{"id":435258,"date":"2026-01-26T23:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435258\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:30:10","slug":"no-5-sabrina-carpenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435258\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 5 \u2014 Sabrina Carpenter"},"content":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0this\u00a0year\u2019s\u00a0update\u00a0of our ongoing\u00a0Greatest Pop Star by Year<\/a>\u00a0project,\u00a0Billboard\u00a0will be counting down our editorial staff picks for the 10\u00a0Greatest Pop Stars of 2025<\/a> all the next two weeks. Last week, we revealed our\u00a0Honorable Mentions <\/a>artists for 2025 as well as our Rookie of the Year<\/a> and Comeback of the Year artists<\/a>. Now, we reach No. 5 on our list with a defining pop star of the decade who capitalized on her 2024 momentum with a similarly spectacular sophomore superstar season: Sabrina Carpenter.<\/p>\n

Listen to our Greatest Pop Stars podcast discussion about Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s year going back-to-back here<\/a>, and find the rest of our updating top 10 list with all our corresponding essays and pods here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More from Billboard<\/p>\n

As she\u2019lll tell you herself, Sabrina Carpenter is a \u201cBusy Woman<\/a>\u201d \u2014 and if there was any doubt remaining as to her superstar-level productivity, she squashed it in 2025. After dominating the headlines and charts with songs from her 2024 LP Short n\u2019 Sweet (she was our No. 2 Greatest Pop Star<\/a> of that year) it seemed like she had done everything fans could possibly want. But in 2025, she defied all expectations, nearly matching the dominance of her breakout year across the globe.<\/p>\n

The year started off slowly by Sabrina\u2019s (extremely high) standards. After concluding the U.S. leg of the Short n\u2019 Sweet Tour in November of 2024, Carpenter took some much needed \u201cdown\u201d time. Or so we thought: In reality, she was gearing up for two massive moments: the Grammy Awards and the announcement of Short n\u2019 Sweet (Deluxe). The former came to fruition on Feb. 2, where Carpenter dazzled the audience with a show-stopping mashup of \u201cEspresso\u201d and \u201cPlease Please Please\u201d before taking home two awards for best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album; and the announcement<\/a> of the latter came \u201cas a thank you for giving [this album] 2 Grammy\u2019s\u201d just two days later.<\/p>\n

The sequel was released on Feb. 14, adding another five songs to the SNS universe: four more originals (\u201c15 Minutes,\u201d \u201cCouldn\u2019t Make It Any Harder,\u201d \u201cBusy Woman,\u201d and \u201cBad Reviews\u201d) plus a new version of Hot 100-topping hit \u201cPlease Please Please\u201d featuring the legendary and fellow sassy blonde Dolly Parton. The tracks brimmed with Carpenter\u2019s usual songwriting prowess and sauce, giving her more songs to perform on tour \u2014 and all four brand-new cuts debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, led by \u201cBusy Woman\u201d at No. 27. She capped off the month by expanding her tour with an additional U.S. leg<\/a> and another live broadcast booking: SNL50: The Anniversary Special, where she and Paul Simon performed a duet of \u201cHomeward Bound.\u201d<\/p>\n

March was Europe\u2019s chance to get a \u201cTaste\u201d of SnS. The month kicked off with the Brit Awards, where Carpenter received the global success award and left both the British guard and Millie Bobby Brown hot and bothered with a mashup of \u201cEspresso\u201d and \u201cBed Chem.\u201d Then, from March 3 to April 3, Carpenter toured Europe\u2019s biggest and most iconic venues, including The O2 in London and Accor Arena in Paris, with opener and U.K. native Rachel Chinouriri. As she surprised and delighted fans with performances of her new songs, more \u201cJuno\u201d positions and surprise song covers of legends like ABBA and Madonna.<\/p>\n

\"Sabrina<\/p>\n

Sabrina Carpenter for Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars<\/p>\n

Sabrina stepped offstage in Stockholm and took to other platforms: consoles and Louis Vuitton heels. The superstar (though not a gamer herself<\/a>) became the face of Fortnite\u2019s Season 8 Music Pass, giving fans the chance to soundtrack their gameplay experience with her songs and use her likeness in her signature heart-cutout corset as their player skin. Players embraced the comedy of shooting at each other and dancing together while dressed as pop\u2019s princess \u2014 but was less glowingly received at the Met Gala, where she (semi-controversially) appeared in a pantless look curated by Louis Vuitton<\/a> creative director and fellow musician Pharrell Williams.<\/p>\n

Just when fans thought that the SnS era couldn\u2019t get any sweeter, June came along and set the bar even higher: The Grammy winner headlined Primavera Sound on June 6 and\u00a0\u2014 what felt like only \u201c15 Minutes\u201d later \u2014 started another rollout with the release of \u201cManchild\u201d on June 8: just shy of four months after releasing SnS Deluxe. The twangy, eye-rolling anthem became Carpenter\u2019s second Hot 100 No. 1<\/a> and first-ever No. 1 debut, supported by an \u201880s inspired music video<\/a> that playfully depicted Carpenter hitchhiking through the wild west of hetero dating. Are these men \u201cstupid\/ Or is it slow?\/ Maybe it\u2019s useless,\u201d the pint-sized pop star pondered in the surreal-skewing visual as she barreled down highways on rollerskates, splashed in a pool with a shark and both fired and dodged bullets, all while wearing Daisy Dukes and towering heels.<\/p>\n

As if debuting one of the top 10 songs of the summer<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough, Carpenter followed its release with an official album announcement in June, sharing that Man\u2019s Best Friend would be released<\/a> in two months\u2019 time. Fans were thrilled by the prospect of new material, skeptics wondered if it was happening too quickly, and everyone on the internet had an opinion\u2026 but not about the music. Instead, the conversation evolved into discourse, inspiring thinkpieces from everyone from Facebook moms to the ladies of The View<\/a>. Can a woman be considered a feminist if she releases an album where she\u2019s posing on all fours and pawing at a man? Was the photo empowering? Degrading? Ultimately, Carpenter compromised a little bit, giving fans a safer alternate cover option, but the original artwork already did its job of igniting controversy ahead of the release.<\/p>\n

The conversation turned into pure excitement as MBF arrived in August. Fans were spoiled with 12 tracks of retro-inspired, plushy pop \u2014 and as the rollout suggested, the tracks painted a greater picture of Carpenter\u2019s arduous dating experience, brought to life with production and writing support from acclaimed collaborators Jack Antonoff, John Ryan and Amy Allen. The tracklist followed lead single and opener \u201cManchild\u201d with the second single<\/a> of the era: \u201cTears,\u201d a disco-era throwback with a Rocky Horror-inspired video that showcased the star\u2019s acting chops alongside Academy Award-nominated actor Colman Domingo.<\/p>\n

Despite some initially mixed reactions, the court of public opinion ultimately decided that MBF was a big win \u2014 and the numbers said the same. Carpenter\u2019s seventh studio album debuted at No. 1<\/a> on the Billboard 200 with 366,000 equivalent units earned in its first week. All 12 tracks concurrently landed in the top 40 of the Hot 100 (\u201cTears\u201d being the highest at No. 3). And even if the songs were not as omnipresent as SNS hits like \u201cEspresso,\u201d Carpenter was still seemingly popping up everywhere in the year\u2019s final third to support the album: charming Nardwuar<\/a> at Record Safari in Los Angeles; calling for trans rights onstage at the VMAs<\/a> with a performance of \u201cTears\u201d; performing double duty as host <\/a>and performer<\/a> on SNL; and day drinking with Seth Meyers<\/a>, to name a few.<\/p>\n

And while Carpenter was starring in a generational media blitz, she was preparing to take the stage again for the aforementioned U.S. tour leg and final stretch of the Short n\u2019 Sweet Tour. She powered through 17 dates across 6 cities, all completely sold out, including five consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden in New York and six shows at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles with support from a slate of rising stars who all benefitted from the tour boost: Ravyn Lenae, Amber Mark and now-Grammy-nominated Olivia Dean. More celebrities were arrested to introduce \u201cJuno\u201d and fans were treated to songs from MBF as official set list additions and surprise songs. The by-then-14-month-and-72-show long tour officially wrapped on November 23 \u2013 an experience which, in an Instagram post,<\/a> Carpenter shared was \u201ceverything [she] dreamt of making [since] she was young.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if there is one thing we have learned about Sabrina Carpenter, it\u2019s that \u201cGoodbye\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily mean \u2018goodbye.\u2019 Fans already have a plethora of things to look forward to: the superstar has already been announced as a Coachella headliner<\/a>; a Grammy Awards performer and 6x nominee<\/a>; star of the Disney+ reboot of \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d<\/a>; and co-chair of the Met Gala<\/a>. And, to close out the year, Santa Sabrina signed off with the official release of \u201cSuch a Funny Way,\u201d on December 24th, previously only available as a MBF bonus track, scoring one final Hot 100 hit on the year for her troubles. What more could fans ask for? We don\u2019t know \u2014 but if 2024 and 2025 are any indication of how Carpenter continues to maneuver, we know that her fans will continue to be fed.<\/p>\n

Listen to our Sabrina Carpenter Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 podcast discussion here<\/a>, check back for our No. 4 artist Tuesday, and stay tuned all next week as we roll out the top five of our list \u2014 leading to the announcement of our No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of 2025 on Friday, Jan. 30! <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Best of Billboard<\/p>\n

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