Sabrina Carpenter turned 26 —celebrating the pop star's rise revisiting her viral hits, bold style, and charm

Sabrina Carpenter turned 26 today!!! And here is the rise of the starlet's career.

Birthday cheers are in order as Sabrina Carpenter just turned 26, and the singer has much to show for her career at such a young age, from being a child star to a pop sensation that could potentially go down in music history. Her story is definitely far from being an overnight sensation as the singer is the epitome of artistic growth, experimentation and evolution. Along with growing up, she also grew into her career by changing and trying out new things to find what works for her.

The singer is now ruling the charts, but didn't really gain prominent momentum until the cultural phenomenon of Espresso happened last year, when she really took off. The road to success might not have been smooth for the young diva, but by honing her skills and developing her image as a pop diva, she has ensured her place in the industry for hopefully years to come. Here is a rundown of her career growth and career bests.

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Her journey from being a Disney star

The Pennsylvania native got her musical start by posting clips of her singing covers on YouTube. This interest led to her being a contestant on The Next Miley Cyrus project in 2009. Since then, she has performed a few cameo roles, including an episode of Austin and Ally, in which she played a singing show contestant. The singer got her big break in 2014 when she was given the co-main role of Maya Hart in Disney's spinoff of Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, alongside Rowan Blanchard. Her other Disney roles included Adventures in Babysitting and voice acting in the animated series Sofia the First.

Sabrina since then has done a few feature film roles including Netflix's Tall Girl 1&2, Clouds, Work It, The Hate U Give and more.

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Sabrina's musical career

Carpenter's music career had frankly quite a bleak start. With a few features and singles here and there during her Disney career, the starlet didn't get her major chance until 2015 when she released her album Eyes Wide Open with a boost from her pre-released single Can't Blame a Girl for Trying. However, the album didn't make as much of an impact as expected.

Sabrina released Smoke & Fire in 2016, a more edgy song as compared to her youthful, girly and optimistic album. But the singer didn't get major eyes on her until Evolution came out in 2016. Some may consider the album underrated however, the song Thumb from the 10-track album is making waves even today.

This period of her career led to her first tour, which snowballed into featured collaborations with Alan Walker, Jonas Blue, Zara Larsson and more. Meanwhile, in 2018, Singular I came out, followed by Singular II. By this time, Sabrina Carpenter was 19-20, so her music shifted from her young teenage life and struggles to a more mature tone and acted as a gateway to her bold and sensuous tone that we can see today.

During the Pandemic, the Alien singer released Skin and Skinny Dipping at quite a problematic time in her life. The singles came out when she was at the centre of the Joshua Bassett, Olivia Rodrigo drama. The songs, especially Skin, detail the singer's struggles during this time while she suggestsively talks about the situation through the lyrics.

By 2022 and 2023, emails i can't send and it's repackaged version emails i can't send fwd: came out, that's when the media started taking her seriously as a Pop star in the making, with chart toppings songs like Nonsense, Fast Times, because i liked a boy, Feather and more.

Sabrina Carpenter's career till now was an outline of the fact that she had quite the talent however, her eventual success was no overnight sensation or luck by chance.

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Sabrina's career peaks

It wasn't until last year that Miss 'Brina had a major breakthrough. In 2024, her best album till date, Short n' Sweet, came out. The new album came with a new look that ingrained her in people's minds and she became the ultimate Pop Girlie of Gen Z. It truly showcased a new era for her and debuted her iconic bombshell blond waves.

The album was definitely a fan favourite and a chart favourite as her breakthrough song Espresso has now amassed more than 2 billion streams, followed by Please Please Please featuring her then boyfriend Barry Keoghan. Besides endless streams and stunning visuals, she also gave us two catchphrase-like lyrics:

“I’m working laaaate / ‘Cuz I’m a singerrrrr” and "That's that me espresso" both from Espresso.

Here is a rundown of her top songs according to Spotify,

1. Espresso
2. Please Please Please
3. Nonsense
4. Taste
5. Feather
6. On My Way
7. Bed Chem
8. Juno
9. because i liked a boy
10. Looking at Me

In December, Sabrina Carpenter also had her very own Netflix Christmas-themed feature, which felt like a mix of her fun SNL-themed personality and her cheeky concerts. The feature was also a star-studded event with singers like Tyla, Chappell Roan, and even the iconic Shania Twain. Sabrina Carpenter also did her first-ever campaign with Versace, which seems to be a continuing relationship with the brand.

If that wasn't enough, Sabrina Carpenter has been on her Short n' Sweet Tour since September 2024, with her tour leading to Europe this year after a break. This wasn't her first time leading such a huge stage as the pop idol was also an opening guest on History's biggest world tour, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, in 2023.

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Sabrina Carpenter's 2025 Highlights

In 2025, Sabrina Carpenter proved that her 2024 streak wasn't it as the singer had quite a thriving year, and it's not even over yet. The year started with 6 Grammy nominations, her first ever out of which she won Best Pop Solo Performance as well as Best Pop Vocal Album.

Carpenter graced her first-ever Vogue cover, with a likeness to Marilyn Monroe in a boudoir-style shoot for their March issue.

Speaking of interesting and career-defining collaborations, the starlet released a new version of her song Please Please Please featuring the legendary country singer Dolly Parton, along with the deluxe version of her album Short n' Sweet. In an episode of SNL, she also performed with Paul Simon, who makes up half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel.

A MET gala veteran, Sabrina Carpenter was just spotted at her third gala this year wearing custom Louis Vuitton by Pharrell Williams.

We know for sure, this is nowhere close to what Sabrina Carpenter has to offer us, but a year older, surely, has made her a year more talented, giving us gag-worthy moments and pop hits that don't miss. Can't wait to see what other incredible things she has lined up for her future.