Chappell Roan talks LGBTQ freedom with Elton John at the 2026 Impact Awards

Chappell Roan on LGBTQ freedom

Chappell Roan sat down with Elton John for a conversation about LGBTQ advocacy as part of the 2026 Elton John Impact Awards, a podcast series that launched on June 1 via the iHeartRadio app and across iHeartRadio PRIDE stations. According to Billboard, Roan kept her reasoning direct: "People deserve to have good lives. Every single person deserves to have freedom and to be themselves. It's just like, why would you fight against that?"

Who else is honored

Roan is one of six people featured in the series. The other honorees are musicians Orville Peck and Melissa Etheridge, actors Jonathan Bailey and Laverne Cox, and tennis legend Billie Jean King. Elton John interviewed Bailey in addition to Roan. iHeartRadio's Elvis Duran spoke with Peck, Etheridge, and King, while Billy Porter conducted the conversation with Cox.

About the awards

The Elton John Impact Awards were first introduced in 2022 at "Can't Cancel Pride," a virtual benefit concert created by iHeartMedia and Procter and Gamble. John himself was the inaugural recipient, recognized for his decades-long advocacy for LGBTQ rights and the fight to end AIDS. The series bills itself as the first podcast awards ceremony of its kind.

Charitable partners for this year's edition include the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Brandi Carlile's Looking Out Foundation. Previous honorees include Brandi Carlile and Billy Porter.

Chappell Roan has been one of the more outspoken mainstream pop voices on queer rights in recent memory, and this appearance alongside John feels like a natural extension of that public stance rather than a calculated brand moment.