2024 was a big year for the music industry, with many new stars breaking onto the scene.
Singers including Taylor Swift’s protégé Gracie Abrams and “Espresso” songstress Sabrina Carpenter had wildly successful debuts.
Abrams scored her first No. 1 hit, while Carpenter had multiple hits which were labeled the songs of the summer, not to mention a hugely successful tour.
Here are some of the year’s biggest breakout stars in music.
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Gracie Abrams released her debut album in February 2023, but her star power skyrocketed in 2024 with the release of her second album, “The Secret of Us,” in June.
The effort included many popular songs, including “Close to You,” which was featured on the hit Netflix show “Emily in Paris,” and was later used in the trailer for another hit Netflix show, “Nobody Wants This.” Shortly after the release of the album, Abrams dropped a deluxe edition, which included the song “That’s So True,” her highest performing song to date.
“That’s So True” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., and topped the charts in the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
“It’s nuts,” Abrams told Variety in November about the success of the song. “The concept of even one person anywhere in the world liking the song as much as I do makes my heart crack open and then grow ten sizes. I’m grateful and I’m in disbelief.”
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Abrams was an opening act for Swift on “The Eras Tour,” while also gearing up for her highly anticipated “The Secret of Us Tour.” She received her first Grammy nomination at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where she was nominated for best new artist, as well as a nomination for best pop duo performance for her recording of “Us” with Swift.
In addition, 2024 was the year Abrams attended her first Met Gala, and is sure to be back in years to come.
Sabrina Carpenter got her start as a child actress with a role on the Disney Channel series, “Girl Meets World.” Following the end of the show, she pivoted from acting to singing and slowly began building a following.
While she had already released five studio albums, Carpenter hadn’t reached mainstream success until the release of her hit song “Espresso” in April, just one day before she performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California for the first time.
The tune went on to become the song of the summer, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also was certified platinum in 14 countries and diamond in France, and was Billboard’s No. 1 global song of the summer for 2024. She followed the success of “Espresso” with the release of her next single, “Please Please Please,” which became her first No. 1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 chart.
Carpenter then released her third single, “Taste,” which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 100. At long last, her highly anticipated sixth album, “Short n’ Sweet,” was released in August, and became her best-performing album to date, being certified platinum, reaching No. 1 in the U.S. and eventually getting nominated for album of the year at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
She also received Grammy nominations in the record of the year, song of the year, best new artist, best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album categories. Carpenter recently wrapped up the North American leg of her “Short n’ Sweet Tour” and is gearing up to start the European leg in March.
“I never had the plan B, and it wasn’t even a thought in my mind that it wouldn’t work out,” she told Rolling Stone in August. “I just always knew it was about not if it would happen but when it would happen.”
Carpenter was also featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s 100 Next Most Influential Rising Stars issue, and won an MTV VMA honor for the “Espresso” music video.
Richard Goodall captured the hearts of viewers when he auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” earlier this year.
The former janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana, became an instant celebrity when he surprised everyone, including the judges, with his rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” leading Heidi Klum to hit the Golden Buzzer and send Goodall directly to the live shows.
“I just had an absolutely amazing time with all these people out here and anybody who is even remotely thinking about it, if you’ve got even just a little bit of talent, and you think that you might have something, give it a shot!” Goodall said. “I mean, I’m going to be 55 in October and look at me… Six months ago, I would have thought you were crazy and look at me now. It was just because Ang [his wife] said, ‘Get on that plane and make it happen.’”
He went on to win the whole competition, but not before performing with Journey during the show’s finale, and Goodall has since performed the National Anthem at an Indiana Pacers game in November.
Chappell Roan released her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” in September 2023, and while it was critically well-received, it didn’t start picking up steam among listeners until earlier this year.
Throughout 2024, Roan performed songs off the album at various festivals, including Coachella and Lollapalooza, and was the opening act for Olivia Rodrigo during her “Guts World Tour,” which led to “Midwest Princess” slowly rising up the charts, eventually reaching the top five in the U.S.
Soon after, many of her tunes, such as “Pink Pony Club,” also climbed up the charts. Roan released her latest single, “Good Luck, Babe!” in April, which peaked in the top 10 in the U.S.
She went on to win best new artist honors at the MTV VMAs, and received six Grammy nominations in various categories, including for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, best solo pop performance and best pop vocal performance.
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Shaboozey first began making music a decade ago, releasing his first single, “Jeff Gordon,” in 2014. He has continued issuing music consistently since then, releasing his debut album, “Lady Wrangler,” in October 2018, and his second album, “Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die,” in October 2022.
It wasn’t until 2024, however, that the artist broke through to mainstream audiences, when he was featured on two songs on Beyoncé’s country album, “Cowboy Carter,” including “Spaghettii” and “Sweet / Honey / Buckiin.'”
The musician scored his own hit song, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which was the fourth single from his third album, “Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going.” The tune was an instant hit and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for 19 weeks.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” officially tied the record for the longest a song has stayed at the top of the chart, matching Lil Nas X’s mark of 19 weeks, which he achieved with “Old Town Road.” It has also been at the top of the country chart for 27 weeks and counting.
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“Everyone in their career hopes you can have something like this happen,” Shaboozey told American Songwriter in May. “I’ve had a rocky career. I’ve had points where I was like, ‘Man, am I really meant to do this?’ To have something like this that’s really working in such a real way shows that I’m meant to be here. I just needed to write the right song, and I just needed to just be consistent.”
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was nominated for single of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards, song of the summer at the 2024 MTV VMAs, song of 2024 at the People’s Choice Country Awards and is up for song of the year and best country song at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
In addition to the success of the song, Shaboozey has seen a rise in popularity as well, having won new artist of 2024 honors at the People’s Choice Country Awards, and he was nominated for best new artist at both the CMA Awards and the Grammy Awards. He is also gearing up for the European leg of his headlining tour.
