Billboard Explains: Sabrina Carpenter’s Sweet Success on the Charts

It would be an understatement to say that 2024 has been the year of Sabrina Carpenter. The former Disney Channel (Girl Meets World) child star’s sixth studio album, Short N’ Sweet, just gave the singer her first-ever Billboard 200 No. 1 album when it debuted at the top of the tally on the chart dated Sept. 17.

That lofty peak came after pre-release singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” hit, respectively, No. 3 and No. 1 on the the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, with the latter representing Carpenter’s first chart-topping single. How did the 25-year-old born in Quakerton, PA go from posting videos of herself singing songs by Adele and Christina Aguilera as a homeschooled fifth grader to dominating the charts?

The story begins 13 years ago when Carpenter landed the first in a series of small TV roles that eventually landed her a gig in the Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World playing Maya Hart, a role she reprised in the spin-off Boy Meets World. During her run on Girl, Carpenter scored her Billboard chart debut in 2014 on the Kids Digital Song Sales chart with the show’s theme song, “Take On the World,” which she sang alongside co-star Rowan Blanchard.

After signing with Disney’s Hollywood Records, Carpenter released her debut EP, Can’t Blame a Girl For Trying, which spawned the single of the same name, co-written by Meghan Trainor. The singer then made her Billboard 200 chart debut in April 2015 with her first full-length album, Eyes Wide Open, which peaked at No. 43.

Her second album, Evolution, followed in October 2016, peaking at No. 28 on the 200 album chart and spawning her first radio hit, “Thumbs,” which topped out at No. 28 on the Pop Airplay chart. Her third album, November 2018’s Singular: Act I, featured the singles “Almost Love” and “Sue Me,” and was followed by its second part, Singular: Act II, in July 2019.

After leaving Hollywood Records for Island Records in 2021, Carpenter released her first single for her new label home, “Skin,” which landed the star’s first Hot 100 charting song when it debuted at No. 48. Her 2022 follow-up LP, Emails I Can’t Send, became her highest-charting album to date, peaking at No. 23 on the 200 tally and scoring her first No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart with a song she co-wrote, “Feather,” which also peaked at No. 21 on the Hot 100.

All of that was plenty to brag about, but 2024 is the year that Carpenter blew up in a major way. She kicked things off by booking two major gigs: first, opening for Taylor Swift on some South American dates of the pop superstar’s Eras Tour in 2023 and again in early 2024 in Australia and Singapore and then performing a memorable set at the Coachella Festival in April of this year.

But when she unleashed the bubbly “Espresso” on fans in April, the tune she co-wrote blew up and instantly became her signature hit and an inescapable meme on its way to the No. 3 slot on the Hot 100. The song catapulted the singer to a new career peak, which was quickly supplanted by her first Hot 100 No. 1, “Please Please Please,” whose accompanying steamy video co-starred real-life boyfriend actor Barry Keoghan (Saltburn). With the release of her No. 1 Short N’ Sweet album, Carpenter has cemented her spot as a fixture on the Billboard charts.

Watch Billboard Explains: Sabrina Carpenter’s Sweet Success on the charts in the video above.

After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and more.

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