Growing up in Missouri, singer Chappell Roan didn’t think of queerness as an option. Now that she’s an openly queer pop star, she wants to use her platform to empower LGBTQ+ communities. So she’s booking local drag queens to open for her in every city on tour. 

“Drag is just inspirational throughout my whole project,” Roan said. “It would be only right to have drag open for me.” 

Enter Boyj, a Chicago-based drag artist. He also didn’t see himself reflected in the mainstream growing up. He said queer communities in Northalsted—formerly Boystown—helped him find himself. 

“I like to think of Chicago as the headquarters of drag,” Boyj said. 

You can see where this is going: Boyj is one of Chappell Roan’s openers for her Chicago shows at the House of Blues. In this episode, we talk to them both about drag, queer origin stories and Roan’s debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”