“She’s Just Barely Hanging On”: How Sabrina Carpenter Is Helping Chappell Roan (And Vice Versa)

In a music industry that has historically pitted one famous woman against the other, Chappell Roan and the women who have gathered around to support her—including fellow “overnight” sensation Sabrina Carpenter—are a welcome breath of fresh air.

Besides breaking Lollapalooza records and topping the charts with her 2023 debut, The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess, one of the most popular talking points about Roan is how much she dislikes being popular.

In her first (and likely not her last) cover story for Rolling Stone, the Missouri native revealed how fellow musicians like Carpenter, Jewel, Hayley Williams, and others are welcoming her into what Mitski called the “s***tiest exclusive club in the world.”

How Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan Are Helping Each Other Out

Almost as quickly as Chappell Roan burst onto the pop music scene, she started to shrink away from it due to fans’ “stalker vibes” (put more definitively, actual stalking behavior). She lamented the loss of her and her family’s privacy in countless interviews, going so far as to tell Rolling Stone she secretly wished she never had another hit so this could die down for good.

Nevertheless, Roan is as creatively prolific as she is introverted and private, so she likely won’t stop making music anytime soon. And as she somewhat unwillingly rides this bumpy, lightning-fast rise to the top, she’s found support in other women in the industry who rode the roller coaster before her.

Or, in Sabrina Carpenter’s case, at the same time. The “Good Luck, Babe!” revealed that Carpenter reached out to her to meet up, commiserate, and try and process the whirlwind they’ve both been clinging onto for the past year. “We’re both going through something so f***ing hard,” Roan told Rolling Stone. “She just feels like everything is flying, and she’s just barely hanging on. It was just good to know someone else feels that way.”

Music Industry Veterans Have Reached Out, Too

While there are certainly benefits to empathizing with someone in real time, as is the case for equally fast-rising stars Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, hindsight is also a valuable perspective—one that many industry vets are trying to gift Roan as she struggles under the weight of her immense popularity.

Countless other musicians, notably mostly women, have contacted Roan to give her tips, advice, and a listening ear. Lorde reportedly gave Roan a laundry list for flying incognito after fans harassed Roan at the airport. Miley Cyrus, former Disney star turned vilified pop degenerate turned beloved singer yet again, invited Roan to her house for a party. Boygenius members Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and Phoebe Bridgers commiserated with Roan over the “abusive and violent” state of fandoms.

Perhaps “My Love is Mine All Mine” singer Mitski put it best when she texted Roan, “I just wanted to humbly welcome you to the s***tiest exclusive club in the world, the club where strangers think you belong to them, and they find and harass your family members.” Roan quickly added, “I’m not trying to name-drop. I’m trying to tell you there are girls who are good people, who are helping other girls out. I’m name-dropping them because people just need to know that people are good people.”

And when the good people in question are creating some of the best pop music we’ve seen in years, well, that just makes it that much better.

Photo by Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)