Chappell Roan fires FLAMING crossbow and duels knights for 2024 MTV VMAs performance – before winning Best New Artist
Chappell Roan took fans back to the Middle Ages with a dazzling performance at the 2024 MTV VMAs on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old singer (born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) wore a unique suit of armor and took to the castle stage carrying a flaming crossbow for her performance at UBS Arena on Wednesday.
On stage she sang her world hit Good Luck Babe, a performance in which she briefly dueled with several knights in armor.
Her performance was met with loud applause from the audience in New York City, earning her her first VMA win.
She won the coveted Best New Artist award, beating out Benson Boone, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tyla.
Chappell Roan took fans back to the Middle Ages on Wednesday with a stirring performance at the 2024 MTV VMAs
She performed her world hit Good Luck Babe on stage, a performance in which she briefly dueled with various knights in armor
She won the coveted Best New Artist award, beating out Benson Boone, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tyla
The performance began with Roan wielding a flaming crossbow and wearing an armored chest plate with a full suit of chain weapons and a belt of some sort that served as a makeshift belt.
She turned and fired the flaming crossbow ‘into’ the castle, the flames rising into the air in a very controlled manner.
She also wore metal armor plates over her legs as she sang her hit single, which was released in April and launched her career into the stratosphere.
The singer was flanked by a number of sword-bearing ‘knights’/dancers, with whom she briefly duelled and whom she pushed aside early in the performance.
Many in the audience heard her sing, as she provocatively played with one of the swords and sang a lyric about a “sexually explicit love affair.”
After her performance, she took home the award for Best New Artist, wearing a unique hooded, sleeveless dress.
“Can you believe it? We’re at the VMAs! I’m going to read from — I wrote a speech — from my journal,” she began.
“Thank you, MTV and Island Records and my team and my family and friends. I dedicate this to all the drag artists that inspire me, that inspire me, and I dedicate this to the queer and trans people that fuel pop, to the queer people that dedicate my songs to someone they love or hate,” she said.
The show opened with Roan – wielding a flaming crossbow and wearing an armored chest plate with a full body suit of chainhead and some sort of belt that served as a makeshift leash
She turned and fired the flaming crossbow ‘into’ the castle as it began to rise in very controlled flames
She also wore metal armor plates over her legs as she sang her hit single, which was released in April and launched her career into the stratosphere.
She won the coveted Best New Artist award, beating out Benson Boone, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tyla.
After the performance, she took home the Best New Artist Award, wearing a unique hooded, sleeveless dress
“Can you believe it? We’re at the VMAs! I’m going to read from – I wrote a speech – from my diary,” she began
MTV VMAs 2024 WINNERS: AT A GLANCE
Video of the Year: Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift
Best Pop: Taylor Swift
Best Collaboration: Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Best director: Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Best Editing: Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Song of the Summer: Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight
Taylor Swift won seven MTV VMAs and became the most decorated solo artist ever
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award: Katy Perry
Song of the Year: Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
Best New Artist: Chappell Roan
Best Latin: Anitta – Mil Veces
Best Afrobeats: Tyla – Water
Best K-Pop: Lisa – Rockstar
Charity Video: Billie Eilish – What Am I Made For?
Most Iconic VMA Performance: Katy Perry – Roar
“And thank you to the people who are fans, who listen to me, who hear me when I share my joys and my fears. Thank you for listening,” the singer continued.
“And to all the gay kids from the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I get you, ’cause I’m one of you, and don’t let nobody ever tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be, b***h,” she concluded to loud applause.
Roan’s Good Luck Babe debuted at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in April and had reached #2 by August.
Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was released in 2023 and featured on several best albums of the year lists, but was not a major commercial success.
In early 2024, the album began to climb the charts, reaching the top 5 of the Billboard 200 album charts and reaching the number 1 position in Ireland.