Welcome back to the Deep Dive. If you're here,
you know the drill. We take all the info, the
research, everything we can find, and boil it
down to the story you need to know. Exactly.
And today we're looking at a career path that's
just, well, really remarkable. It's Sabrina Carpenter.
Yes, Sabrina Anlin Carpenter. Our mission today
is to track her evolution because it's seriously
one of the most intentional climbs in recent
pop history. Right. We've got a pretty comprehensive
look at her life and career. Born 1999, Quaker
Town, Pennsylvania. Active since, like, 2008.
All the way up to now, 2024, 2025, where she's,
you know, breaking records left and right. This
isn't just about a pop star hitting it big. It's
almost a case study, you know? Yeah. How to navigate
the industry, gain control, especially after
starting so young. That's the core of it, isn't
it? We need to move past this idea of her being
an overnight success because she wasn't. Not
at all. There is, like, a decade plus of groundwork.
We need to figure out those key moments, those
pivots that took her from a Disney Channel star
with four albums that did okay. Moderately successful,
yeah, on Hollywood records. To this Grammy -winning
global phenomenon who's literally topping charts
everywhere and setting historical records. And
that context is crucial. Think about it, active
from 2008, working, releasing music under that
Disney umbrella, limited peaks. You know, then
bam, 2021. Switches to Island Records. And the
next two albums, Short and Sweet, Man's Best
Friend. Both debut number one on Billboard. Multiple
global number ones. Grammys. It's night and day.
It really is. It's like delayed gratification
just met perfect timing and execution. A real
case study. OK, let's dive in. We have to start
at the beginning to really get this. Right. So
when you see how fast things have moved recently,
it's easy to forget she was in the game for a
long, long time before hitting the mainstream
charts. Definitely. Born in Quaker Town, grew
up in East Greenville, PA, homeschooled. And
this is key. Started voice lessons at six. Six
years old. That's early. Super early. And that
family support? You can't underestimate it. The
sources mentioned her dad, David Carpenter, actually
built a recording studio for her at home. Wow.
OK. So not just encouragement, but like actual
infrastructure. Exactly. It tells you this was
serious from the start, a supported training
ground, not just a kid singing in her bedroom.
And there's that fun family connection, too.
Her and her sisters are nieces of Nancy Cartwright.
Yeah, Bart Simpson herself. Her dad is Cartwright's
stepbrother. So performance is kind of in the
bloodline, you could say. That makes sense. So
before Disney, before the record deals, how did
she start getting noticed? Well, like a lot of
artists from that era, YouTube, around age 10,
she was posting videos covering some really vocally
demanding songs. Christina Aguilera, Adele, big
voices. So she was showing off those chops early.
Right, setting herself apart from, you know,
typical kid singers. It showed maturity. And
that led to something more formal. It did. In
2008, she entered this online contest, the Next
Miley Cyrus Project, out of 7 ,000 kids. Wow.
She came in third in 2010. Didn't win, but crucially,
it helped her get management. Signed with Bill
Perlman around then. Yeah. So things started
getting professional quite early. Laying the
groundwork. Piece by piece. And look at the variety
of early stuff she did. Her first acting gig.
Law and order. SVU in 2011. Seriously, SVU? That's
not exactly Disney Channel Fair. Right, an adult
drama. And she was already getting international
exposure too. Performed over in China for this
big TV festival. So even before Disney, the team
was thinking bigger picture. Thinking global.
Seems like it. But yeah, the big visibility shift.
That was definitely Disney. 2013, she lands the
role of Maya Hart in Girl Meets World. Huge deal.
The spinoff of Boy Meets World. That show was
massive for a whole generation. And it ran for
72 episodes till 2017. Made her a household name
for that demographic. She even sang the theme
song with Roland Blanchard. So that role really
cemented her image, but also set up the music
side. Absolutely. She also had a recurring voice
role, Princess Vivian in Sofia the First, went
2013 to 2018, sang songs for that too, like All
You Need. And this is where the big contract
comes in. This is it. 2014, right in that Girl
Meets World wave, she signs a five album deal
with Hollywood Records, which is owned by Disney.
Five albums. That's a commitment. It's a huge
commitment. And that contract really shapes everything
for the next, what, six, seven years. It's the
anchor of that whole first chapter. It gave her
a platform, the budget, I guess. For sure. But
it also, you know, likely limited her artistic
freedom quite a bit for a long time. Her music
career kicks off right away under that deal.
Debut single, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying,
2014. And that one had a cool connection, right?
Co -written by Meghan Trainor. That's the one.
A little bit of trivia there. So you rounded
out 2014 pretty busy then. Did the Disney Channel,
Do You Want to Build a Snowman cover? Yep, lead
vocals on that. And her first Christmas single,
Silver Nights. So definitely active, but very
much operating within that Disney system. Safe,
managed. Exactly. Chapter one, tipper one. Right,
so this period, maybe 2015 to 2020, this is the
grind. This is where she has to navigate being
a Disney kid, but also trying to become a serious
artist. all while fulfilling that five album
contract. Let's talk about the music first. The
debut album, Eyes Wide Open 2015, what was the
sound like? Very much of its time and label.
Teen pop, definitely. Some folk pop elements
in there, accessible, friendly for the Disney
crowd, light. And how did it do commercially?
Modest start. Peaked at number 43 on the Billboard
200. Sold about 12 ,000 copies first week. So,
not bad, but not exactly setting the charts on
fire. No. Which is why the sources point to the
positive reviews it got, the couple of radio
Disney music awards it won. The success was kind
of contained within that teen bubble, you know?
Okay. Then she followed up pretty quickly. 2016,
she did the Disney movie Adventures in Babysitting.
Right, starred in that remake. And released her
second album, Evolution, the same year. Evolution
did slightly better. debuted a bit higher, number
28 on Billboard, sold around 13 ,000 copies.
But the real story from that album was the single
Thumbs. Aw, Thumbs. That one felt like it had
a bit more buzz. It did. It eventually went platinum,
RIAA certified, and it hit number one on Billboard's
Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Okay. Explain that
Bubbling Under chart again for people. What does
that mean? It's super important context. Basically,
it ranks the top songs that haven't yet made
it onto the main Hot 100 chart. It's like...
The waiting list, the next 25, essentially. So
getting to number one there means you were really
close to breaking into the big leads. Exactly.
It showed she had potential beyond the Disney
audience. That song was a big step. And she backed
it up with her first proper tour, the Evolution
Tour, later that year. Things started expanding
in 2017, too, right? Musically, geographically.
Yeah, she jumped on that single hands with the
Vamps and Mike Perry, released her own single
Why. which also hit the bubbling under chart.
Getting closer. Still bubbling. But maybe the
biggest sign she was aiming higher, opening for
Ariana Grande. Oh, wow. Which tour? The Dangerous
Woman tour. She opened for her in Sao Paulo.
That's a big signal, right? Playing on the same
stage as one of the biggest pop stars in the
world. Definitely sends a message to the industry,
I belong here. For sure. By 2018, you can really
feel her pushing for a more mature, authentic
sound. This brings us to the singular era. Right,
the two -part album, singular, Act 1 in 2018,
Act 2 in 2019. Which was apparently supposed
to be just one album initially. Yeah. But got
split. And this is where the sound really starts
to change. How so? Much more dance pop. Less
of the folky stuff. She actually got two number
ones on the U .S. Dance Club Songs chart with
Almost Love and Sumi. Okay, so leaning into a
different market. A conscious move away from
the early sound. Definitely felt like it. And
the lyrics were maturing, too. Act two, especially,
started exploring more personal stuff. Anxiety,
self -reflection, more confessional. She was
showing more depth, even if the huge commercial
breakthrough hadn't happened yet. Right. Proving
she had more layers. And crucially, she wasn't
just banking on music. She kept building her
acting resume, but in a way that really pushed
against the Disney typecasting. Like, The Hate
U Give in 2018, that was a serious, acclaimed
film. Exactly. And then she starred in this indie
drama, The Short History of the Long Road, in
2019. Got praised for that performance. Showed
real dramatic ability. But she balanced that
with more mainstream stuff, too. Yeah, she did
those Netflix movies. Yeah. Tall Girl in 2019,
Work It in 2020. Work, it was fun, the dance
movie. Right. And importantly... The source is
no. She was an executive producer on Work It.
Uh, okay. That's telling. Even before leaving
Hollywood Records, she's already angling for
more control behind the scenes. Wants that autonomy.
Wants to see you at the table. You can see a
building. Then came Broadway. Early 2020. Mean
Girls. Playing Cattie Herron. Such an iconic
role. Seemed like a perfect fit. But the timing
was just awful. Brutal. She only got to do two
performances before COVID shut down Broadway
completely. Ugh. Still, despite that setback,
by the end of 2020, she'd done enough across
the board, music, film, TV, to get recognized
by Forbes. Yep. Landed on their 30 under 30 list
for Hollywood Entertainment. Acknowledgement
that she'd put in the work across multiple fields.
So that marks the end of an era, really. Four
albums delivered for Hollywood Records. Over
a decade in the industry. The contract fulfilled.
The decks are cleared. City's set for chapter
two. OK, so this is it. The big shift. January
2021. She officially leaves the Disney system,
signs with Island Records, part of Universal
Music Group. A major label move, different resources,
different expectations, probably more freedom.
You'd assume so. And the impact was immediate.
Her very first single for Island, Skin. It wasn't
another bubbling under. It broke through. It
broke through. peaked at number 48 on the Billboard
Hot 100, and number 33 on the Global 200 chart.
Her first time on both of those huge charts.
Ever, after all those years. That right there
validates the label change, doesn't it? Proof
that maybe the new environment, the freedom was
unlocking something. OK, so Skin cracked the
door open, then came the album Emails I Can't
Send in 2022. Yep, debuted at number 23 on Billboard,
which... Okay, number 23 isn't number one, but
it felt different. She even said herself, she
hoped people felt like they knew her better after
listening. More personal, more authentic, maybe.
That was the vibe. Like this is her real voice,
finally unfiltered. The album was the statement,
but wasn't it the tour that really lit the fuse?
Oh, absolutely. The emails I can't send tour
kicked off September 2022. And this is where
the nonsense phenomenon happened. Right, the
TikTok sensation. Exactly. The song itself was
doing okay, but it went viral. viral because
of the outro, she started improvising live every
night. The ones that were kind of witty, a bit
risque. Yeah, clever, funny, often pretty sexually
suggestive. Each city got its own unique outro.
Fans started recording them, posting them, and
it just exploded on TikTok. And that really cemented
her new image, didn't it? Sharp, funny, maybe
a little provocative, totally in control. Nailed
it. It introduced that specific persona to millions
of new people worldwide. Then came the next single,
Feather, from the deluxe version of Emails. Huge
song, but also... controversial yeah the music
video caused quite a stir in 2023 what happened
it was filmed partly inside a real catholic church
in brooklyn the blessed virgin mary church and
the video itself had this darkly comedic sort
of vengeful vibe people getting killed off in
darkly funny ways okay i can see how filming
that in a church might raise some eyebrows it
definitely did Polarized reactions religious
groups were upset the local bishop actually removed
the pastor who okayed the filming from his duties
Held a special mass to like purify the church
Wow, that's serious fallout But here's where
it gets absolutely wild There was an investigation
into how that permission was granted right some
procedural stuff and somehow that investigation
apparently uncovered information that Contributed
to the later indictment of the New York City
mayor Eric Adams. Wait, what? On completely unrelated
charges? Totally unrelated corruption charges.
But the trail allegedly started with the fallout
from the Feather music video shoot. Permission.
It's nuts. It's pop music video controversy leading
to a mayoral indictment investigation. That's
a headline. Unbelievable chain of events. Brings.
Shows how much cultural impact she suddenly had.
Her team said they had permission, and Sabrina
herself reportedly quipped, Jesus was a carpenter.
Little cheeky. While navigating all that, she
gets this massive opportunity. Opening for Taylor
Swift? The Eris Tour. 2023, 2024, Latin America,
Australia, Singapore legs. Talk about exposure.
Putting her in front of literally the biggest
audiences on the planet right now. She called
it a childhood dream come true. Said the crowds
were unlike anything she'd experienced. It was
the perfect springboard. She even released a
cover of Swift's, I knew you were trouble for
Spotify. So. That enormous platform sets the
stage perfectly for her next album, Short and
Sweet, in 2024. And this is where the numbers
just go into the stratosphere. Completely historical
territory. Let's start with the lead single,
Espresso. Yep. April 2024. That song was everywhere.
Global number one. Hit number three on the Hot
100 here. Won the VMA for Song of the Year. And
get this, second most streamed song on Spotify,
globally, for 2024. 1 .6 billion streams. Billing
with a beat? That's not just a hit. That's a
cultural moment. That's world domination. Then
comes Please Please Please in June 2024. And
that one went even higher in the US. Her first
US number one on the Hot 100. Her second global
number one. And the chart records just started
falling. Like she became the first female artist
ever to hold spots one and two on the UK singles
chart for three weeks straight. That's dominant.
And the album Short and Sweet debuted straight
at number one on the Billboard 200. Sold 362
,000 units first week. Let's just pause there.
Her first album sold, what, 12 ,000 first week?
Yeah, this is almost 30 times that. Mm -hmm.
And all 12 tracks from the album landed in the
top 50 of the Hot 100. Complete saturation. But
there's that one stat that everyone talks about,
the Beatles record. Ah, yes. The truly mind -blowing
one. Her third single, Taste, debuted at number
two. Okay, so. So that meant she had three songs,
debuted in the top five of the Hot 100, Espresso
was already there, Please, Please, Please debuted
at hashtag two, then... Case debuted at hashtag
two, pushing PPP to hashtag one. This made her
the first artist since The Beatles to chart their
first three top five hits within a single week.
It didn't sell us. Since The Beatles. That's
the kind of historical context we're talking
about. It's just, wow. And those first three
singles, they all stayed in the top 10 for seven
weeks straight. That's a record for any female
artist. Unbelievable run. And the industry recognized
it too, right? Grammys? Yep. 2025 Grammys. She
won best pop vocal album for Short and Sweet
and best pop solo performance for Espresso. Critical
validation on top of the commercial title wave.
And she didn't slow down. The next album, Man's
Best Friend, dropped August 2025. And prove the
success wasn't a fluke. Debut number one again.
366 ,000 units first week, even slightly higher
than Short and Sweet. Highest female selling
week of 2025 so far. Lead single Man Child. Debuted
straight at number one on the Hot 100. Her second
number one, but her first debut at the top spot.
Just kept leveling up. We have to talk about
the cover art for Man's Best Friend, though,
because that also got people talking, but in
a different way. Oh, it absolutely did. deliberately
provocative. It shows her on her hands and knees,
hair being grabbed by a man just out of frame
while she's kind of pawing at his leg. Yeah,
that imagery is loaded. Extremely. Divided people
instantly. Some found it degrading, objectifying.
Others saw it as satirical, maybe reclaiming
power, playing with those tropes. Provocative
art designed to spark debate. Definitely fits
that edgier, more autonomous persona she's built.
Not playing it safe anymore. Not at all. And
now, looking ahead, she's solidified as a major
headliner. Lollapalooza 2025, doing a set with
Earth, Wind & Fire, which is cool. Yeah. Then
headlining Lola in South America in 2026. And
the big one, Coachella 2026 headliner. Coachella
headliner status. That's the top here. It is.
And the ultimate sign of being accepted into
the pop elite. She's featured on the title track
of the next Taylor Swift album. The life of a
showgirl coming out soon. Right. That collaboration
feels significant, like a cosign from the biggest
star on the planet. OK, the numbers are just
staggering. But let's dig into the how. Artistically,
how did she pull off this transformation? It
seems rooted in understanding pop history, being
flexible with genre, and really committing to
her own songwriting. Definitely. Her foundation
seems built on, well, pop royalty. The sources
mention she grew up listening to Madonna, Britney,
Mariah Carey. and especially Christina Aguilera.
Aguilera comes up a lot as an influence. Seems
like a major one. Sabrina specifically cited
Aguilera's song, Beautiful, as helping her figure
out her own voice, how to use it emotionally.
That's studying the craft, you know? No. Not
just fandom. She also mentioned Rihanna for pushing
boundaries. And for songwriting. Taylor Swift
and Lordar are cited as inspirations there. Makes
sense, given her confessional style. And she
apparently took inspiration from Beyonce's genre
-bending work, too, like Lemonade. Soaking it
all in. But her influences go back even further,
right? Yeah, mentions of Aretha Franklin, Whitney
Houston, Etta James, the foundational soul in
R &B voices, which probably explains why she's
technically classified as a soprano. What does
that mean practically for her pop sound, high
range? Typically means a higher vocal register,
yeah. Often associated with lightness, agility.
Though her early career maybe just labeled her
teen pop, the sound has obviously evolved massively.
And that transition wasn't easy, the sources
say. No, shedding that Disney image is notoriously
hard. But writers note her move into full -blown
pop stardom felt slow, steady, and intentional.
And the key outcome was gaining more autonomy,
control over her sound and image. And that sound
now is really fluid, isn't it? Very. It's pop
at its core, but she pulls from everywhere. Folk
-pop, acoustic bits, country touches, electropop,
house music. Since the singular albums, you really
hear more dance pop, trap, hip hop, R &B influences.
She's mixing it all up. Like Beyonce, maybe not
sticking to one lane. Exactly. And that autonomy
comes through most clearly in her songwriting.
She writes her own stuff. Co writes almost everything.
Apparently, she was the sole writer on two tracks
on emails I can't send. She definitely sees herself
as the primary songwriter, the one driving the
narrative. And she has a specific process for
that. Yeah, the sources say she often starts
with a song title. decides that first, like an
anchor. Then she builds the story around it,
documenting her experiences very confessionally.
That makes sense with the feel of her recent
music. Very direct, often witty. Right. And that
wit is something Jack Antonoff pointed out. He
produced short and sweet with her. He praised
her ability to weave humor into pop. even comparing
it to ABBA in that specific way. High praise.
ABBA knew how to mix catchy tunes with sharp,
sometimes dark, lyrics. Antonov even mentioned
on one track, Sharp is tool. He just did the
music. And she handled all the lyrics herself.
That shows real trust and confirms her ownership.
It's not just vocals and lyrics, she plays instruments
too. Oh yeah. That goes back to that early foundation,
maybe that studio her dad built. She plays piano,
bass, ukulele, guitar, drums. Oh, multi -instrumentalist.
And she actually plays them live. You saw her
with the guitar or on the piano during the Short
and Sweet Tour at Coachella. It really grounds
her artistry. She's not just a singer, she's
a complete musician. That depth counters any
idea that this is just about viral moments. It
shows the substance behind the style. OK, so
her impact clearly goes... way beyond the music
now. To really get the full picture of where
she is in 2025, we have to look at how her activism,
her brand deals, and her philanthropy all kind
of connect. Right. She's built a whole ecosystem
around her platform. Philanthropically, she's
been involved for a while. Back in 2016, she
became an ambassador for the Ryan Seacrest Foundation,
visiting kids in hospitals. Did stuff with Do
Something, too. But her advocacy for the LGBTQ
plus community seems really central now, doesn't
it? Very visible, very consistent. She wrote
that love letter for Bill. board back in 2018.
And more recently, using huge stages like her
2025 VMAs performance. What did she do there?
Performed her song Tears with dancers in drag
holding signs supporting trans rights, a very
clear public statement on a massive platform.
And this isn't just talk, right? She's putting
money behind it, too. Absolutely. That partnership
with PLUS One for her short and sweet tour created
the Sabrina Carpenter Fund. It focuses on mental
health. animal welfare, and LGBTQ plus causes.
And the sources say it raised a million dollars
faster than any other artists PLRS1 had ever
worked with. Wow, that's serious impact. Mobilizing
her fan base for donations. And targeting specific
donations, too. Like that Van Leeuwen ice cream
collab she did in 2020 for the espresso flavor.
Half the profits went to the Ali Forney Center.
Which helps homeless LGBTQ plus youth. So, direct
support. Exactly. And politically, she was a
major force in the 2024 election cycle. That
partnership with headcount. To register voters.
Yeah. Her efforts resulted in more voter engagements,
registrations, checks, etc. than any other artist
that year. Over 35 ,000 people. That's tangible
civic impact. Using her platform beyond just
entertainment. Definitely. And commercially,
she's become a huge draw for brands. Endorsed
Converse, Aeropostale, Samsung, modeled for Kim
Kardashian's Skims line in 2024. Placing her
right in the center of current fashion and pop
culture trends. And that fragrance line seems
like a big success too. Three scents with scent,
beauty, sweet tooth, caramel dream, cherry baby.
Sweet tooth was even a fragrance of the year
finalist. shows her brand has a real pull. Then
there are those collabs that just scream mainstream
saturation. Like the Dunkin' Donuts drink. Sabrina's
brown sugar shaken espresso, capitalizing directly
on the espresso hit. And being in Fortnite. Right,
getting her own skin and being the theme for
Fortnite Festival Season 8 in 2025. If you're
integrated into Dunkin' and Fortnite, you've
pretty much achieved peak cultural penetration
for her demographic. Just quickly rounding out
the picture, the sources mention her personal
life a bit too. Real estate. Yeah, shows the
financial success. Bought a $4 .4 million place
in the Hollywood Hills in 2023. Also interesting
that while writing emails I can't send, she was
renting an apartment in New York's financial
district. Maybe seeking a different vibe for
that creative process. And relationships mentioned
in the sources. Briefly, Bradley Steven Perry,
back in the Disney days, 2014 -15. A connection
with Shawn Mendes, noted in 2023. and then the
more public relationship with actor Barry Keoghan
from late 2023 to late 2024. Okay, so that brings
us pretty much up to date. We've traced the whole
arc. The long, slow build through the Disney
Hollywood Records years, fulfilling that five
album deal. The grind years. Then the deliberate
pivot to Island Records in 2021. And the absolute
explosion that followed. Record breaking hits,
Grammys, headliner status. It really is an incredible
trajectory. The big takeaway for me is just the
sheer persistence, starting way back in 2008,
sticking through that long contract, which gave
her visibility, but also limitations. Right,
a necessary, but perhaps frustrating phase. And
then - executing this perfectly timed second
act years later, but this time with full artistic
control. Her songwriting, playing instruments,
the vocal skill, the advocacy, it all paints
a picture of success that feels earned. Not just
lucky, achieved through patience and strategy.
And that contrast says it all, doesn't it? 12
,000 units first week for album one versus 366
,000 for album seven. That difference is the
sound of autonomy paying off. She had to wait
it out to become the artist she clearly wanted
to be. Which leads us to our final thought for
you, the listener, something to chew on. Given
that Sabrina Carpenter is now breaking chart
records held by the Beatles, headlining Coachella,
headlining Lollapalooza's, is her massive success
just about great pop songs? Or is it maybe more
about a new kind of blueprint, a pathway for
former child stars in the modern era? Right.
A path that involves sticking it out, maintaining
artistic control where you can, building skills,
being patient, and then leveraging viral moments
strategically when the time and freedom are finally
right. The groundwork took over a decade. But
that slow burn, that necessary apprenticeship,
maybe that's what enabled the eventual explosion
into becoming a defining pop star for her generation.
It wasn't overnight. It was earned. The power
of the slow burn followed by total autonomous
control. Maybe that's the lesson here. Something
to think about. It's a model we might see more
artists try to follow. We'll leave you with that.
See you on the next Deep Dive!