Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter’s Grammy Moment: Two Friends Now Find Themselves Competing for the ‘Big Four’ Awards
The nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards have amplified this era’s pop renaissance, with many of the top categories — record, song and album of the year and best new artist — being occupied by culture-shifting releases from this year’s main pop females, including Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter.
And in an unprecedented moment, two of the genre’s breakout stars, Roan and Carpenter, are both up for all four categories — and not only are they on the same label (Island Records), they’re friends and big fans of each other’s work. They’ve even played several festivals together, starting with Coachella in April and gaining steam at New York’s Governors Ball in early June, which was a breakthrough moment for both of them.
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At press time, neither had commented on the potentially awkward fact that they’re both vying for the same big awards, but it seems likely that whether one, both or neither wins those prizes, it will all be love.
Roan herself said she wouldn’t have been able to get through such a whirlwind time in her career had it not been for the help of other women — such as Lady Gaga, SZA, Lorde and Charli xcx, among others — but said she shares something unique with Carpenter (outside of also sharing a label, Island Records).
“[Sabrina] invited me into her Coachella trailer when we were there and I got to talk to her for the first time,” Roan told Variety on the red carpet for the ASCAP Pop Awards in May. “And it was just so… I was like, ‘Oh my God, I need to be friends with more pop girls, because I feel crazy sometimes, and having someone going through it at the same time as you can be so grounding. I just love to see the girls win.”
In June, Carpenter not only spoke of her support for Roan at BBC Radio One’s “Live Lounge,” she even performed a cover of her breakthrough hit, “Good Luck, Babe!” The “Espresso” singer also told Rolling Stone that she had Roan’s songs on a “loopty loop,” as she’s been “as obsessed with her as everyone has,” she said. “It’s so weird when you’re hanging out as two young women as opposed to thinking about when she goes onstage and is that person and when I go onstage.”
The two also have been there for each other as their stars have risen at a breakneck pace in recent months. Roan, who has struggled with the level of attention she’s receiving, told Rolling Stone that Carpenter had suggested they meet up and unpack their summers. “We’re both going through something so fucking hard,” she said. “[Carpenter said she] just feels like everything is flying, and she’s just barely hanging on.”
“It was just good to know someone else feels that way,” she concluded.
The rollercoaster will be moving even faster in the run-up to the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, but it’s not hard to imagine that no matter where the cards fall, these two breakout stars will be there for each other.
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