Source: Screencap/The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

Watch: Chappell Roan Performs 'Good Luck, Babe!' on The Tonight Show

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.

Breakout recording artist Chappell Roan guested on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," cranking the fashion vibes up to 11, performing her hit, "Good Luck Babe!," and representing her queer fans.

The song's rendition took place among swirling mist and a set that evoked a "White Swan" theme, with Roan bedecked in a white feather headpiece and matching white dress and long gloves topped with winglike elaborations at the shoulders. A pair of white high-heeled boots completed the look.

In conversation with Fallon, the 26-year-old singer, who identifies as LGBTQ+, adopted a darker counterpart costume, with a "black swan" gown that sported exaggerated, extra-long feathers sweeping above and away from the chest and black sheer leggings. Long white nails and eyelash accessories provided a stark contrast.

"Thank you for letting me borrow this outfit," Chappell joked, gesturing at her elaborate couture.

"No problem," Fallon joked right back, "just give it back for the weekend. I need it for the weekend."

Noting that Chappell's career is "exploding," Fallon produced a photo that showed the singer in her pre-fame days, playing a portable keyboard in a public space. No onlookers were visible in the photo.

"Where were you, and what was going on with your life here?" Fallon asked.

"I had no money," Roan replied. "I was working at a donut shop, and I was performing at this weird gay festival. Love," she added, clapping her hands.

"I think that was the first time I performed... like, in the world," Roan recollected of the photo.

In another striking contrast, Fallon produced a second photo that showed the singer on a stage surrounded by an enormous throng. "This is you two weeks ago at the Governor's Ball," Fallon said, as the audience erupted in cheers and applause.

"What does it feel like?" the host asked Chappell of her meteoric fame.

"It feels like I was right all along," Roan quipped to waves of laughter from Fallon and the audience.

Right as she may be, the singer has spoken previously about the challenges of becoming massively successful virtually overnight after years of performing. Earlier this month, the singer tearfully admitted to a concert crowd in Raleigh that she was struggling to adapt to her newfound fame.

Asked by Fallon what she had planned to do if her career had not ignited, Roan said she had considered moving back in with her parents and going back to school.

"I was thinking about becoming an esthetician or something," Roan said. "But the other thing I'm really good at is genetics. So, I was, like, either a singer or a genetics person."

I sounds like the talented singer has always had the world wide open before her!

The conversation went on to cover Roan's style sense and concert costumes – "We pull from drag, we pull from horror movies, we pull from burlesque," Roan said. "I love looking pretty and scary. Or pretty and tacky."

Added the pop music sensation: "I love that fans find such deep meanings to things, and I'm just like, 'I dunno, I thought it was hot'."

A moment later, asked about her Coachella quip – "I'm your favorite artist's favorite artist" – Roan noted, "That was a reference to Sasha Colby" – the winner of the 15th season of "RuPaul's Drag Race."

When a cheer erupted from the audience, Roan exclaimed, "There's gay people here!"

Sasha Colby, Roan went on to explain, had said, "I'm your favorite drag queen's favorite drag queen."

"That just hit me through the heart," Roan said, "and so I was like, 'I hope Sasha Colby one day watches me,' and that's why I said it."

Watch Roan's chat with Fallon below.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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