Sabrina Carpenter
Carpenter joined Island Records in 2021, releasing her fifth album, Emails I Can't Send (2022), featuring the multi-platinum singles "Nonsense" and "Feather". Her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet (2024), topped the US Billboard 200 and won two Grammy Awards. It produced the global number-one singles "Espresso" and "Please Please Please", the latter becoming her first to top the US Billboard Hot 100.
Her seventh studio album, Man's Best Friend (2025), also topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the US number-one single "Manchild".
Carpenter has acted in films such as Adventures in Babysitting (2016), The Hate U Give (2018), The Short History of the Long Road (2019), Clouds (2020), and Emergency (2022). She has also starred in the Netflix films Tall Girl (2019), Tall Girl 2 (2022), and Work It (2020).
She has served as both a host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live, hosted the Netflix special A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter (2024), and guest starred in the Disney+ variety sketch special The Muppet Show (2026), the later of which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award as an executive producer. On Broadway, she played Cady Heron in the musical Mean Girls (2020).
Early life
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter was born on May 11, 1999, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, to David and Elizabeth (nรฉe Sneidar) Carpenter, and raised in East Greenville. Her oldest sister, Shannon, is a dancer. Her older sister, Sarah, is her creative partner and a photographer. They have an older paternal half-sister, Cayla, who is a hairdresser and makeup artist. Their father is a step-brother of actress Nancy Cartwright.
Carpenter was homeschooled and moved to Los Angeles when she was thirteen. She began studying voice at age six. Around age ten, she began posting videos on YouTube of herself singing Christina Aguilera and Adele songs. When Carpenter was 10, her father built a recording studio for her to fuel her passion for music.
Career
2008โ2014: Breakthrough with Disney
In October 2008, Carpenter was one of 7,000 to enter the online singing contest The Next Miley Cyrus Project, run by Miley Cyrus. She placed third in 2010. Around this time, Carpenter signed with manager Bill Perlman.
Carpenter's first acting role was in 2011 in a guest role on the NBC drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Around the same time, she performed as part of the Hunan Broadcasting System's Gold Mango Audience Festival program in China, singing "Something's Got a Hold on Me". In the summer of 2012, Carpenter had a recurring role in the Fox sitcom The Goodwin Games.
She appeared as young Merrin Williams in Horns (2013) and recorded "Smile" for the compilation album Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust, inspired by the Disney Fairies film series; the song charted on Radio Disney. She had a recurring role as Princess Vivian in Sofia the First from 2013 to 2018, for which she recorded various songs, including "All You Need" with Ariel Winter.
In January 2013, Carpenter was cast in a Disney Channel series Girl Meets World, a spin-off of Boy Meets World, as Maya Hart. The show consisted of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 20, 2017. Carpenter recorded the show's theme song alongside her co-star Rowan Blanchard. From 2010 to 2013, Carpenter released various independent promotional singles before signing a five-album deal with Disney label Hollywood Records in 2014.
In March 2014, Carpenter released her debut single, "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying", which was co-written by Meghan Trainor. The single received positive reviews and titled her debut EP of the same name that was released in April 2014. In July 2014, Carpenter contributed lead vocals to the Disney Channel Circle of Stars cover version of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?".
She recorded "Stand Out" for the Disney Channel movie, How to Build a Better Boy, which premiered in August 2014. She released her first Christmas single, "Silver Nights", that same year.
2015โ2017: Eyes Wide Open and Evolution
In January 2015, Carpenter released the song "We'll Be the Stars". It served as the lead single for her debut studio album Eyes Wide Open, which was released on April 14, 2015, and peaked at number 43 on the Billboard 200. The album is primarily a teen pop album with elements of folk-pop. According to Billboard, it sold over 12,000 copies in its first week.
Upon release, the album received positive reviews and went on to win two Radio Disney Music Awards. The album was followed with a second single, "Eyes Wide Open". In August, Carpenter performed at the D23 Expo. In December, Carpenter released her second Christmas single, "Christmas The Whole Year Round".
In February 2016, Carpenter released the standalone single titled "Smoke and Fire". She performed the song at the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards. In June 2016, Carpenter starred as Jenny Parker in the Disney Channel Original Movie Adventures in Babysitting (2016) alongside Sofia Carson. For the film, the two performed the theme track, "Wildside", together.
Later that year, she appeared in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate's Christmas. In August, Carpenter headlined the Bethlehem's Musikfest festival. She began voicing Melissa Chase on Milo Murphy's Law.
In October 2016, Carpenter released her second studio album, Evolution which debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 28, selling 13,000 copies in its first week. The album included two singles: "On Purpose", which was nominated for a Radio Disney Music Award, and "Thumbs", which peaked at number one on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Two promotional singles were released from the album including "All We Have Is Love" and "Run and Hide". Carpenter performed "Thumbs" on The Today Show and The Late Late Show with James Corden. She embarked on her first headlining concert tour, the EVOLution Tour, in autumn of 2016.
In March 2017, Carpenter performed the theme song for the Disney Channel show Andi Mack. In May, Carpenter featured on the single "Hands" with The Vamps and Mike Perry. In July, Carpenter released the single "Why", which received positive reviews, and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, becoming her second entry on the chart.
It was nominated for a Radio Disney Music Award. In the summer of that year, Carpenter embarked on her second headlining concert tour, the De-Tour. She opened for Ariana Grande on her Dangerous Woman Tour in Sรฃo Paulo.
In December, Carpenter released a cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". That same year, she released covers of "Sign of the Times" and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" with British singer Jasmine Thompson and violinist Lindsey Stirling respectively.
2018โ2020: Singular and film projects
In March 2018, Carpenter released the song "Alien" with English DJ Jonas Blue. The song reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart and number 12 on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The duo performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. In May, Carpenter was included in Nylon magazine's "25 Gen Z'ers Changing The World". In September, Carpenter appeared in The Hate U Give (2018), based on the novel of the same name.
On November 9, 2018, Carpenter released her third studio album, Singular: Act I, which received positive reviews. Originally set to be released as one album, Carpenter announced that the album had been split into two acts with second act set for release in early 2019. The album spawned three singles, "Almost Love", "Paris" and "Sue Me", the first and latter both reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart.
A promotional single preceded the album a week before it's release titled "Bad Time". Carpenter promoted the album on The Today Show, as well as Live with Kelly and Ryan.
In March 2019, Carpenter embarked on her third headlining concert tour, the Singular Tour. That month, Carpenter featured on Alan Walker's single, "On My Way", alongside Farruko. In June 2019, she starred in the drama film The Short History of the Long Road. The film had had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released by FilmRise. It received positive reviews with Carpenter's role being praised.
On July 19, 2019, Carpenter released her fourth studio album, Singular: Act II. The album received positive reviews upon release and found Carpenter exploring more personal topics than her previous works, including themes of anxiety and self-reflection. Various promotional singles were released for the album including "Pushing 20", "Exhale" and "In My Bed".
To promote the album, she performed on Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series and released a promotional single titled "I'm Fakin" ahead of the album's release. The album features Carpenter's most successful song released under Hollywood Records, "Looking at Me".
In September 2019, Carpenter appeared in the Netflix film Tall Girl. She was cast in an adaptation of The Distance From Me to You.
In February 2020, Carpenter released a Valentine's Day-themed R&B single titled "Honeymoon Fades", which was received positively by critics. A month later, she made her Broadway debut in Mean Girls. The show closed the day after Carpenter's debut due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing Broadway and never reopened.
She performed in two performances of the show. In May 2020, she performed "Your Mother and Mine" on the ABC broadcast television special, The Disney Family Singalong Volume II. She had a recurring role in Royalties for which she performed "Perfect Song" for the soundtrack.
In July 2020, Carpenter released the song, "Let Me Move You", for the Netflix film Work It, in which she starred and executive produced. Her role received generally positive reviews. The film's soundtrack featured Zara Larsson's "Wow", which led to Carpenter featuring on the remix of the song, released in September of that year.
In October, Carpenter starred in the Disney+ film Clouds, based on the life of Zach Sobiech. She contributed to the film's soundtrack. In December 2020, Carpenter was listed under Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the Hollywood and entertainment category.
2021โ2023: Emails I Can't Send and wider recognition
In January 2021, Carpenter announced that she had signed to Universal Music Group's Island Records. She released her first single under the label, "Skin", on January 22, 2021. The song peaked at number 48 and 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200, becoming her first entry on both charts.
Carpenter performed the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden and at the 32nd annual GLAAD Media Awards. In September, she appeared in the third volume of Prime Video's Savage X Fenty Show. On September 9, 2021, Carpenter released "Skinny Dipping", the lead single from her then-forthcoming fifth studio album.
She released "Fast Times" on February 18, 2022, as a follow-up single. That same month, she appeared in Tall Girl 2. In May 2022, Carpenter appeared in Amazon Studios' film Emergency which had premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival that January.
On July 15, 2022, Carpenter released her fifth studio album, Emails I Can't Send, which debuted and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 with 18,000 album equivalent units sold. The album was further promoted with the singles: "Vicious" "Because I Liked a Boy", and "Nonsense". The Emails I Can't Send Tour began in September of that year. "Nonsense" went viral on TikTok due to Carpenter performing newly improvised outros for the song on tour.
The song peaked at number 56 on the Hot 100, was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and reached the top-10 on the US Pop Airplay chart.
In March 2023, Carpenter released a deluxe edition of Emails I Can't Send. One of the bonus tracks, "Feather", became the final single in August 2023, peaking at number one on the US Pop Songs chart and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. She performed the song at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show and at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
The song's music video, released in October 2023, drew polarized reactions due to its violent imagery and was filmed at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York. The pastor apologized for allowing the shoot, unaware of the content. Carpenter responded, stating advance permission was granted and noting, "Jesus was a carpenter." Bishop Robert J.
Brennan relieved the pastor of his administrative duties in the diocese and held a Mass of reparation to "restore the sanctity of this church". The investigation into the priest who granted permission uncovered evidence that led to the indictment of New York City mayor Eric Adams.
Carpenter was the opening act for the Eras Tour by Taylor Swift for a number of its Latin American, Australian and Singaporean shows throughout 2023 and 2024. She released a cover of Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" as a Spotify special and said that opening for Swift was a "childhood dream come true". Carpenter described her experience at the Eras Tour as "unlike any crowd I've ever played to before".
On November 17, 2023, Carpenter released a Christmas-themed EP, Fruitcake, featuring "A Nonsense Christmas" which was released a year earlier.
2024โpresent: Short n' Sweet and Man's Best Friend
In March 2024, Carpenter featured on Norwegian singer-songwriter Girl in Red's single "You Need Me Now?". On April 11, Carpenter released the single "Espresso", and performed at the 2024 Coachella Music Festival the following day. "Espresso" topped the Billboard Global 200, peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and went on to win the MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year.
At the end of the year, "Espresso" became the second most streamed song of the year on Spotify at 1.6 billion. Carpenter followed with a second single, "Please Please Please" on June 6, 2024, which became her second global chart-topper and her first US Hot 100 number one single. With these songs, she became the first female artist to hold the number one and two positions on the UK singles chart for three weeks in a row.
Carpenter released her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet, on August 23, debuting at number one the Billboard 200 with 362,000 units sold in its first week. All tracks charted in the top 50 of the Hot 100. At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, Carpenter earned six nominations, including Best New Artist, while the album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year.
It won Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Espresso" won Best Pop Solo Performance. The third single, "Taste", debuted at number two on the Hot 100, making Carpenter the first act since the Beatles to chart their first three top-five hits within a single week. The first three singles stayed in the top ten for seven consecutive weeks, a record for any female artist.
Carpenter also became the first artist in 71 years to spend 20 weeks atop the UK singles chart in a calendar year, with "Taste" as the longest-running UK number one of 2024. A deluxe version with five additional tracks including a duet of "Please Please Please" with Dolly Parton, was released on February 14, 2025.
๐ Source: Wikipedia
