Sabrina Carpenter has talked about meeting Paul McCartney for the first time, comparing the experience to Stranger Things “but a lot happier”.
On an episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week, Carpenter appeared as a guest to promote A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, the one-off special which arrived on Netflix earlier this month, described as a “holiday variety music special” from the pop star.
Carpenter was asked by Colbert about her apparent love of The Beatles‘ music, to which she replied with her memories of her childhood.
“When I was very, very young, my dad played me ‘Rocky Raccoon’ for the first time, and I was so mesmerized by that song and the songwriting of it that I fell in love with Paul McCartney,” she said.
“I was convinced that was my husband, my future husband. But he was quite old. And I was so young I didn’t understand that he was much older than me … So when I grew up I just fell in love with his songwriting.”
She recalled meeting him with “tears in my eyes”: “He was just so normal and casual and was so charming it just felt like I was entering an alternate universe,” she said. “Like the ‘Upside Down’ vibes. Like Stranger Things, but a lot happier than Stranger Things.” Watch the interview below.
The pop singer praised McCartney’s ability to make “everyone feel seen and heard”, and that the encounter “was such a beautiful experience for me to see that from someone that I admired so much.”
“He’s great,” she said. “I’m obsessed with him.”
A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter saw the singer playing a range of festive songs, both original and classic, while being joined by an array of stars including Chappell Roan, Tyla, Shania Twain, Kali Uchis, Nico Hiragua, Quinta Brunson, Cara Delevingne, Kyle Mooney, Megan Stalter, Sean Astin, Owen Thiele and Jillian Bell.
Twain spoke about her experience filming the special, calling Carpenter someone who “is so funny” and that she “basically spent the entire shoot laughing”.
She is set to bring the ‘Short N’ Sweet’ tour to the UK next year, and the dates include a huge headline slot at BST Hyde Park next summer. Visit here for tickets.
In other Sabrina Carpenter news, her track ‘Bed Chem’ was recently named as one of NME’s 50 best songs of 2024.
Rhian Daly wrote: “Sabrina Carpenter has made owning her sexuality an art – to the point she’s had to deny being “the horniest girl in the world”. ‘Bed Chem’ hasn’t helped matters. Full of cheeky lyrics (“Come right on me, I mean camaraderie”) and winking euphemisms, this is the song that should have been as ubiquitous as ‘Espresso’.”