If there’s one name that’s been impossible to ignore in 2025, it’s Sabrina Carpenter. The pop star’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric, turning heads across the music industry and beyond. From topping charts and snatching up Grammy Awards to redefining how artists connect with fans in the digital age, Carpenter’s year has been a case study in how to seize momentum and never let go. And as the final days of 2025 ticked by, her influence only grew—thanks to a clever blend of music releases, viral videos, and a holiday surprise that had fans buzzing through New Year’s Eve.
Let’s rewind to the summer, when Carpenter’s album Man’s Best Friend dropped on August 29, 2025. According to PEOPLE, the record didn’t just arrive with fanfare—it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, instantly staking its claim as one of the most significant pop albums of the decade. With tracks like “Manchild,” “Go Go Juice,” and “House Tour,” the album showcased Carpenter’s knack for witty songwriting and visual storytelling, a combination that critics and fans alike have celebrated. The consensus? Man’s Best Friend is a pop masterpiece with staying power.
But Carpenter didn’t stop at a chart-topping album. Her single “Manchild” soared to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart as of September 6, 2025, as reported by Billboard. And she wasn’t content with just one hit: “Tears,” another standout from the album, was still riding high on the Pop Airplay chart at No. 17 during the week of December 27, 2025, having previously peaked at No. 6. Meanwhile, her latest single, “When Did You Get Hot?,” made its debut on the same chart at No. 40 that very week—a testament to her ability to keep multiple songs in heavy rotation at once.
This simultaneous chart presence isn’t just a radio fluke. It’s the kind of calculated overlap that record labels dream of, keeping an artist’s name in constant circulation while fans “graduate” from one favorite to the next. And it’s not just happening in the United States. According to the Official Charts Company, Carpenter had multiple tracks—including “Tears” and “When Did You Get Hot?”—appearing on the Official UK Singles Chart Top 100 as of October 10, 2025. That kind of international momentum is what transforms a hitmaker into a pop culture fixture.
But perhaps the most telling sign of Carpenter’s dominance came during the holiday season. On December 24, 2025, she surprised fans with a bonus track, “Such a Funny Way,” released to streaming as a Christmas Eve treat. In her Instagram announcement, Carpenter described the song as a “cathartic christmas crashout song,” framing it as a heartfelt gift to her listeners. The track wasn’t entirely new—it had been available as a digital download since September—but its arrival on streaming platforms, paired with a vintage-style lyric video, reignited excitement and kept the album’s momentum alive well into the new year. As PEOPLE noted, this staggered release strategy is becoming increasingly common, helping artists sustain interest over months instead of days.
And Carpenter’s mastery of modern pop stardom isn’t limited to music. Her visual output is just as strategic, with lyric videos and social-first content designed for viral discovery and algorithmic boost. The “Such a Funny Way” lyric video, styled with a nod to old Hollywood, was tailor-made for fans to clip, share, and repost across platforms. It’s all part of a broader approach where promotion and content are one and the same—each release is both an event and a conversation starter.
Of course, 2025 wasn’t just about streaming numbers and chart positions. Carpenter’s industry accolades piled up as well. She walked away from the 2025 Grammy Awards with two trophies and has already racked up six nominations for the 2026 ceremony. Variety named her Hitmaker of the Year, a nod to her uncanny ability to craft songs that dominate radio and playlists alike. And she made three appearances on Saturday Night Live—including one episode where she pulled double duty as both host and musical guest—reminding audiences of her comedic chops and acting roots.
Yet, as Billboard and PEOPLE both point out, Carpenter’s success is emblematic of a larger shift in how celebrities and artists engage with their audience. The final week of 2025 saw another pop culture titan, Kim Kardashian, leveraging holiday attention with her own brand of event-driven content. Kardashian’s “Kimsmas Live!”—a 45-minute shoppable TikTok livestream produced by OBB Media—drew around 30,000 viewers at its peak and was built like a variety show, blending product demos, holiday tips, and surprise guests. According to Marketing Dive, the event was more than just a sales pitch; it was a fully produced entertainment experience, signaling that live shopping is poised to become a major force in U.S. commerce.
Interestingly, there’s a behind-the-scenes connection: OBB Media, the production company behind Kardashian’s livestream, also produced Carpenter’s Netflix holiday special “A Nonsense Christmas.” As reported by Inc., this overlap highlights how music-era storytelling and commerce-era storytelling are converging. Both Carpenter and Kardashian are harnessing the same playbook: high-quality video, shareable moments, event-style timing, and an acute sense of what will get people talking online.
Why does this matter? According to Billboard and Marketing Dive, the lines between promotion and content have all but disappeared. For artists like Carpenter, the goal is to maintain simultaneous touchpoints—radio, streaming, video—so that the campaign never truly ends. For celebrity entrepreneurs like Kardashian, the win is turning holiday attention into a commerce-native event, meeting audiences where they already spend their time. With U.S. social commerce sales projected to top $100 billion in 2026, as cited by Marketing Dive, the stakes have never been higher.
As 2025 draws to a close, one thing is clear: Sabrina Carpenter isn’t just having a moment—she’s rewriting the rules of what it means to be a pop star in the digital age. Her ability to command attention across music, video, and social media, all while racking up industry accolades, sets a new standard for the next generation of artists. And if this year is any indication, she’s only just getting started.
