This weekend, Sabrina Carpenter will be the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, and she will enter Studio 8H on a high: her current single, “Espresso,” has spent four straight weeks in the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart after logging the best debut of the pop star’s career, getting meme’d in countless ways and setting off dance parties at Coachella. The SNL booking was a no-brainer: Carpenter is one of the hottest names in mainstream music, with the success of “Espresso” crystallizing the enthusiasm around the singer-songwriter’s particular brand of pop.
While plenty of listeners have become fans of Carpenter thanks to “Espresso,” the singer’s journey toward this moment has been years in the making, with multiple albums, record labels, tour dates around the world and singles pre-dating this recent explosion. At 25 years old, Carpenter has a bright future ahead of her as a mainstream mainstay — but she’s also a veteran, with years of experience in the spotlight and multiple full-lengths that allowed her to hone her sound and musical personality. As it stands, her past is a fascinating case study in how a former child star can make the leap to the A-list, thanks in part to the right support system, savvy collaborator choices, industry opportunities and damn good pop music.
So how exactly did Carpenter make her current leap and become an in-demand pop presence? As we enter the summer of “Espresso,” here are the 10 steps that Sabrina Carpenter has taken to become a new-school star.
