Sabrina Carpenter Channels Axl Rose, Nails Guns N’ Roses Cover Onstage

From Disney roots to dominating the charts, Sabrina Carpenter’s rise has been meteoric — but her early performances reveal a surprising nod to hard rock.

With over 65 million monthly listeners on Spotify and a string of hit singles like “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter is undeniably one of the defining pop voices of her generation. Her journey began on the Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, but she’s since evolved into a full-fledged global pop phenomenon, touring with Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour and lighting up stages at Coachella and Lollapalooza.

Yet beneath the glittering pop exterior lies a lesser-known chapter of Carpenter’s musical story — one with deep roots in classic rock.

Axl Rose-Inspired Throwback Performance Resurfaces

A resurfaced video from 2010 has fans buzzing: a young Sabrina Carpenter, then just 10 or 11, performing Guns N’ Roses’ iconic “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — dressed in full Axl Rose fashion, complete with a bandana and backed by GN’R visuals.

Uploaded by the Sabrina Carpenter UK YouTube channel, the video has been making the rounds online, surprising fans who mostly know Carpenter for her polished pop catalog. This isn’t the first time her rock leanings have gone viral either — a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” gained traction in July after Osbourne’s death, showcasing her early versatility and surprising vocal grit.

Raised on Rock: Queen, Rush, and The Beatles

While Carpenter’s current sound leans toward sleek pop and R&B influences, her musical upbringing paints a different picture. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, she revealed she grew up listening to classic rock — naming Queen, The Beatles, and progressive rock icons Rush as major staples in her household.

“‘The Trees’ is the longest song I’ve ever heard,” she said of the Rush track. “I heard it my whole childhood.”

In a separate Teen Vogue interview from 2018, she cited The Beatles’ quirky track “Rocky Raccoon” as the song that inspired her to write music in the first place. “People probably think, ‘Oh, The Beatles were high when they wrote this’ — and they were,” she joked, “but there’s a story behind it. They did that with so many of their songs. It made me want to be a songwriter.”

Whether she returns to her rock influences in future releases remains to be seen. But for fans digging into the archives, it’s clear: behind the pop polish, Sabrina Carpenter has always had a little rock ‘n’ roll in her veins.