November 10, 2023
As the record-breaking Eras Tour continues into its next international leg this week, Taylor Swift will be joined by a fellow Pennsylvania-native pop star.
Starting Thursday, Sabrina Carpenter — a singer and former Disney Channel actress who was born and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs — will perform ahead of Swift's concerts in Argentina, Brazil, Australia and Singapore. Carpenter, 24, previously opened for the Eras Tour in Mexico in August.
Carpenter was born in Quakertown, Bucks County and grew up in East Greenville, Montgomery County, where she was homeschooled. Despite moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment at age 13, she has said that her hometown influenced her taste buds — she told the Burlington County Times that Wawa was what she missed most about the East Coast while living in California — as well as her creative endeavors.
"Every choice you make influences who you are and my upbringing always shows up in my music," Carpenter told Lehigh Valley Live in 2015.
Carpenter signed her first record deal at 14 and released her first EP the same year. She has released five albums since then.
Along with her music career, Carpenter also is an actress whose first major role came over a decade ago in "Law and Order: SVU." She went on to appear in films like "Adventures in Babysitting," "The Hate U Give" and "Tall Girl," but her most well-known role was in the Disney Channel series "Girl Meets World" — a reboot of '90s sitcom "Boy Meets World" — which ran from 2014 to 2017.
In 2021, Carpenter found herself at the center of a pop culture scandal through her rumored love triangle with "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" stars Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo. Fans speculated that Bassett began dating Carpenter after his romance with Rodrigo ended. The gossip mill only grew stronger after Rodrigo's hit single "Drivers License" seemed to allude to the situation, and both Bassett and Carpenter also released suggestive songs of their own.
For her part, Carpenter sang about her experiences as a young woman navigating today's tricky dating pool on last year's album "Emails I Can't Send," which has garnered explosive success with tracks like "Nonsense" and "Feather." She is releasing a holiday EP, "Fruitcake," on Friday, Nov. 17.
While Carpenter's recent success has thrust her onto the Eras Tour stage, her connection with West Reading-native Swift actually runs deep.
Carpenter's Swiftie status can be traced all the way back to 2009 when she covered "Picture to Burn" off Swift's debut album and posted it to YouTube. A clip from the throwback video played ahead of Carpenter's set when she opened for Swift in Mexico.
In 2010, Carpenter posted on X (formerly Twitter) about attending Swift's concert and how it inspired her to dream of having her own tour one day. She pointed out the foreshadowing by re-sharing her post in June when it was announced she'd be opening for the Eras Tour.
Carpenter and Swift have been friends through the years, sending each other gifts and sharing kind words about each other publicly. They've also been spotted hanging out at awards shows, parties and a Kansas City Chiefs game to support Swift's rumored boyfriend Travis Kelce.
In May, Carpenter attended the Eras Tour in Philly as a fan. She was spotted in the VIP tent during one of Swift's shows at Lincoln Financial Field. She also recently covered Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble."
Carpenter is scheduled to be with the Eras Tour through March 9. From there, Swift's tour continues to Europe and Canada with openers Paramore and Gracie Abrams, respectively.
“Watching (Swift) is a masterclass in itself,” Carpenter told Rolling Stone of joining the Eras Tour. “I feel a lot more comfortable that I’m going into a situation with someone that I admire so much.”
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