Noah Kahan treated his packed-out Rose Bowl Stadium crowd in Pasadena, California to a surprise appearance from Chappell Roan, with Roan aptly joining Kahan for a spellbinding rendition of her classic, ‘California’. Shortly before kicking off their performance, Roan paid homage to Kahan after a number of public shows of support.

Kahan has been vocal in his defence of Roan throughout all her run-ins with paparazzi, with the Vermont native taking to socials in March this year after a video of Roan clashing with autograph-hunters in Paris went viral. He explained that these were not real fans, labelling them “parasitic” and sharing that he'd had similar experiences.

He explained, “These people literally find out where you're staying, where you're flying into, where your team, family, lover's staying, and they are clearly not your fans”.

Kahan went on, “They just sit outside places and try to guilt you into signing s*** so they can sell it. And they trick people like you who are just watching a video, who don't know what's going on, into thinking someone's being rude to one of their fans, when they're really just, like, manipulating you. They're scummy, they're manipulative, they're parasitic. And yeah, f*** ‘em. Seriously, f*** them”.

As the crowd cheered the ‘Pink Pony Club’ hitmaker after walking on-stage at Kahan's California show, Roan shared some sweet words of gratitude for Kahan, “Noah always stands up for me. Seriously. Thank you. He's a good person, for real”.

Kahan underlined how much he admires Roan and her artistry, donning her “the best”, adding, “I'm just really proud of her and thankful that she would come sing with me”.

Kahan has always been a fan of Roan, with the ‘Northern Attitude’ singer-songwriter famously being filmed dancing along to ‘HOT TO GO!’ at Hinterland Festival in 2024.

Given how Roan often incorporates country and folk-inspired textures into her pop-driven sound, we think a collaboration between these two trailblazers would sound fantastic. We're hoping Kahan has plans to reimagine a few songs from his stunning new album, The Great Divide, as duets, much like he did with his Stick Season era - and if he does, surely Roan needs to be top of his list of ideal duet partners.

Their performance of ‘California’ had the entire 56,000-strong audience in the palm of their hand, with Roan showcasing her powerhouse vocals as she sang the moving 2020 gem.

Elsewhere during his live-wire set, Kahan serenaded his adoring fans with anthems from The Great Divide, such as ’Haircut’, ‘The Great Divide’, ‘Porch Light’, ‘End of August’, ‘Orbiter’, ‘Downfall’, ‘Staying Still’, ‘Doors’, ‘Deny Deny Deny’ and more. Next up, the folk titan heads to Petco Park in Phoenix, Arizona on Monday, August 17th.