Sabrina Carpenter’s Wild Performances Have a Surprising Connection to Taylor Swift

Sabrina Carpenter recently opened up about how Taylor Swift played a key role in inspiring her electrifying Short n’ Sweet Tour.

The 25-year-old pop sensation, known for her daring stage presence, took America by storm last year with a string of sultry performances. Now, she’s gearing up to bring the spectacle to Europe next month.

Before headlining her own tour, Carpenter had the opportunity to open for Swift, 35, during the Eras Tour. The experience, she revealed, completely reshaped her approach to performing.

“Her stadiums make my shows look like clubs,” Carpenter told Vogue. “Watching her keep their attention as if she’s playing in their living room, it was like—and I told her this—‘Your tour enabled me to do mine.’”

Carpenter’s tour is infamous for its risqué elements, with the singer confidently embracing her bold persona. Fans have come to expect her onstage antics, which include simulated sex scenes and a cheeky routine during her hit song “Juno.” In the act, she playfully strikes various provocative poses before asking the audience, “Have you ever tried this one?”

“At first, I thought I’d just rotate between a couple of poses,” she admitted. “But I have this relationship with my fans where I know they want more from me. I don’t want to let them down. So sometimes I go: ‘Oh, you know what? F**k it. It’s Thursday. Let me give them a new one.’”

That mindset led Carpenter to dive into extensive research. “I should look up the 500 positions on the internet,” she joked. “Then I realized: I’m in platform boots. There’s one of me. There’s only so much I can do by myself, with a microphone in my hand, and in two and a half seconds.”

Despite the daring nature of her shows, Carpenter insists that everything is in good fun and tailored to each city’s energy. “I’m just trying to have fun at the moment. That’s where most of those ideas come from. It’s really just like: ‘I’m in Chicago. What’s Chicago gonna love?’”

While Swift’s concerts lean toward the family-friendly side, she has incorporated a few sultry moves into her performances. Carpenter, however, has fully leaned into a more provocative approach, carving out her own lane in pop music.

Carpenter previously described opening for Swift as a surreal experience. “I’m not gonna say I peed my pants because that sounds really graphic and maybe not sanitary,” she told Who What Wear. “But it really just caught me off guard. It was very much a childhood dream come true.”

Carpenter’s rise to fame began with acting, starring in Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World from 2014 to 2017. She also co-sang the show’s theme song alongside co-star Rowan Blanchard. Her music career took off with the release of her debut single, “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying,” in 2014, followed by her debut album Eyes Wide Open in 2015.

Since then, Carpenter has released multiple successful albums, including Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I and Singular: Act II (2018-2019), and Emails I Can’t Send (2022). The latter album spawned the viral TikTok hit “Nonsense.”

Her latest album, Short n’ Sweet, released in August 2024, solidified her status as a pop powerhouse, featuring smash hits like “Espresso,” “Taste,” and “Please Please Please.”

Carpenter’s meteoric rise was further cemented when she won her first Grammy award earlier this month—followed by a second win on the same night.

With her sizzling performances and a rapidly growing fanbase, Carpenter continues to make waves in the music industry, proving she’s not just an opening act but a headliner in her own right.