Chappell Roan calls out music labels, talks about trans issues at Grammys

While accepting the Grammy for best new artist, Chappell Roan called out record labels for a lack of livable wages and healthcare for aspiring artists, and used her spotlight earlier in the night to uplift trans women.

At Sunday's ceremony, The "Hot to Go!" singer read her speech from a notebook, saying the system fails small musicians. The 26-year-old pop star emphasized she has felt "so betrayed" and "so dehumanized" after being dropped from her first label deal.

"I told myself that if ever won a Grammy and I got to stand here in front of the most powerful people in music I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage, and health care especially to developing artists," she said.

Chappell Roan, whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, was signed to Atlantic as a teenager in 2015. The label dropped her in 2020.

"If my label would have prioritized artists health I could've been provided care by the 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 protections," she told the Grammys crowd inside the Crypto.com Arena. "Labels we got you, but do you got us?"

For a couple of years, Roan worked a string of jobs including nanny and production assistant while developing her music career as an independent artist. In 2023 she was signed to Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records created by her producer and collaborator Dan Nigro.

That fall, Roan released her studio debut, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”

The pop star took the stage wearing a gray oversized dress with a cone-shaped princess hat, that fell off as she joked "My hat’s going to fall off, it’s going to be OK."

Roan talks about trans women on red carpet

Roan paid tribute to trans girls on the red carpet ahead of the 2025 Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday night.

In an interview with GLAAD, she said things are "brutal" right now for the LGBTQ+ community following a series of anti-trans political attacks last week but also had a message of resilience.

"Trans people have always existed and they will forever exist and they will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away," she said.

“I would not be here without trans girls,” she continued. “So just know that pop music is thinking about you and cares about you and I’m trying my best to stand up for you in every way that I can.”

During her "Pink Pony Club" performance later in the night, she ended her performance with another nod to the trans community. Her dancers held up and proudly waved light pink, white and blue flags, representing the trans pride flag.

How many Grammys did Chappell Roan win?

The first-time nominee took home her first Grammy trophy following six nominations off her 2023 album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" and hit song "Good Luck Babe!" Roan won the best new artist category, winning against nominees Sabrina Carpenter, Docheii and Shaboozey.

Melissa Ruggieri and Alyssa Goldberg contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chappell Roan doesn't hold back in Grammys speech, comments