Chappell Roan is giving country... and hair metal?

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why was Chappell Roan's band dressed like an 80s hair metal act during her Grammy performance? The answer unlocks the surprising secret behind her #1 country hit "The Giver." This musical detective story connects glam rock aesthetics to modern country through an unexpected lineage involving AC/DC's producer, Shania Twain's revolution, and men who inadvertently dressed in drag. Between fiddle licks and gated reverb drums lies a brilliant subversion of country traditions that proves the genre has always been about musical drag while revealing what "rhinestone cowgirl" really means. MORE Subscribe to our newsletter to receive your own bingo card! Songs Discussed: Chappell Roan – "The Giver" Chappell Roan – "Pink Pony Club" Big & Rich – "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" Bon Jovi – "Living on a Prayer" Guns N' Roses – "Sweet Child of Mine" AC/DC – "Back in Black" Def Leppard – "Pour Some Sugar on Me" Nirvana – "About a Girl" Bryan Adams – "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" Shania Twain – "Any Man of Mine" Shania Twain – "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" Toby Keith feat. Willie Nelson – "Beer for My Horses" Carrie Underwood – "Before He Cheats" Trace Adkins – "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" Glen Campbell – "Rhinestone Cowboy" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if you could take your dream vacation and squeeze it down into one immensely fruity, intensely
0:05.6	chewy package? A beachside lounge chair for your tongue. A spa experience for your mouth. A street
0:11.2	carnival for your taste buds. The new getaway mix from Haichu does just that. With flavors like
0:16.4	Mai Tai, Yuzulime, and Mango Chimoi, Haichu Getaway Mix is your ticket to an unexpected world of flavor.
0:22.6	Wherever you're going,
0:23.6	Hichu Getaway Mix is the perfect travel companion.
0:26.6	Buy the all-new Hichu Getaway Mix now at Hichu.com
0:29.6	and at select retailers nationwide.
0:31.6	Stage on the Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:44.4	And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
0:46.8	We've got a brand new, number one, Hot Country song, debuting at the top of the charts.
0:52.9	It's Chapel Rones, the giver.
0:55.0	The Violin'
0:56.0	The Violin' Sredding and then they brought it all home with the delayed chorus.
1:16.1	I can't wait to get into this.
1:17.3	Last that we saw Chapel, she was accepting the award for Best New Artist at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
1:24.1	I think this was a long overdue award for her. She's known for her queer,
1:29.7	liberatory, electronic pop music, her drag persona, her fashion, her strong political stances.
1:36.1	And she's been at it for a minute, right? She wowed the Grammy stage performing her hit song,
1:42.4	Pink Pony Club, a song that she wrote in February of 2019,
1:46.1	released in April of 2020, and performed live in February of 2025 at the Grammys.
1:51.6	And it's not country.
	...

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