Chappell Roan at Electric Picnic preview: Roan’s cultural footprint, meanwhile, only continues to grow, with her admirers including everyone from Elton John to Franz Ferdinand"

“Whirlwind” doesn’t begin to describe the past 18 months for Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, aka Chappell Roan, the Missouri native who has made the rare journey from cult underground figure to pop superstar. As she promoted her 2023 debut, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, Roan enjoyed a huge breakthrough moment early last year, when she commenced a stint as an opening act on Olivia Rodrigo’s blockbuster Guts world tour.

The singer’s popularity duly soared throughout spring 2024, culminating in a wildly acclaimed Coachella performance. At this juncture, it became clear that Roan wasn’t just enjoying a hit album – she had created an entire cultural moment. The album’s infectiously catchy art-pop anthems – including the international mega-hit ‘Pink Pony Club’ – combined with Roan’s acute sense of style and imagery, which beautifully subvered tradtional American iconography, catapulted her into the pop premier league.

The impact was there in the raw numbers – as summer 2024 appeared on the horizon, Roan had enjoyed a more than 500% spike in streaming figures since the start of the year. Nothing summed up Roan’s meteroic rise more than her now-legendary performance at Dublin’s 3Olympia last September. The singer had in fact originally been booked in an even smaller venue, the Academy, before the show was upgraded – but even still, by the time Roan hit Dublin, she had become one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

Thus it was that the singer – who by now could have been playing arenas – treated the very lucky crowd at the storied theatre to an extraordinary performance. As might be expected for an artist now breathing the rarefied air of megastardom, things have since continued to unfold at the same frantic pace since.

By now a legitimate queer-pop icon, Roan made barnstorming appearances on both the MTV Music Awards and Saturday Night Live, before rounding out 2024 with an appearance on fellow superstar Sabrina Carpenter’s Netflix festive special, where the pair duetted on a memorable version of ‘Last Christmas’.

It’s scarcely been any less hectic in 2024, with Roan becoming one of only 15 artists in history to be nominated in the Big Four categories at the Grammys. Then there was the obligatory array of attendant controversies, with Roan variously hitting the headlines for her outspoken political views; calling for better treatment for artists from labels; and criticising invasive fan behaviour.

But underpinning it all, of course, was absolutely stunning, era-defining music, including ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, another massive international hit. Roan’s cultural footprint, meanwhile, only continues to grow, with her admirers including everyone from Elton John to Franz Ferdinand.

She has also show notable savvy in her media appearances, recently suggesting her next album may take up to five years to create – which duly sent fans and media alike into overdrive. Having already enjoyed glowing reviews for her summer festival dates, Roan’s Irish fans are most definitely in for a treat when the pop superstar of the moment hits Stradbally.

• Chappell Roan plays the Main Stage at Electric Picnic on Friday, August 29.