Charli, Sabrina and Chappell: the trinity of new pop
Fans of the three pop stars are ready to expect anything. Also – and above all – a three-voice performance, which would go down in history as one of the most iconic pop moments of this decade. You can bet that they won’t disappoint them. After all, the opportunity is tempting: take advantage of the stage of one of the most followed and commented festivals in Europe to claim the power and strength of their triumvirate. Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, the three “Brat girls” who with their rebellious attitude have already begun to shake the foundations of the pop establishment for monthswill be the headliners of
Primavera Sound 2025. From 5 to 7 June they will perform on the stage of the Parc del Forum in Barcelona, which traditionally hosts Primavera, as the main artists of the Spanish festival. It is the second time that three female artists have been entrusted with the role of headliner: in 2019 it was the turn of Miley Cyrus, Rosalía and Janelle Monáe (but there were also Solange and Erykah Badu). “The holy trinity has been unlocked”, wrote Charli XCX on social media to celebrate the organizers’ announcement. “If Primavera Sound has always aimed to be the musical reflection of its time and place, the presence of these three artists at the festival undoubtedly represents an objective achieved. It’s a photograph worth keeping, something to celebrate”, say Primavera.
The brats of new pop
The choice is courageous, but also very interesting. Rebels, non-conformists, provocative and unscrupulousCharli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan – the first is 32 years old, the second is 25, the third is 26 – they brought a boldness to the pop scene that had been missing for many years. If the other pop girls try to appear perfect and impeccable, modest and scholastic (call Taylor Swift), they embody the desire to have fun, to let go, renouncing any inhibitory brake. They have made authenticity and spontaneity the key to their success: “Taylor Swift may have conquered the charts, but Charli has captured the zeigesit, the spirit of her time”, wrote the Guardian, one of the most authoritative and prestigious British newspapers, celebrating the triumph of Charli XCX and her “
Brat summer”, a phenomenon which from music has also conquered fashion, customs and even politics, even influencing the US presidential elections thanks to the endorsement of the democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who joined the “brat girls” party, the naughty girls of which the British pop star is the queen.
The revolution has just begun
And the public, perhaps saturated with plastic records and projects built around a table, stereotyped and glossy, has rewarded them. With their respective albums, “Brat”, “Short N’ Sweet” and “The rise and fall of a Midwest princess” Carli , Platinum records, millions of streams on platforms. A success that is not destined to stop: far from it. The revolution has just begun and promises to change the face of world pop. Their presence as headliners on the Primavera stage – write the festival organizers in the press release with which they revealed the line up – “strengthens their status as new faces of pop on a global level, each with their own characteristics”.
“I miss the times when pop music was really unstable and crazy”
Charli will bring to the stage of the Parc del Forum in Barcelona, where she has already performed this year, the lust that characterizes her “Brat”, of which she has just sent a new version to stores and platforms, filled with duets with – between the others – Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lorde: “I miss the times when pop music was really unstable and crazy. I miss the Paris Hilton days. Everyone is so worried about everything right now, how they’re perceived, whether what they’ve created will offend anyone”, he said talking about his attitude.
Sabrina Carpenter will enchant the Primavera audience with her sensuality. Defined by the New York Times as “the girl who brought fun back to pop music”, in recent weeks she has ended up in the crosshairs of parents’ associations in the US due to the shows of her “Short N’ Sweet Tour” linked to her latest album , driven to the top of the charts by the hits “Please please please” and “Espresso”: too “sexually driven” for the tastes of American public opinion, between stripteases, allusions and so on. “There are still bigots who have their say on how you should dress. To those I reply: ‘Don’t come to my concerts’”, she replied, officially putting her role as Maya Heart, the character she played in the Disney Channel series for teenagers “Girls meet world”, in the attic. Finally, Chappell Roan will tell her story with her hits, that of a girl who in the provincial town where she grew up he went to church three times a week and then discovered another world in Hollywood, made up of performances in strip clubs and relationships with other women: “Roan is the drag queen version of myself, with a little bit of bad taste added. Now she’s not afraid to say really obscene things,” said Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, this is the singer-songwriter’s real name, speaking about her character. It will be fun.
