Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress known for her rise in the entertainment industry. She first gained fame starring in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World (2014–2017) and signed with Hollywood Records. In 2014, she released her debut single, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying, followed by studio albums Eyes Wide Open (2015), Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I (2018), and Singular: Act II (2019). In 2021, Carpenter transitioned to Island Records and released her fifth studio album, Emails I Can't Send (2022), featuring the viral TikTok hit Nonsense and the Pop Airplay number-one single Feather.
Sabrina Carpenter | |
Carpenter in 2020 | |
Musical career | |
Born | Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter May 11, 1999 Quakertown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2010–present |
Works |
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Relatives | Nancy Cartwright (aunt) |
Genres |
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Instruments | Vocals |
Labels |
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Website | sabrinacarpenter |
She later joined Taylor Swift as an opening act on the Eras Tour (2023–2024). Her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet (2024), became her first Billboard 200 chart-topper and produced hit singles Espresso, Please Please Please, and Taste. The album set multiple records, achieved significant milestones, and earned her six Grammy nominations, winning two. Beyond music, Carpenter has showcased her acting skills 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 also starred in Netflix films Tall Girl (2019), Tall Girl 2 (2022), and Work It (2020), where she served as an executive producer. Additionally, she played a lead role on Broadway in Mean Girls (2020).
Early Life
Sabrina Carpenter was born on May 11, 1999, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, to David and Elizabeth Carpenter and grew up in East Greenville. She has three older sisters and was homeschooled. Carpenter is the niece of actress Nancy Cartwright. At age 10, she started posting YouTube covers of songs by Christina Aguilera and Adele. To support her musical aspirations, her father built a home recording studio. In 2009, she placed third in The Next Miley Cyrus Project, a singing contest organized by Miley Cyrus.
Personal Life
Sabrina Carpenter was previously in a relationship with actor Bradley Steven Perry from 2014 to 2015, with Perry later referring to her as his "first love." Between 2020 and 2023, she was romantically linked to actors Griffin Gluck and Joshua Bassett, as well as singer Shawn Mendes. In December 2023, Carpenter began dating Irish actor Barry Keoghan. The couple moved into a $4.4 million home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles in May 2024. However, by December 2024, reports emerged that the two had ended their relationship.
Career
2011–2014: Disney Breakthrough
Sabrina Carpenter's first acting role was in Law & Order: SVU (2011). She sang in China’s Gold Mango Audience Festival and had a recurring role in The Goodwin Games (2012). Carpenter voiced Princess Vivian in Sofia the First and recorded “Smile” for Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust. In 2013, she was cast as Maya Hart in Girl Meets World (2014–2017), singing the theme song with Rowan Blanchard. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2014, releasing Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying, co-written by Meghan Trainor. She also contributed to How to Build a Better Boy and Frozen’s "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?".
2015–2017: Eyes Wide Open and Evolution
Carpenter released We’ll Be the Stars (2015) as the lead single for Eyes Wide Open, which debuted at #43 on Billboard 200. She starred in Adventures in Babysitting (2016) and voiced Melissa Chase in Milo Murphy’s Law. Her second album, Evolution (2016), featured On Purpose and Thumbs, the latter reaching #1 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100. She headlined The Evolution Tour (2016) and later The De-Tour (2017). Carpenter also opened for Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman Tour in São Paulo.
2018–2020: Singular and Acting Success
Carpenter’s Alien with Jonas Blue (2018) hit #1 on the US Dance Club Songs chart. She starred in The Hate U Give (2018) and released Singular: Act I, featuring Almost Love and Sue Me. In 2019, Singular: Act II explored personal themes, with Exhale and In My Bed as singles. She starred in The Short History of the Long Road and Tall Girl. Her Broadway debut in Mean Girls was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Carpenter starred in Netflix’s Work It (2020) and Disney+’s Clouds.
2021–2023: Emails I Can’t Send
Signing with Island Records, Carpenter released Skin (2021), her first Billboard Hot 100 entry at #48. She starred in Emergency (2022) and released Emails I Can’t Send with Because I Liked a Boy, Vicious, and Nonsense, which went viral. Feather (2023) hit #1 on US Pop Songs. She opened for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Latin America, Australia, and Singapore. She also released the holiday EP Fruitcake.
2024–present: Short n’ Sweet
In 2024, Espresso topped the Billboard Global 200 and peaked at #3 on the Hot 100. Please Please Please became her first Hot 100 #1, making her the first female artist to hold the UK #1 and #2 spots for three weeks. Short n’ Sweet (2024) debuted at #1 on Billboard 200, earning six Grammy nominations, winning Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance. Taste debuted at #2 on Hot 100, breaking records by keeping three singles in the Top 10 for seven weeks. Carpenter launched her first arena tour and released A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter. In 2025, the deluxe edition of Short n’ Sweet included a Dolly Parton collaboration, Please Please Please.
Artistry
Influences
Sabrina Carpenter has credited R&B as a major influence on her music. She considers Christina Aguilera and Rihanna as her biggest inspirations, with Aguilera’s 2002 song Beautiful helping her shape and develop her vocal abilities. Carpenter has also cited legendary artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Etta James as early musical influences. She has acknowledged Beyoncé for her ability to blend multiple genres and looks to Taylor Swift and Lorde for inspiration in songwriting. Swift’s dedication to her craft and live performances have particularly influenced Carpenter’s work ethic. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Carpenter mentioned that Madonna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Aguilera introduced her to pop music.
Musical Styles
At the beginning of her career, Carpenter was often labeled a "teen pop singer." As she evolved, she fully embraced pop music, with critics recognizing her transition into a mainstream pop star after the release of Emails I Can’t Send. A writer for Variety noted that while Carpenter was long associated with Disney, her shift from child actor to pop artist was intentional and gradual. Carpenter has stated that breaking away from her Disney image was a challenge, but she now has greater creative autonomy. In an interview with Vogue, she reflected that her earlier music did not fully represent her authentic self at the time. Her stage presence has been widely praised, with Vogue highlighting how she uses the full spectrum of human emotion in her performances. Carpenter’s albums incorporate a mix of folk pop, acoustic, country, electropop, and house music. After Singular: Act I, her work expanded into dance-pop, trap, hip-hop, and R&B. She has described her sound as blending "elements of everything." In a 2024 Variety interview, Carpenter expressed feeling disconnected from her earlier albums, attributing the shift to personal and artistic growth before and after the pandemic. A writer from American Songwriter emphasized that storytelling is a strong motif in Carpenter’s music. She is recognized for her soprano vocal range.
Songwriting
Carpenter has co-written most of her songs, with two tracks on Emails I Can’t Send credited entirely to her. She has stated that she is the primary songwriter for her music and prefers starting with a song title before developing the lyrics. Producer Jack Antonoff, who collaborated on Short n’ Sweet, praised Carpenter’s ability to infuse humor into her lyrics. Antonoff noted that she handled the songwriting for Sharpest Tool while he focused solely on the production. Regarding Emails I Can’t Send, Carpenter hoped that new listeners would walk away feeling like they know her personally through the album. In addition to songwriting, Carpenter has contributed to the composition of her songs, including Espresso and Please Please Please. She plays multiple instruments, including piano, bass, ukulele, guitar, and drums. She performed with a guitar on her Short n’ Sweet tour and played both piano and electric guitar during her 2024 Coachella set.
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