Chappell Roan brought the fun to the Reading Festival 2025 main stage on Friday evening – check out footage below.
The singer was playing her debut headline set at the festival, just ahead of Hozier’s set on the same stage on August 22.
She was played on by dramatic, cinematic horns and a backdrop evoking a classic ghostly horror movie, which gave way to an epic instrumental intro from her band. As anticipation grew among the pink cowboy hat-wearing crowd, Roan appeared at the top of her elaborate stage set and launched into ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’.
“Hello, my name is Chappell Roan. Are you ready to get ‘Naked in Manhattan’? Then prove it!” she said early in the set, introducing the track from her 2023 debut album ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’.
Her set also included recent single ‘The Subway‘ and ‘The Giver‘, a cover of Heart‘s ‘Barracuda’ that has been a regular in her set in 2025, and huge singalongs to the likes of ‘Hot To Go!’, ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ and ‘Pink Pony Club’.
“Thank you for having me tonight,” she told the crowd. “This is a dream come true, seriously.”
Watch fan-captured footage of Roan’s performance here:
Chappell Roan śpiewająca ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ na festiwalu Reading & Leeds w Reading!
📸: nathaniel_carver (ig) pic.twitter.com/SWaDACM2XQ
— Chappell Roan Polska 🇵🇱🚕 (@ChappellRoanPL) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan on the main stage at Reading Festival!! What a performance 🥰 pic.twitter.com/tJBfpRrjar
— Nicole Mcbride (@_NicoleMcBride) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan śpiewająca ‘The Subway’ na festiwalu Reading & Leeds w Reading!
📸: rebelwilson (Instagram) pic.twitter.com/ic9vVdObvp
— Chappell Roan Polska 🇵🇱🚕 (@ChappellRoanPL) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan śpiewająca ‘Femininomenon’ na festiwalu Reading & Leeds w Reading!
📸: @_NicoleMcBride pic.twitter.com/zFC7AMsRY1
— Chappell Roan Polska 🇵🇱🚕 (@ChappellRoanPL) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan śpiewająca ‘Guilty Pleasure’ na festiwalu Reading & Leeds w Reading. pic.twitter.com/UjvQHZjR6H
— Chappell Roan Polska 🇵🇱🚕 (@ChappellRoanPL) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan śpiewająca ‘Casual’ na festiwalu Reading & Leeds w Reading. pic.twitter.com/Awew5XCUcI
— Chappell Roan Polska 🇵🇱🚕 (@ChappellRoanPL) August 22, 2025
Chappell Roan played:
‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’
‘Femininomenon’
‘After Midnight’
‘Naked In Manhattan’
‘Guilty Pleasure’
‘Casual’
‘The Subway’
‘Hot To Go!’
‘Barracuda’
‘Picture You’
‘Love Me Anyway’
‘The Giver’
‘Red Wine Supernova’
‘Coffee’
‘Good Luck, Babe!’
‘My Kink Is Karma’
‘Pink Pony Club’
Festival boss Melvin Benn said earlier this year: “To have a weekend with historic headline moments like Chappell Roan, alongside emerging talent and influential voices, I am proud of R&L’s continued development and I can’t wait to see fans embracing it all.”
He also spoke to NME about whether Chappell Roan would be the first pure pop headliner at Reading & Leeds. “I think in fairness, she will,” Benn responded.
“It’s something that I’ve talked to the team about a huge amount over the last 18 months to two years; the pre-eminence of pop now is there for all to see. There’s been a shift in the young audience loving pop, and R&L has to take notice of that. Chappell Roan is that genuine pop headliner.”
He added: “Fans being able to enjoy both Chappell Roan and Bring Me The Horizon is not impossible by any means.”
Fans watching Reading & Leeds from home can follow the NME’s liveblog here. Also find out how to watch and listen on TV and radio here.
