When the rebrand finally clicks: pop stars who changed everything

Rebranding is almost a rite of passage for artists, especially for those starting out in the music industry.

Early on, many try to fit into whatever’s trending or follow the norms until they find a niche—or something that will truly define their career.

But no matter how many times they reinvent themselves, sometimes nothing clicks… until that one moment, one sound, or one aesthetic finally becomes their whole brand.

From Tate McRae to Sabrina Carpenter, here are three singers whose rebrands completely changed the course of their careers.

Tate McRae wasn’t always the athletic, high‑energy performer dominating pop playlists and TikTok trends. Early in her career, McRae gained attention as a dancer and then as a singer with minimalist, emotional pop songs often described as sad girl ballads — tracks like you broke me first that leaned heavily on introspection and vulnerability.

Her second album, Think Later (2023), marked a dramatic shift: she embraced dance‑pop and trap‑pop with confidence, working with producers like Ryan Tedder and leaning into upbeat, performance‑driven tracks such as Greedy and Exes.

This era reshaped her identity from introspective bedroom‑pop singer to a mainstream dance‑pop powerhouse — with choreography, athletic visuals, and harder hooks becoming part of her brand.

Critics and fans alike now talk about McRae in the context of pop girl energy and comparisons to early‑2000s icons, in part because of her performance style and dance‑inspired visuals.

Her latest singles like Sports Car and Just Keep Watching continue that mainstream streak, reminding audiences that her evolution wasn’t just sonic — it was visual, performative, and fully branded.

Sabrina Carpenter’s journey has been a marathon, not a sprint. She started as a Disney Channel personality and teen pop artist with albums like Eyes Wide Open (2015), which leaned into folk‑pop and singer‑songwriter territory.

Her sound began to mature with Evolution in 2016, which pushed her toward dance‑pop and techno influences. But the real shift came after Emails I Can’t Send (2022), an album rooted in personal storytelling and emotional honesty that significantly expanded her fanbase.

Then came Espresso — a bubblegum, funk‑infused electropop hit that became Carpenter’s first top‑five Billboard Hot 100 single and topped charts globally.

That song didn’t just go viral; it reintroduced her as a mainstream pop force with a confident aesthetic that blended retro style with modern sass.

Since then, Carpenter’s visuals — from vintage‑leaning fashion to playful, confident performances — have become inseparable from her brand.

Critics note that Espresso and its follow‑ups helped cement her status as a leading pop voice, blending nostalgia and bold pop energy in a way that feels deliberate and iconic.

Swedish singer Zara Larsson’s rise has been more of a decade-long evolution than an overnight transformation. Early hits like Lush Life and Never Forget You established her as a global pop force, but the way she’s known today owes a surprising amount to a viral moment: the Symphony dolphin meme.

Originally released with Clean Bandit in 2017, Symphony gained a second life on TikTok in 2024, when users paired the chorus with playful dolphin visuals and humorous clips. The meme went viral, bringing Larsson’s music back into the spotlight for a new generation of listeners.

Embracing the trend, Larsson shared her own dolphin-inspired content and leaned into whimsical, oceanic visuals — a move that directly influenced the sun-soaked, playful, and confident aesthetic of her 2025 album Midnight Sun.

This meme-driven resurgence didn’t just revive an old track; it shaped Larsson’s artistic identity, giving her a bridge between her early hits and her current, bold pop persona.

By blending internet culture, performance, and visual storytelling, Larsson turned a viral moment into a defining feature of her brand — the ultimate “summer princess” energy that now defines her stage presence, visuals, and music.