The Transformation Of Sabrina Carpenter From Child Star To 25 Years Old

Sabrina Carpenter exploded onto the pop scene with her summer smash “Espresso” and her “Short ‘N Sweet” album in 2024, but in truth, the pop star had been building her career moment by moment since she was a tween. From making her mark on the Disney Channel to earning an incredible six Grammy nominations in just one year, the singer-actor has worked long and hard to create an epic entertainment career for herself. She’s even taken a turn on Broadway and starred in major motion pictures for Netflix. “I like to keep my eyes and ears open for things that resonate with me because that’s what brings my world to life,” she once told actor Maya Hawke for Interview. “The more I keep creating, the more ideas just come out of the woodwork.” Those ideas have built Carpenter’s career into a high-charting avalanche of music, movies, and mile-high enthusiasm.

Before she became a star, Sabrina Carpenter spent her time emulating her favorite childhood pop stars. Carpenter grew up in the small town of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and spent time on YouTube covering songs by Taylor Swift, Vanessa Carlton, and Christina Aguilera as she honed her own voice. She admitted to having girl crushes on some of her now contemporaries like Swift and Ariana Grande, having even adorned her childhood bedroom walls with their posters.

The entertainer’s family encouraged their daughter’s dreams. Carpenter’s father even built her a custom-made recording studio in their basement when the singer was just 10 years old. “That’s where I really found comfort in a creative space,” she once told Marie Claire.

The “Espresso” songstress was never one to back away from her aspirations. She spent the majority of her childhood pursuing the path of pop stardom, something she says has always been a part of her. “I was that kid who never had a back-up plan, and just knew the one thing that I always wanted to do,” she explained to the Student Pocket Guide.

Before she was a teenager, Sabrina Carpenter was actively working towards her dream of being an entertainer. She entered an online singing contest hosted by Miley Cyrus, where she placed third. She even got to meet her childhood hero during the life-changing experience. “I was kind of starstruck,” she recalled to The Morning Call. While she didn’t end up winning the contest, the then-12-year-old signed her first recording contract with Disney-owned Hollywood Records, home to the likes of Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.

Getting the start she always dreamed of from the likes of her childhood icon was extra special for the young star. Between interacting with Cyrus and practicing her craft in front of a large audience, the starlet eventually gained her first taste of a large global audience. “I remember being six years old and watching the pilot episode of ‘Hannah Montana’ and being like, ‘I want to do that,'” she told In The Know (via Yahoo! Life).

As she started her music career with Hollywood Records, Sabrina Carpenter also found her way into the acting realm on the Disney Channel. At fourteen years old, she was cast on “Girl Meets World,” the spin-off series to the beloved ’90s show “Boy Meets World,” opposite Rowan Blanchard. Similarly to her experience with the Miley Cyrus contest, another one of Carpenter’s childhood favorites made a poetic return. “It was my go-to [show] in the morning … It was a show that I always remembered just loving,” she shared on the “Chicks in The Office” podcast (via J-14).

Starring in her first television series was eye-opening for the star in multiple ways. While the show faced its own controversies, including being accused of promoting anti-communism, Carpenter has publicly shared her appreciation for the show that helped her come into her own. “I think the beauty of the show was that we really were at the age that we were playing and we were coming into ourselves as we were playing characters that were coming into themselves,” she told Teen Vogue.

It wasn’t just Sabrina Carpenter’s acting career that started to take shape during her years on the Disney Channel. Through her record contract with Hollywood Records, the singer started releasing a series of records, including her debut EP, “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying,” in 2014. She had a built-in audience on Radio Disney, where singles like “Smoke and Fire” and “Thumbs” performed well with young audiences. Having time to finesse her songwriting at a young age was something that guided the songstress toward a routine when it came to writing and selecting songs for her albums. “I spend a lot of time with [the songs], and the ones I still want to listen to after six months to a year, that feel like they’re still brand new, resonate with me the most,” she explained to Interview.

However, not all was positive during her time at the House of Mouse. In 2014, Carpenter split with her then-music managers and was later sued by them over what they claimed was a breach of contract and owed commissions. The singer eventually won the case, and she even allegedly wrote the aptly titled “Sue Me” about the experience.

It’s not just music that’s been an anchor of Sabrina Carpenter’s career. While still working with the Disney Channel, she starred in original movies like “Further Adventures in Babysitting” with fellow Disney darling Sofia Carson. She’s also expanded beyond the House of Mouse’s walls with major motion pictures like “The Hate U Give” and the Netflix streamer “Tall Girl.” She filmed the majority of the movies that she participated in concurrently with her music, so she was busy as can be starting around 2018. “I’m that kind of girl that will work until they physically pull me off set or out of the studio,” she admitted to Hero magazine. “I am very passionate and a perfectionistic in many ways.”

Carpenter also starred in the Netflix dance film “Work It” opposite Liza Koshy. In it, she put all of her skills to the test by singing on the soundtrack, heading up hip-hop routines, and serving as the romantic lead opposite Jordan Fisher. The film premiered in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Netflix piece was another cathartic moment for Carpenter, particularly when it came to tapping into a skill she knew when she was younger. “I grew up in Pennsylvania dancing five or six days a week,” she shared with Elle. “So when I got the script, I was like, it’s the best of both worlds.”

In 2020, Sabrina Carpenter brought her music and acting skills together to make her Broadway debut in “Mean Girls.” She starred as Cady Heron, the character made popular in the 2004 film by Lindsay Lohan, opposite recording star Renee Rapp as Regina George. “You only get these opportunities so many times in life,” she gushed to People. “I can’t put it into words; it’s just going to be so thrilling.”

But her star-making turn was cut short after just two performances when the global pandemic shut down theatres and entertainment spaces for months. Carpenter’s run was originally scheduled to end on June 7 of that year, and with many theatres still closed at that time, she never returned to the role. “This was a dream of mine and I’m so grateful that I got to perform in what none of us knew would be the last show,” she lamented on an Instagram story (via Just Jared Jr.).

In 2021, Sabrina Carpenter entered a new era of her music career by signing to Island Records as part of Universal Music Group. By joining a new recording house, the artist was poised to tap into a new side of herself while making music. “The team really understood my vision from the moment we first met,” she said in a statement (via Variety). “They just got me and have been super supportive.”

Her first single with her new label was “Skin,” which became her first song to premiere on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The singer followed up with her 2022 album “Emails I Can’t Send,” which featured the singles “Because I Liked a Boy” and “Nonsense.” The latter became a viral sensation on TikTok, particularly for Carpenter’s altered versions of the outro, making it one of her most recognizable songs. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve made a lot of provocative jokes and … I talk a big talk,” she admitted to Billboard.

It wasn’t just “Nonsense” that made Sabrina Carpenter go viral. The music video for her 2023 hit “Feather” made controversial waves after filming inside a Catholic church, much to the religious authority’s dismay. The priest who gave the star permission to film in his church even lost his job as a result of the uproar. But the tongue-in-cheek singer had a few words to hit back at the naysayers: “Jesus was a Carpenter,” she quipped to Variety.

In 2023, the pop star made her way from viral sensation to a can’t-miss opening act for Taylor Swift on her Eras tour around the globe in the U.S., Australia, and Singapore. This marked yet another full-circle moment for Carpenter, who had idolized Swift as a child. Now that she was older and more seasoned in her career, she took the opportunity to learn from her idol firsthand. “I admire her work ethic and her talent and she’s just so amazing,” she gushed to Billboard.

Is a pop star *really* a pop star without their fair share of spotlighted romances? After allegedly being part of a musical love triangle with Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter moved on to a hot and heavy, on-and-off relationship with “Saltburn” actor Barry Keoghan. The Academy Award-nominated Irish performer was even cast in Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” video, in which both love birds showed off their acting chops. “I, genuinely — like, a not-even-biased opinion — I was like, ‘Who’s the greatest actor that I can find for this music video?’ And he was next to me in a chair,” she told CBS Sunday Morning.

Though the two have a seven-year age gap, it hasn’t stopped the pair from appearing publicly together at major events like the Met Gala in 2024. Like any famous couple, they have faced their fair share of breakup rumors, but they have been known to show up to support each other throughout it all. Keoghan has made several appearances at his beau’s concerts and even gave her a public shoutout when she was nominated for a handful of Grammy Awards in 2024.

In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter became the official “IT” girl when she released her album “Short ‘N Sweet.” Powered by massive singles like “Espresso” and “Taste,” the album immediately shot to No. 1 on Billboard, where all 12 songs on the album appeared on the Hot 100 chart. She even earned her very first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 chart with “Please Please Please.” “The making of [this album] was one of the most special, honest, up and down, stupid and fun experiences of my life,” she shared on Instagram.

The entertainer launched a massive tour in support of the album in the fall of that year, with a European leg planned for 2025. She also earned a whopping six Grammy Award nominations in 2024, including record, song, and album of the year, with her team nabbing 2 more nominations for best engineered album and best remixed recording. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamt about this day my whole life so I am filled with gratitude,” she gushed in a post on Instagram.

Sabrina Carpenter has had several kismet moments meeting and even performing with childhood icons like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, but it was her interactions with Christina Aguilera that seemed the most special to the star. Carpenter appeared alongside her idol in a rendition of Aguilera’s “What A Girl Wants” in a Spotify Anniversaries video celebrating the musician’s debut album. “I was just mesmerized by her confidence and the power of her voice,” she once said of the legendary singer to NME.

Aguilera returned the favor later on, this time by making a surprise appearance on stage at one of Carpenter’s “Short ‘N Sweet” concert dates. The two sang Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” in front of the ecstatic crowd, echoing Carpenter’s own feelings. “Thank you @xtina … for being one of the main reasons I love [and] wanted to make pop music,” she shared on Instagram after the surprise collaboration. “I adore you to no end!”