2025 has been the year that has changed my life. It’s also been the year that Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande released their deluxe versions of Short n’ Sweet and eternal sunshine, respectively. When they announced their deluxe albums, I started to reflect on everything that has been going on in my life and I realized for just how long their music has accompanied me. They’ve been with me throughout every stage of my life; from my childhood to my twenties, their music has always been a constant.
The first time I heard of Ariana Grande was when I read her name in the opening credits of Victorious; I never missed an episode of it growing up. I remember that every Saturday you would find me sitting in front of the TV, waiting to see what new adventure the Hollywood Arts students were going to get into and what song they were going to perform next. I still stand by the fact that Victorious has one of the best soundtracks ever. Back then, Ariana hadn’t released any music and was mostly recognized for being Cat Valentine. I had no idea the impact that her songs would have on me in the future.
The same thing happened with Sabrina Carpenter. The first time I learned of her was when she guest starred on the Disney Channel show Austin and Ally. Not long after that, she went on to play one of my favorite fictional characters ever in Girl Meets World, Maya Hart. While Sabrina was running around the middle school halls trying to figure out life, so was I. By this point, Ariana had already released her first studio album, Yours Truly, and was gearing up to release her second album, My Everything. I remember looking up her songs on Youtube, because I didn’t know how music streaming platforms worked yet, and replaying the lyric videos over and over again to memorize every song on the album. When I think about these moments, they make me extremely nostalgic because I’m reminded of my childhood and a time in my life where everything was simple.
By the time I was nearing the end of middle school, Sabrina had released two albums and Ariana had released her third album. Sabrina’s Evolution album became the soundtrack for eighth grade me. When I think back to that time, I just remember being in my room and staying up late, listening to the ten songs that the album contained until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. Dangerous Woman was my favorite Ariana album for a long time; that is, until thank u, next came along.
The thank u, next album came out when I was in tenth grade and I still remember how big that announcement was since sweetener had come out just a few months earlier. So, the day the album came out, I listened to it on my way to school and I thought it was the greatest body of music I’d ever heard in my life. Every day I’m grateful that she released thank u, next when she did, because that became the album that I didn’t know I was going to need in a few months. This album was released in February of 2019 and in May of that very same year I understood the feelings of grief and loss that she discussed in the album by experiencing them firsthand. She put into words the things that I couldn’t yet and I’ll forever be grateful for that. During that same time, Sabrina released her two-part album Singular. So, while Ariana put my feelings into words, Sabrina’s songs made me forget for a little while about the feelings I was trying to escape.
Then came the lockdown years and all the feelings that I hadn’t dealt with in 2019 came back ten times worse. Ariana seems to have a talent for releasing the albums I need at the exact moments I need them, which is exactly what she did when she released positions. It was an album that helped me escape into a happier world and put a smile on my face whenever I played it. When I started college, Sabrina released emails i can’t send and created a body of work that accompanied me through the halls as I tried to navigate this new chapter in my life.
Finally, we’ve made it to 2024; one of the best years, in terms of music, and the year I decided that I wasn’t going to keep repeating the same habits of the last five. Ariana started it off with eternal sunshine, my current favorite album of hers and the album that kept me company while I worked on myself and learned to move on from the past. Then, halfway through the year, Sabrina released Short n’ Sweet and joined Ariana on the list of artists that became my 2024 soundtrack. Now, we’re in 2025, and they’ve both released deluxe versions of the albums that got me through a year filled with changes, all for the better.
Sabrina released her deluxe version first, starting off my 2025 with the most perfect rollout. She made me relate to her songs and also had me dancing as I celebrated a new chapter in my life. Then, Ariana released brighter days ahead. I said before that she has a talent for releasing the albums that I need at the moment I need them. While thank u, next was the album I didn’t know I was going to need, eternal sunshine was released at the exact time I needed it, and the deluxe version, brighter days ahead, was released when I’d healed from what I needed to when the standard version came out.
I can confidently say that Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter are my favorite artists, and have been for a while. Their music has seen every stage of my life, from the good to the bad, and each time I listen to them it brings me back to specific moments in my life. Their music has put into words the feelings that at one moment I was too scared to say out loud, got me up and dancing no matter what mood I was in, and has never failed to put a smile on my face during my toughest days. I hope their music, past and future, is still with me for all the big moments left to come.