For Role Model, when it comes to hitting the road, there is truly No Place Like Tour — and his fans surprise him at every turn.
“At a recent show in Australia, this lesbian couple asked me to be their sperm donor with a sign at the show, and I was just taken aback,” Role Model, 27, revealed exclusively in his Backstage Pass feature in the latest issue of Us Weekly, following the release of his deluxe album Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye). “I was flattered. It was a first for me. Maybe someday I can actually help them out and it won’t just be an empty promise. Who knows?”
Crazy fan interactions are par for the course for the singer-songwriter, who opened up for Gracie Abrams on her The Secret of Us tour before embarking on his own No Place Like Tour. A highlight from what he nicknamed “The Diva Tour” — which kicked off in November 2024 and will conclude next month — has been performing viral hit “Sally When the Wine Runs Out,” during which he picks a different fan or friend to be his “Sally” and dance along with him to the bridge each show.
Notable Sallys have included Barstool’s Grace O’Malley (who laughed along with the internet when she took a tumble on her way to the stage), Ashe and Jake Shane.
Role Model Says Tour With Gracie Abrams Is ‘Like a Wholesome Sweat Tour’
Role Model is set to join Abrams, 25, on her The Secret of Us (Deluxe) arena tour this summer.
“It’s the most welcoming group of fans,” he told Us of opening for Abrams. “Her fan base is extremely welcoming and kind and supportive and so is Gracie, so there’s no pressure to win over a bunch of people who are already attentive and listening to you as you’re playing. It’s just comfy.”
He added: “I’ve never played an arena show ever. So I’m excited to see even what that feels like.”
Keep scrolling for more backstage insights from Role Model, including his shockingly tame pre- and post-show rituals:
What is your pre-show ritual?
It’s dead quiet backstage. Me and my band are pretty much just dead quiet to ourselves, doom-scrolling until about 10 minutes before we go on stage, and then we take a shot of tequila and go on.
Are the Instagram hotel robe pictures part of the ritual?
[Die-hard fans know that the singer-songwriter typically posts a cheeky photo of himself in a hotel robe via Instagram Stories on show days.]
If we’re going through the whole day, yes. I wake up, hopefully I can go for a run or something, and then I do my robe photo and I eat as much as I can before I have to go to the venue because the green room isn’t always [stocked]. I try and get all my nutrients before I go to the venue because there aren’t any there.
Have you become a connoisseur of hotel robes?
I don’t care, personally, but I will say it’s the first thing I check when I go into the room. Otherwise, I have to get creative. But it seems to me like 99 percent of hotels have robes.
What is on your pre-show rider?
It’s just as boring as our pre-show ritual. A new thing we do are ginger shots. We have those and little immunity shots, which are fun. We have Celsius [energy drinks], unfortunately, in case any of us are just dead. Tequila, food, peanut butter and jelly–type stuff. We have bread and we have a charcuterie thing sometimes if we’re not in the middle of nowhere. And a fruit plate.
Do you have a favorite song to play live?
I have a feeling it’s going to be something off the new deluxe album, if not the whole deluxe, but of the current stuff — probably “Writing’s on the Wall” is my favorite.
Do you have an ideal afterparty post-show?
No. [We] go to bed. None of us are big drinkers or partiers.
I like going to bed after unless we’re in a place like New York or L.A. where we’ll have an afterparty.
I really don’t like to eat s***, but have there been times when we will order a pizza after? For sure. I’m pretty boring, though. I’ll have a protein bar after a show and rock and roll.
Do you have a most embarrassing moment on stage?
I forget the lyrics all the time. Every show I will forget lyrics, which is not embarrassing at this point. It’s now just part of the show and it’s to be expected. Luckily the fans will help me, so it’s not the worst thing.
Do you get nervous before a show?
Not anymore. I’m good now. I would get the worst stomachache before [shows] back in the day. It would just be the worst stomachache all day and I couldn’t eat. That’s the thing with being nervous the whole day, whenever I’m personally nervous, I just have no appetite, which is probably why I looked like a used cigarette up until a year ago.
Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan Team Up for ‘Hot to Go’ Duet On Stage
Have you had any shocking fan interactions?
At a recent show in Australia, this lesbian couple asked me to be their sperm donor with a sign at the show and I was just taken aback. I was flattered. It was a first for me. Maybe someday I can actually help them out and it won’t just be an empty promise. Who knows?
Do you have any lucky items on tour?
Neema [Sadeghi], our tour photographer, won me a bouncy ball when we were on tour with Gracie in the middle of nowhere, Texas, and it has stayed in my bag that comes on tour with me for every show. I show him that I still have it. But as far as superstitions, that is just a bouncy ball. I don’t give a s*** about it, but it is always with me.
Do you have any other souvenirs from tour that you hold dear?
I do. I keep a lot of the letters that mean a lot to me. I have them kind of spread around my house right now. I also have fan books throughout the year since 2019. On every tour, there’ll be one — they call it a fan project — when they will all pitch in and write a letter, a memory or something or a photo and put it in this massive book, and I have three or four of those in my house that I like to keep.
