Pop sensation Chappell Roan has claimed her second UK No. 1 single with “The Subway”.
The soaring sapphic breakup anthem debuted at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart on Friday, August 8.
The result gives Roan another major career milestone.
The self-styled ‘Midwest Princess’ has quickly built a distinctive pop identity. Her theatrical style and emotional songwriting continue to attract fans around the world.
From debut to chart domination
Roan first performed “The Subway” live in June 2024.
She officially released the track on Friday, August 1. The song arrived with a music video that Billboard described as “grimy, gay and gorgeous”.
The track then raced to No. 1 in the UK.
It followed Roan’s earlier hit “Pink Pony Club”. That song reached the top of the UK chart in March.
Meanwhile, “The Subway” faced strong competition.
Huntr/X’s “Golden” came from Netflix’s animated musical KPop Demon Hunters. The song became the first K-pop track in 13 years to reach No. 1.
PSY’s “Gangnam Style” previously achieved that feat in 2012.
“Golden” then dropped to second place when Roan took the top spot.
However, the song later returned to No. 1 as of August 10.
Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” also performed strongly at No. 3.
MK and Chrystal’s “Dior” also remained inside the top five.
A breakup anthem with grit and glamour
Roan was born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz.
She has built her career around bold storytelling and vivid visuals.
“The Subway” explores the emotional chaos of heartbreak.
Roan co-wrote the song with producer Daniel Nigro.
She told Vogue about the difficult emotions behind the track.
“I was having a hard time getting over this one person, and I just could not get over them,” Roan said.
“When I was writing, I was constantly trying to be like, we’re done, we’re done, we’re done, we’re done.”
“The feelings are still there, even though we’re done.”
The music video adds another visual layer to the song.
Roan filmed it inside a decommissioned subway car at the New York Transit Museum.
Her long red hair stands out against the strobe-lit setting.
The visuals turn the subway environment into a vibrant queer club.
However, Roan admitted that releasing the song felt difficult.
“I just wasn’t ready to put it out yet,” she said.
“It was just too painful. I was just too angry and scared – just about my life – to put it out.”
Saskatchewan’s unexpected spotlight
One lyric in “The Subway” has had a surprising real-world impact: a vow to escape heartbreak by moving to Saskatchewan.
The reference sparked a wave of curiosity about the Canadian prairie province, leading to its first spike in the United States Google Trends in two years.
According to Tourism Saskatchewan’s chief executive officer, Jonathan Potts, the province’s social media and website have logged around 50,000 new interactions since the song’s release.
“We don’t normally get this kind of publicity from an artist that’s at the peak of their popularity,” Potts said to Business Insider.
“This is like a gift from heaven.”
He stated that Saskatchewan’s wide-open spaces, sunshine and renowned dark-sky preserve make it an ideal “cure for heartbreak.”
The Midwest Princess’s next journey
While her two singles since her debut album have been successful, Roan, despite the excitement among fans, has tempered speculation about a follow-up album.
Speaking to Vogue, she clarified that the single does not signal the beginning of a new LP cycle, hinting that a second album could be years away.
“The second project doesn’t exist yet,” she said. “There is no album. There is no collection of songs.”
In spite of this, she revealed back in March that the next album will still be in the pop genre.
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