That's That Sabrina Carpenter, Superstar: 10 Steps She Took To Score Her Success

Carpenter signed a deal with Disney Music Group's Hollywood Records at age 14, just before she began co-starring on the Disney Channel series Girl meets people in 2014? over the next half decade, she appeared in more than 70 episodes of the series, while also releasing four studio albums, embarking on numerous tours, and co-starring in a dozen more film and television projects. While Carpenter's current musical stylings are naturally more adult-friendly than her teenage output, she's spent years cultivating a fan base, both as a longtime TV personality and prolific singer-actress — and as she's gotten older, her fans have Well, and many of them continue to love her.

In early 2021, the lyrics to Olivia Rodrigo's smash hit 'Drivers License' sparked rumors of an actual love triangle between Rodrigo, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-stars Joshua Bassett and Carpenter, with the latter seemingly referred to as “that blonde girl” in the opening verse. Although none of the three artists confirmed the details of the gossip, the success of “Drivers License” brought the spotlight more specifically to Carpenter at a time when she was preparing to release new music herself.

Two weeks after the release of “Drivers License,” Carpenter returned with “Skin,” which seemingly responded to Rodrigo's lyric (“Maybe you don't mean it/ Maybe 'blonde' was the only rime,” sings) — but more importantly, it set the scene for Carpenter's next pop era, as a hushed synth-pop ballad with a strong point of view and a decidedly grown-up tone. Behind-the-scenes intrigue sent “Skin” to No. 48 on the Hot 100, marking Carpenter's first chart entry. Anyone paying attention, however, realized that the song's real value was as a nod to Carpenter's evolving pop aesthetic.

After releasing four albums as part of Disney Music Group, Carpenter signed a deal with Island Records in 2021, marking a new chapter in her recording career. Although Disney's Hollywood Records has adult artists on its roster, Carpenter said at the time that jumping to a new label provided more creative freedom as she prepared her next project, and that Island “looks at this record the same way that i see , and I'm so grateful for that.” Joining a new label house has allowed Carpenter to execute her artistic vision more clearly. Now, she's become one of Island's leading artists, at a time when the label (also home to Chappell Roan, Remi Wolf and The Last Dinner Party) is redefined as a platform for daring pop voices.

Veteran hitmaker and “Issues” singer Julia Michaels was instrumental in Carpenter's Island debut, helping to bring out the pop star's confessional side while understanding how to develop her more conversational tone. JP Saxe, who won a Grammy and Song of the Year with Michaels for “If the World Was Ending,” also co-wrote several tracks, and Carpenter also linked up with Jason Evigan (Demi Lovato's “Heart Attack” , Dua Lipa's “Physical”), Amy Allen (Harry Styles' “Adore You,” Selena Gomez's “Back to You”) and the One Direction veteran's studio with Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. It all ensured that when Carpenter released her first post-Disney music, she would have a fantastic pop pedigree.

Released in July 2022, Email I can't send established Carpenter as a unique voice in modern pop, able to fly fast songs like “Nonsense” and “Fast Times” and deliver emotionally resonant lyrics on tracks like “Because I Liked a Boy” and “Skinny Dipping.” Although Email I can't send Not an immediate hit and debuting outside the top 20 on the Billboard 200, the project was one of the best-reviewed pop albums of 2022. It generated significant critical buy-in after Carpenter's Disney beginnings, creating long-tail audiences (Email I can't send has earned 737,000 equivalent album units in the US to date, according to Luminate) and led to some major touring support opportunities behind the album. Speaking of which…

Carpenter toured for nearly a year beginning in September 2022, playing a total of 80 headliners across four continents and making the connection between her longtime supporters and her new material. He attracted much more listeners thanks to the opening concert that followed: Taylor Swift invited Carpenter on several legs of her Eras tour, where he played to packed stadiums in Mexico, Brazil, Australia and Singapore, among other places. The bigger audience helped Carpenter's cause, of course, but so did Swift's tacit endorsement, as Carpenter supported the world's biggest pop superstar on the road — and join her on stagevery.

As Carpenter toured to support Email I can't send, “Nonsense,” the album's cheeky rhythm pop showcase, took off on TikTok, with users dancing and lip-syncing to the song's second verse (many of which Carpenter herself re-shared). Meanwhile, Carpenter took the song on the road through its outro, changing the final lyrics based on the city she was playing in. Carpenter has showcased her offbeat side on social media for years, but riding the viral explosion of “Nonsense” and personalizing the song for her live audience helped portray that side of her artistic persona more powerfully.

“Nonsense” reached No. 56 on the Hot 100 and “Feather”, a dance single included on the deluxe edition of Email I can't send in 2023, it became Carpenter's first top 40 hit on the chart, peaking at No. 21. Perhaps the most significant of these peaks, however, was the songs performance on the Pop Airplay chart — as Carpenter used both to get on the radio and check an important box for a mainstream artist. While “Nonsense” reached No. 10 on Pop Airplay in May 2023, “Feather” topped the chart last month (for the week of April 6) as Carpenter's voice became a regular on some of the biggest FM stations in the country.

While “Espresso,” released last month to coincide with Carpenter's debut Coachella performance, carries the hallmarks of the singer's previous hits, every aspect of her aesthetic has improved—from the delirious sun-kissed synth-pop production to the instantly memorable choruses (“That's that me, the espresso” has been rattling around our brains for weeks) to Carpenter's supremely assured delivery of breathy vocals. Simply put, “Espresso” hits harder than any previous Carpenter single. Now, it's an undisputed smash, racking up 103.2 million streams in just over a month (according to Luminate), climbing all the way to No. 4 on the Hot 100 and positioning itself as a flawless song of the summer contender.

“Espresso” would mark a turning point in her career, but her success didn't happen overnight — Carpenter has spent years building to this moment, and now, it's placed her on the cusp of superstardom.