Sabrina Carpenter

While it can be a big challenge for a young performer to transition from teen-TV stardom to success in the music world, Sabrina Carpenter has made it look easy with her effervescent pop oeuvre. It helps that Carpenter—born in 1999 in Lehigh Valley, PA—has pursued both sides of her career in tandem, releasing music while establishing a regular presence on the Disney Channel and through other acting gigs, including on Broadway. On her first two albums—2015’s Eyes Wide Open and 2016’s EVOLution—Carpenter set herself apart from her teenage peers with her deft delivery and her eagerness to embrace a wide array of dance-music styles. Singular Act I and Singular Act II, a two-part album that dropped in 2018 and 2019, provided more proof of her fast-developing abilities as a singer and songwriter who had moved past teen-star stereotypes to become a full-fledged club powerhouse. Elements of trap and house energize its lead singles: “Almost Love,” a thrilling electro-pop track Carpenter co-wrote with the Stargate production team, and “Sue Me,” a cheeky kiss-off with poise.  After she became entangled in a notorious pop-music love triangle and experienced a major heartbreak, Carpenter stepped back sonically to express herself more personally, as heard on 2022’s intimately acoustic “skinny dipping,” from her fifth album, emails i can’t send. But the fun has never left Carpenter’s music—just listen to the one of many ad-libbed outros in her live performances of her pop hit “Nonsense,” or the lyrics of her deliciously addictive 2024 funk-pop single “Espresso.”