with fame. Check out the wisdom he imparted below.
Chappell Roan’s Rise to Fame
In 2024, Chappell Roan reached remarkable heights of fame, largely due to her debut album in 2023, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess. Her performance at Lollapalooza became one of the most attended in the festival’s history. Additionally, she opened for Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” tour and had prominent performances at Coachella and the Governor’s Ball.
However, the experience wasn’t entirely positive for Roan, who faced the pressures that come with sudden stardom. She has been candid about the challenges of fame, discussing the normalization of extreme fan behavior, including “stalking, online chatter, (people who) won’t leave you alone (and) yelling at you in public.”
Since her rise to fame, Roan has sought advice from various artists, including Hayley Williams of Paramore, Charli XCX, and Lorde. Among those who offered guidance was Elton John, with whom she communicated via FaceTime several times.
In conversations with Ankler in December, Elton shared some tips for navigating fame: “Chappell was a little taken aback by her sudden success—even though she’d been writing for a long time, it really blew up very quickly… I just try to calm her down and say, ‘Look, it’s okay. Everything is fine. Do what you want. Don’t listen to anyone. Go at your own speed. Don’t listen to the record company say, ‘We want another album, we want another album.’ Do it when you’re ready.”
He continued, “I have that experience. I’ve been through everything in my life to know what to do in music, to see people come and see people leave. Sometimes they disappear too quickly.”
Elton also reflected on his longevity in the industry, highlighting the sudden success of artists like RAYE and Billie Eilish: “I’m kind of a survivor; one of those who is still popular at 77 years old. I’m probably as popular as I was when I was younger, and that’s been a miracle. But it’s nice to be able to pass it on to others and see the results in people. There is an English singer, RAYE, a wonderful artist. She left the record company on principle and did what she wanted. And it was completely successful. I really admire her for that. She took a stand, and it resulted in her own vision of what she should do. She just exploded.”
“Billie Eilish is another one. I remember seeing her first album just creeping along the Billboard charts every week: word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, and suddenly it came through and she became one of the greatest artists I can think of. I mean, the new album is just incredibly good, and you can say the same about all of her albums. Each one is different, and each one is an improvement. How great is this? I get so much energy from it.”
Elton John, a longtime admirer of Roan, congratulated the HOT TO GO! singer in August 2024 for achieving her first UK number one album with The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess nearly a year after its release. He also included “Red Wine Supernova” among his 15 favorite songs of 2023.
Chappell Roan’s Latest Success
Moreover, Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe” was recently recognized as NME‘s best song of 2024. “With the song ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ Roan intended to create ‘a big pop anthem.’ It was an unqualified success: against the backdrop of slightly insistent synth-pop, Roan reveals the truth to someone who is desperately trying to deny their uniqueness,” the review stated.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/elton-john-shares-advice-he-gave-to-chappell-roan-on-coping-with-fame-3826631?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elton-john-shares-advice-he-gave-to-chappell-roan-on-coping-with-fame
