When Sabrina Carpenter was 9 years old, she posted her first video to YouTube: a cover of Taylor Swift's "Picture To Burn." Fifteen years later, Carpenter isn't just a pop force to be reckoned with in her own right — she's sharing the stage with Swift.

While Carpenter certainly hasn't been a stranger to the spotlight before this year — she launched her singing career in 2014, the same year she gained recognition for her leading role in Disney Channel's "Girl Meets World" — her Eras Tour slot is indicative of the monster year she's had. Since her fifth studio album, emails i can't send, arrived in July 2022, Carpenter has continued to reach new career heights, from garnering billions of streams, to being named Variety's Rising Star of 2023, to headlining her biggest sold-out tour yet.

"In such a weird way, I guess I've tried to do my best and be enjoying what I'm doing without being too aware of what's going on," Carpenter admits to GRAMMY.com. "The love of what I do is in the actual making of things, so I've been making so much music and writing so much over the last year. Seeing this cool, organic reaction to it is great. But in the moment, it's hard to grasp it."

In between the Argentina and Brazil Eras Tour stops in November, Carpenter topped off her banner year with another bucket list item: a Christmas project. The six-track EP fruitcake nods to one of her biggest hits to date, "Nonsense," with a revamped version aptly dubbed "A Nonsense Christmas." 

Shortly after wrapping her 2023 Eras Tour run, Carpenter took GRAMMY.com on a rollicking journey through her biggest milestones of the past 12 months.

Opening For Taylor Swift On The Eras Tour

When I first found out, it was through a text and there were a lot of emojis and exclamation points. That was really how it happened; it wasn't through managers or anything. When Taylor texted me and asked if I wanted to come on tour with her, I threw my phone across the room. 

It's a really surreal thing. I covered one of her songs when I was 9 years old and definitely, throughout my life, she was an artist and a songwriter and businesswoman who I've always admired. So to call her a friend and be a part of something as iconic as this tour, I still can't process it. 

I'm still on the tour into next year and have been learning as much as I can along the way. I actually feel bad about how many shows I've been to because so many people want to see this show, so I feel lucky and privileged to have seen it as many times as I have! 

Creating Her Latest Billboard Hot 100 Hit, "Feather"

I was actually on the phone with my producer, John Ryan, and we were laughing about it because honestly, when we made it, we were just having fun. We wanted to make this song about all the s—ty events happening in my life, because it's so much more fun to turn it into a positive than to sit in the sadness. 

When we wrote it, it was me, John and one of my closest friends, the songwriter Amy Allen. We were just literally dancing around when John was playing a chord progression and a cool, feathery thing on the piano. We wrote it in two hours and the fact that it fit so perfectly on the deluxe [version of emails i can't send] was a very kismet situation.

Getting Honored With Variety's Rising Star Of 2023

Just to be recognized by them was also surreal, because then I'm in a room with a bunch of people whose music I listen to, songs I study, and producers I love. I was just sitting there talking to them — and it's not, like, imposter syndrome, because it did feel like such an honor. It's cool to be able to do the thing I love the most, and when those things happen it's just icing on the cake. I'm very grateful for them. 

Solidifying Her Status As A Songwriter

I wrote my first song when I was 10 years old and it was very bad. But it was always something that I loved doing. 

When I got a little older and to a place where I got people's opinions, I was always made to feel like it wasn't my place; like I should just listen to them, be sent songs and be happy with them. But something really tricky for me is that I would actually have a real weird internal reaction singing lyrics that didn't feel honest to me, or didn't feel something I would say. I just always had a specific point of view — and I'm a Tarus, so I'm a little stubborn. 

But over time, writing became a necessity for me; if I didn't write a song, I wouldn't be able to make it through these situations in life. I'm very lucky that I now get to do it all the time, but also that the people I work with who I love so much all believe in me so much. 

Writing Original Christmas Music For Her New EP, fruitcake

It's been a dream of mine for a long time to make a Christmas EP. At first, the dream was to make a naughty EP and have all the songs be sexual and focus on a more risqué side of Christmas. Growing up, I always listened to naughty ones like "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Santa Baby." But as I wrote the first couple songs, I had way more ideas and just wrote normal songs with Christmas lyrics, and it all became a very special project for me. It's always exciting to put new energy and life into classics and the traditions, so there's a lot of new and there's a lot of old. 

I got so lucky with the lives "Nonsense" has taken on, because I don't think I could have done that with just any song of mine. The holidays fit so perfectly with what the song is about. 

At first I thought it'd be fun to make a short form version of it, so I made a music video at home with my sister and a friend in my house and put on a Santa outfit. It was well-received by my fans who I love very much, and when they want something they harass me. So they harassed me to write a full version, and that's how that happened.

Meeting Her Idols

I met Paul McCartney back in March. It was at a party, which is not the environment you want to meet your biggest icon in. But he was so present, sweet and gracious with me. You know the kind of eye contact that someone makes with you and you're like, "You're a real person, I'm just not sure I believe it." 

I've been so inspired by him my entire life, and I'm not sure a lot of people know that about me. I do think that sometimes when you're writing pop music, or whatever genre it is, I pull from so many different genres and Paul has always been my No. 1. As we were talking, I definitely did start crying a little bit, which is not something I do often. I'll remember it forever and I hope I can see him again. 

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