Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. She made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and had a recurring role on Fox's The Goodwin Games. She starred in the Disney Channel comedy series Girl Meets World (2014–2017), along with the Disney Channel Original Movie Adventures in Babysitting in 2016.
Carpenter has starred in several feature films, including Horns (2013), The Hate U Give (2018), The Short History of the Long Road (2019), Clouds (2020), and Emergency (2022). She also starred in three Netflix films, Tall Girl (2019), its sequel (2022), and Work It (2020).
Her debut single "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" and EP of the same name were released in 2014. Carpenter followed this with her debut album, Eyes Wide Open (2015) and four studio albums, Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I (2018), Singular: Act II (2019), and Emails I Can't Send (2022).
Early life
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter was born on May 11, 1999, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, to David and Elizabeth Carpenter, and raised in East Greenville. She has three older sisters and was homeschooled. Around the age of 10, she began posting videos on YouTube of herself singing Christina Aguilera and Adele songs. Her father built a recording studio for her to fuel her passion for music. In 2009, she placed third in a singing contest, The Next Miley Cyrus Project, run by Miley Cyrus.
Career
2011–2014: Breakthrough with Disney
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 in Horns (2013) and also 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 also had a recurring role as Princess Vivian in Sofia the First, for which she also performed the song "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.
In 2014, Carpenter launched her music career with the release of her debut single, "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying". The single is also the title track on 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 also performed the song "Stand Out" in the Disney Channel movie How to Build a Better Boy, which premiered in August 2014.
2015–2017: Eyes Wide Open and Evolution
In January 2015, Carpenter released the lead single from her debut studio album, "We'll Be the Stars". The album, Eyes Wide Open, was released on April 14, 2015, and peaked at 43 on the Billboard 200. On April 25, 2015, Carpenter performed at the 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards where she also won an award in the category Best Crush Song for her song "Can't Blame a Girl For Trying". In August 2015, Carpenter made an appearance at the D23 Expo, performing songs from her debut album.
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 also starred in a Disney Channel Original Movie, Adventures in Babysitting (2016) alongside Sofia Carson. The same year, she also 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.
In October 2016, Carpenter released her second studio album, Evolution and announced that she would be embarking on her first headlining concert tour, the Evolution Tour, in autumn of 2016. Two singles were released for the album including "On Purpose" and "Thumbs" with the latter peaking at number one on Billboards Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA. Three promotional singles were released from the album—"All We Have Is Love", "Run and Hide", and "Thumbs"—with the third going on to be the album's second official single. Evolution debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 28, selling 13,000 copies in its first week. Carpenter later performed "Thumbs" on the Late Late Show with James Corden on April 17, 2017.
In May 2017, she collaborated with The Vamps and Mike Perry on the single "Hands". In the summer of 2017, Carpenter embarked on her second headlining concert tour, the De-Tour. She released the single "Why" in July 2017, which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, becoming her second entry on the chart. In October 2017, Lost Kings released a single called "First Love" on which Carpenter is featured. She collaborated with Lindsey Stirling on the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from her holiday album Warmer in the Winter, which was released in October 2017. In December 2017, Carpenter released a cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
2018–2020: Singular and other ventures
In March 2018, Carpenter released "Alien" with Jonas Blue, which they performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that month. 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, based on the novel of the same name. Carpenter's third studio album, titled Singular: Act I, was released on November 9, 2018. The album garnered two singles, "Almost Love" and "Sue Me" which both reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart. Two promotional singles were also released ahead of the album, "Paris" and "Bad Time". Carpenter promoted the album on The Today Show, as well as Live with Kelly and Ryan, in November 2018.
In March 2019, Carpenter featured on Alan Walker's "On My Way" alongside Farruko. That same month, she embarked on her third headlining concert tour, the Singular Tour. In June 2019, she appeared in the drama film, The Short History of the Long Road. Carpenter's fourth studio album, Singular: Act II, was released released on July 19, 2019 alongside three singles: "Pushing 20", "Exhale" and "In My Bed". To promote the album, she performed on Good Morning Americas Summer Concert Series and released a promotional single titled "I'm Fakin" ahead of the album's release.
In September 2019, Carpenter appeared in a Netflix film, Tall Girl. That same year she was also cast in a film adaptation of The Distance From Me to You. She is set to star and produce the film with Girl Meets World co-star Danielle Fishel.
In February 2020, Carpenter released a single titled "Honeymoon Fades", which was followed by her Broadway debut in Mean Girls in March 2020. The show closed mid-month due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing Broadway and eventually closed permanently on January 7, 2021. In July 2020, Carpenter released another single, "Let Me Move You", from the Netflix film Work It, in which she also starred and executive produced. In September 2020, she featured on a remix of Zara Larsson's song "Wow". On October 16, 2020, she also starred in the Disney+ film, Clouds, based on Zach Sobiech's life. In December 2020, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the Hollywood and entertainment category.
2021–present: Emails I Can't Send
In January 2021, Carpenter announced that she had signed with Universal Music Group's Island Records. Her first single under the new record label was "Skin", released on January 22, 2021. The song debuted at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first entry on the chart. Carpenter performed the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden and at the 32nd annual GLAAD Media Awards. In September 2021, she appeared in the third volume of Prime Video's special, Savage X Fenty Show.
On September 9, 2021, Carpenter released the single, "Skinny Dipping", co-written with Julia Michaels and JP Saxe, and set to appear on her then-forthcoming fifth studio album. She released "Fast Times" on February 18, 2022 as the second single of her fifth studio album. That same month, she appeared in Tall Girl 2. In May, 2022, Carpenter appeared in Amazon Studios' comedy-drama thriller 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 peak at number 23 on the Billboard 200 with 18,000 album equivalent units sold, making it her highest entry on the chart to date. The album was further promoted with the singles: "Vicious", "Because I Liked a Boy", and "Nonsense". The latter single found critical acclaim, peaking at number 56 on the Hot 100. In August 2022, Carpenter announced the Emails I Can't Send Tour, the first leg of which began in the fall of 2022. Her concert in Portland, Oregon was cancelled due to a bomb threat.
In 2023, Carpenter was the opening act for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour for various Latin America shows. She is also set to open for the Australian and Singaporean shows in 2024.
Artistry
Musical styles
Early in her career, Carpenter was described as a "teen pop" singer. Later on in her career, Carpenter began to embrace pop music, with I.D. writer Barry Pierce noting that after the release of Emails I Can't Send, she "can rightfully claim the title of fully fledged popstar". Carpenter felt that her transition from a Disney-star was hard, with Pierce noting that she has since had more autonomy over her work. Carpenter noted in an interview with Vogue that her "prior music put forth a facet of herself that she didn't feel was authentic at the time". Her stage presence has also been praised with Vogue writer Chelsea Sarabia noting that "as an artist and performer, [Carpenter] wields the full range of human expression as if it were an instrument of its own".
Carpenter's early albums contained elements of folk pop, acoustic, country, electropop and house music. Her albums post-Singular: Act I have dived into "more mature" genres and lyrical content including dance-pop, trap, hip-hop, and R&B. On her sound, Carpenter noted that her music has "elements of everything". Carpenter has also been noted for her storytelling within her music.
Influences
Carpenter has cited Christina Aguilera and Rihanna as her biggest musical influences. Carpenter cites Aguilera's song "Beautiful" as the reason why she sees "songs as a part of what [she] could do to showcase and develop [her] own voice". She also stated that she admired Aguilera's "confidence and the power in her voice". Carpenter has also cited R&B-type music as a influence for her work, praising Rihanna's "Consideration" for its fluidity. She has also cited Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Etta James as early musical influences. She has taken inspiration from the songwriting of Taylor Swift and Lorde.
Other activites
Products and endorsements
In 2017, Carpenter endorsed Converse's Forever Chuck campaign alongside Rowan Blanchard, Alton Mason and Cole Sprouse. In 2018, she became a brand ambassador for Aéropostale. She also became a brand ambassador for Samsung USA in 2021, as part of the company's "Team Galaxy" partnership program. She performed at the Galaxy Creator Collective event hosted by Samsung in March of 2022. Additionally, following her album's release in 2023, she also performed a livestream concert at Samsung and Billboard's Summer of Galaxy annual event.
In September 2022, Carpenter released her debut fragrance in partnership with Scent Beauty, titled Sweet Tooth.
Philanthropy and activism
Throughout her career, Carpenter has actively supported charitable organizations. In 2016, Carpenter became an ambassador for the Ryan Seacrest Foundation and visited children's hospitals across the country on their behalf. That same year, for the release of her single "Smoke and Fire", Carpenter released merchandise with proceeds going towards American Red Cross's 2Steps2Minutes campaign which brought awareness to fire safety.
In 2017, Carpenter performed at the We Day California event. That same year, Carpenter partnered with DoSomething's Love Letters Challenge, aimed to combat isolation for senior citizens. Carpenter has been an avid supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and in 2018, she participated in writing a love letter to the community for Billboard. She noted that "When [fans] come to my shows with pride flags, screaming the lyrics at the top of [their] lungs, I hope [they] feel an overwhelming rush of love and safety". In April 2020, Carpenter appeared in a charity version of "If the World Was Ending", which supported Doctors Without Borders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discography
Eyes Wide Open (2015)
Evolution (2016)
Singular: Act I (2018)
Singular: Act II (2019)
Emails I Can't Send (2022)
Concert tours
Headlining
Evolution Tour (2016–2017)
The De-Tour (2017)
Singular Tour (2019)
Emails I Can't Send Tour (2022–2023)
Opening act
Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman Tour (2017)
The Vamps – Middle of the Night Tour (2017)
Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour (2023–2024)
Filmography
Stage
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1999 births
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
People from Quakertown, Pennsylvania
American child actresses
American child singers
American film actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
Hollywood Records artists
Island Records artists
Living people
Music YouTubers
Singers from Pennsylvania
American contemporary R&B singers
Electropop musicians
Dance-pop musicians
American women pop singers