Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter made her acting debut in 2011 with a guest role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Around the same time, she performed Something’s Got a Hold on Me at China’s Gold Mango Audience Festival. In 2012, she landed a recurring role in the Fox sitcom The Goodwin Games and appeared in the film Horns (2013). She also recorded Smile for the Disney Fairies soundtrack, which gained airplay on Radio Disney. Additionally, she voiced Princess Vivian in Sofia the First and performed All You Need alongside Ariel Winter.

In 2013, Carpenter was cast as Maya Hart in Girl Meets World, a Disney Channel spin-off of Boy Meets World. Running for 72 episodes until 2017, the show boosted her career, and she also recorded the theme song with co-star Rowan Blanchard. Before 2014, she signed a five-album deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records.

Carpenter launched her music career in 2014 with her debut single Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying, co-written by Meghan Trainor, receiving positive reviews. The song became the title track of her debut EP, released in April. That same year, she contributed to Disney Channel projects, singing Do You Want to Build a Snowman? with Disney Channel Circle of Stars, recording Stand Out for How to Build a Better Boy, and releasing her first holiday single, Silver Nights.

In January 2015, Sabrina Carpenter released We’ll Be the Stars, the lead single from her debut studio album, Eyes Wide Open. Released on April 14, the album peaked at number 43 on the Billboard 200, selling over 12,000 copies in its first week. A blend of teen pop and folk-pop, it received positive reviews and won two Radio Disney Music Awards. The title track served as the second single. That year, she also performed at the D23 Expo and released her second Christmas single, Christmas The Whole Year Round.

In 2016, Carpenter released the standalone single Smoke and Fire, which she later performed at the Radio Disney Music Awards. She starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Adventures in Babysitting alongside Sofia Carson, contributing to the soundtrack with Wildside. She also performed in Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate’s Christmas at the Pasadena Playhouse and began voicing Melissa Chase on Milo Murphy’s Law.

Her second studio album, Evolution, arrived in October 2016, debuting at number 28 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 13,000 copies. The album featured On Purpose and Thumbs, the latter reaching number one on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 and later earning Platinum certification. She supported the album with her first headlining Evolution Tour.

In 2017, Carpenter recorded the theme song for Andi Mack and collaborated with The Vamps and Mike Perry on Hands. She released Why in July, which peaked at number 21 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 and was nominated for a Radio Disney Music Award. That summer, she embarked on her De-Tour and also opened for Ariana Grande in São Paulo during the Dangerous Woman Tour.

To close the year, Carpenter released a cover of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, along with renditions of Sign of the Times (with Jasmine Thompson) and You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (with Lindsey Stirling).

In March 2018, Sabrina Carpenter collaborated with DJ Jonas Blue on Alien, which topped the US Dance Club Songs chart and reached number 12 on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The duo performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. That May, she was named one of Nylon magazine’s “25 Gen Z’ers Changing the World.” Later in the year, she appeared in The Hate U Give, a film adaptation of the bestselling novel.

Carpenter released her third studio album, Singular: Act I, on November 9, 2018, to positive reviews. Initially planned as a single album, it was split into two parts, with Singular: Act II set for release in 2019. The album produced two number-one singles on the US Dance Club Songs chart, Almost Love and Sue Me, and was supported by promotional singles Paris and Bad Time. She promoted the album with performances on The Today Show and Live with Kelly and Ryan.

In March 2019, Carpenter embarked on the Singular Tour and was featured on Alan Walker’s single On My Way alongside Farruko. In June, she starred in The Short History of the Long Road, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and received critical praise, particularly for her performance.

Her fourth studio album, Singular: Act II, was released on July 19, 2019, exploring more introspective themes such as anxiety and self-reflection. It featured the singles Pushing 20, Exhale, and In My Bed. To promote the album, she performed on Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series and released the promotional single I’m Fakin. That September, she appeared in the Netflix film Tall Girl and was cast in an adaptation of The Distance from Me to You.

In February 2020, Carpenter released the R&B single Honeymoon Fades, earning positive reviews. The following month, she made her Broadway debut in Mean Girls, but the show closed shortly after due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, she performed Your Mother and Mine on The Disney Family Singalong Volume II and had a recurring role in Royalties, performing Perfect Song for the soundtrack.

In July 2020, Carpenter starred in and executive-produced the Netflix film Work It, contributing the song Let Me Move You to its soundtrack. Her performance was well received. She later featured on the remix of Zara Larsson’s Wow, released in September. In October, she starred in the Disney+ film Clouds, based on the life of Zach Sobiech, and contributed to its soundtrack. That December, she was recognized on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in the Hollywood and entertainment category.

In January 2021, Sabrina Carpenter signed with Island Records under Universal Music Group and released her first single with the label, Skin, on January 22. The song debuted at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her first entry on the chart, and also reached the top 40 on the Billboard Global 200. She performed Skin on The Late Late Show with James Corden and at the 32nd annual GLAAD Media Awards. Later that year, she appeared in Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 and released Skinny Dipping, the lead single from her then-upcoming fifth album. In early 2022, she followed up with Fast Times and appeared in Tall Girl 2 and Amazon Studios’ Emergency, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Carpenter released her fifth studio album, Emails I Can’t Send, on July 15, 2022. The album debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by singles like Vicious, Because I Liked a Boy, and Nonsense. The latter went viral on TikTok due to Carpenter’s improvised suggestive outros during live performances, peaking at number 56 on the Hot 100 and earning Platinum certification. She embarked on the Emails I Can’t Send Tour in September 2022.

In March 2023, she released a deluxe edition of the album, with Feather becoming its most successful single. It peaked at number 21 on the Hot 100, topped the US Pop Songs chart, and was performed at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. However, the music video, filmed in a Brooklyn Catholic church, sparked controversy, leading to the removal of the pastor who had approved the shoot.

Carpenter joined Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as an opening act for shows across Latin America, Australia, and Singapore. She also covered Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble as a Spotify special, calling the experience a “childhood dream come true.” On November 17, 2023, she released a holiday EP, Fruitcake, which included A Nonsense Christmas.

In March 2024, Sabrina Carpenter featured on Girl in Red’s single You Need Me Now?. On April 11, she released Espresso, which she performed at Coachella the next day. The song topped the Billboard Global 200, peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and won the MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year. By the end of the year, Espresso became the second most streamed song on Spotify with 1.6 billion streams. On June 6, 2024, she followed up with Please Please Please, which became her second global chart-topper and her first US Hot 100 number-one single. She made history as the first female artist to hold the number one and two spots on the UK Singles Chart for three consecutive weeks.

Carpenter released her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, on August 23, 2024. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 362,000 equivalent album units in its first week. All songs from the album charted within the top 50 on the Hot 100. At the 67th Grammy Awards, Carpenter received six nominations, including Best New Artist. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year, winning the former, while Espresso won Best Pop Solo Performance. A third single, Taste, was released alongside the album and debuted at number two on the Hot 100, making Carpenter the first artist since The Beatles to chart their first three top-five hits in the US in the same week. The three singles remained in the Hot 100 top ten for seven consecutive weeks, setting a record for a female artist. Additionally, Carpenter became the first artist in 71 years to spend 20 weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, with Taste becoming the longest-running UK number-one of 2024. A deluxe version of the album is set for release in February 2025.

In September 2024, Carpenter appeared on Christina Aguilera’s Spotify-exclusive special for the 25th anniversary of Aguilera’s debut album, duetting on What a Girl Wants. That same month, she embarked on her first arena tour, the Short n’ Sweet Tour. In December, she produced and starred in the Netflix holiday special A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, featuring duets with Chappell Roan, Tyla, and Shania Twain.

Influences

Sabrina Carpenter has cited R&B as a genre that often influences her music. She considers Christina Aguilera and Rihanna as her biggest musical inspirations, crediting Aguilera’s 2002 song Beautiful for helping her develop her vocal style. Carpenter has also named Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Etta James as early influences, while Beyoncé has inspired her with genre-bending artistry. As a songwriter, she looks up to Taylor Swift and Lorde, admiring Swift’s live performances and work ethic. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Carpenter mentioned Madonna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Aguilera as the artists who introduced her to pop music.

Activism and philanthropy

Sabrina Carpenter has been actively involved in various charitable initiatives throughout her career. In 2016, she became an ambassador for the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, visiting children’s hospitals across the U.S. That same year, she supported the American Red Cross’s 2Steps2Minutes campaign by donating proceeds from her Smoke and Fire merchandise sales to promote fire safety awareness.

In 2017, Carpenter performed at the We Day California event and partnered with DoSomething’s Love Letters Challenge to combat isolation among senior citizens. She has been a consistent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, participating in a Billboard love letter campaign in 2018 and regularly expressing solidarity with LGBTQ+ fans at her shows.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, she contributed to a charity version of If the World Was Ending to support Doctors Without Borders.

In June 2024, Carpenter launched the Sabrina Carpenter Fund in partnership with PLUS1 during her Short n’ Sweet Tour, focusing on mental health, animal welfare, and LGBTQ+ support. She also collaborated with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream on an espresso-flavored release, donating half of the profits to the Ali Forney Center, which aids homeless LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, she partnered with HeadCount in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, registering the highest number of voters among artists that year.