Chappell Roan Makes Surprise Appearance At Noah Kahan’s Rose Bowl Show

Noah Kahan brought a very special guest to the stage during his sold-out concert at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California on Saturday (August 15). Chappell Roan made a surprise appearance to join Kahan for a performance of her song “California.”

The Rose Bowl show marked Kahan’s biggest headlining performance to date, with more than 56,000 fans packing the historic stadium as part of his ongoing The Great Divide World Tour. Kahan expressed his gratitude to fans early in the concert, as he reflected on his journey from playing intimate venues in Los Angeles to headlining one of the city’s biggest stages.

“I remember playing at Troubadour and being happy if that was the rest of my career,” Kahan told the crowd, referring to the 500-capacity West Hollywood venue. “I’m grateful as fuck to be here with y’all.”

Kahan foreshadowed his collaboration with Roan during his usual payphone bit before he performed “She Calls Me Back” with opener Gigi Perez. “Hello, God?” Kahan joked after picking up the payphone. “Oh, you think because it’s my biggest headline show ever that as some point I should bring out a super special guest?”

Roan eventually emerged to join Kahan for “California,” a song from her 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Fittingly, “California” chronicles Roan’s journey from Missouri to Los Angeles in search of superstardom.

“Noah always stands up for me, seriously,” Roan told the crowd, adding, “He’s a good person, for real.”

Kahan then explained the song choice to the capacity crowd. “This is the first song I ever heard of Kayleigh’s and the reason I fell in love with her music, and I’m just really proud of her and thankful that she would come sing with me,” Kahan said referencing Roan’s real first name.

Watch fan-shot footage of Chappell Roan performing “California” with Noah Kahan below:

“California” was one of 27 songs Kahan played at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. The rest of the setlist was primarily devoted to songs from his recently released The Great Divide album and his breakthrough 2022 LP Stick Season.

Kahan continues The Great Divide Tour tonight (August 17) at Petco Park in San Diego. Meanwhile, Roan returns to the stage on August 29 at Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival.