Chappell Roan demands music labels offer artists livable wage, healthcare during Grammys acceptance speech

When Chappell Roan won Best New Artist at the at the Grammy Awards, she devoted her acceptance speech to fulfilling a promise she made to herself by demanding that music labels take better care of developing artists.

"I told myself, if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry, profiting millions of dollars off of artists, would offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists," the singer said. "Because I got signed so young — I got signed as a minor — and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and could not afford health insurance."

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As the room full of artists and industry professionals cheered, the "HOT TO GO!" singer (born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) continued as she read from her yellow journal. "It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system, and so dehumanized to not have help," she said. "And if my label would have prioritized artist health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to. So record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection."

Chappell Roan finished her powerful speech with this call to action: "Labels, we got you, but do you got us?"

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Related: Chappell Roan ranks her most iconic looks of the past year

The 26-year-old artist beat out Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims for the big award. She shouted out her fellow nominees earlier in her speech, thanking them for their music, which she said got her through the past year. "Brat was the best night of my life this year," she added, referencing Charli XCX's Grammy-winning album.

The singer performed her hit "Pink Pony Club" earlier in the ceremony, and suffered a slight wardrobe malfunction during her Best New Artist acceptance speech. "My hat's going to fall, it's going to be okay," she said with a laugh right before her large pointed hat slipped off her hair.

The 67th Annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and streamed live on CBS and Paramount+.

If you missed EW and PEOPLE's live red carpet show from the Grammys, check out our interview with Troye Sivan:

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