In her speech accepting the award for new artist at the 67th Grammys on Sunday, Chappell Roan called on record labels to do right by their artists.
Roan, who rose to fame last year with her hits “Good Luck, Babe!,” “Hot to Go!” and “Pink Pony Club,” was nominated for six Grammys, including pop solo performance and pop vocal album. Earlier in the telecast, Roan took the stage along with her entourage of western clowns and scarecrow dancers for a performance of “Pink Pony Club,” her anthem celebrating queer nightlife in West Hollywood.
Although she was recognized as a new artist, Roan was signed to Atlantic Records as a teen, prompting her to move to L.A. in 2018. However, she was dropped by the label after her early work didn’t immediately resonate with audiences. Part of that journey was also reflected in her speech. Read the full speech below:
Thank you to my fellow nominees whose music got me through this past year. Brat was the best night of my life this year. Thank you all who listened to get me here today. Dan [Danniel Nigro] and Island Records, Amusement Records, my friends and my family, and, above all, my Papa Chappell, who I named myself after.
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 offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists. 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 a pandemic and could not afford health insurance.
It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanized to not have health [care]. If my label would have prioritized artists’ 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. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?
Thank you.
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