It’s a never-ending summer with Zara Larsson’s rise to the top. The pop artist from Stockholm, Sweden has recently rebranded herself and become a top it girl of 2026. Larsson was born Dec. 16, 1997, and she began her journey as a singer very young. In 2008, she performed her own rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion at the Swedish talent show Talang and won. After winning the show she had about a four-year gap before finding a label to sign her.
Leading up to her getting signed she would perform everywhere, high schools, colleges, an Ikea parking lot with five people in the crowd, and the mall. Anywhere there was a stage or a chance to perform, she was there. From the ages of 8 to 15 Larsson attended the Royal Swedish School of Ballet in her hometown. Although ballet was never her main focus, she expressed how she loved the school’s artistic expression and intense atmosphere. She wanted to be able to not only sing but dance as well.
In an interview with Will Heffenan she says “My biggest idol is Beyonce and she puts on a SHOW with dancing which is a big part of her show as singing is, but when they’re both combined it’s unmatched and that is the type of artist I want to be.” Since Larsson was a kid, becoming a star was always the dream. She knew she was destined for greatness and had something special that would take her far in life.
Her career started as early as 2012 when she signed with TEN Music Group, releasing her debut EP Introducing in 2013, which featured her 6-time platinum hit “Uncover.” Once she had signed it was nonstop. She was always in the studio recording and working on new music with her team.
She said in an interview with Harriet Gibson that her mom was always with her everywhere she went, from when she was signed at 14 to the age of 20. She said, “I’m really thankful, because this industry is definitely tough without someone advocating for you – someone who truly cares about you and wants to protect you. If I’d just had a representative from a label looking after me I think I could have ended up in some weird situations.”
Larsson has always been creative, intuitive and artistic, but she wasn’t always the confident artist she is today. Reflecting on her teenage years she once said, “As a teenager, I was a bit wild. I was not very academic, but I was loud, I loved to debate and had very strong opinions.” In a more recent interview on the Zach Slang Show she discusses her songwriting process and how much she has grown by age 28.
Looking back on the beginning of her career, particularly when she released “Never Forget You” with MNEK, she admitted, “I was so nervous, and at that moment in time, I have to say even though we have an equal split, I didn’t do an equal amount of work on it.” She explains that, at the time, she was young and hesitant to fully express her ideas, especially when surrounded by such talented collaborators like MNEK, who she deeply admired. Initially stepping into the studio as just a performer, Larsson has since evolved into an artist who is now confident in not only her voice but her creative vision as well.
Following her international success with “Never forget you,” which charted in the Billboard Hot 100, she dropped her debut album So Good, in 2017 which included hits like “Lush Life” and “Ain’t my fault.” This was her first tour and it lasted from 2017 to 2018. She then released three more albums after that which were also followed with a tour. However she wasn’t gaining a lot of traction. “So Good” didn’t immediately make her a superstardom. It wasn’t until the past couple of years that she rebranded herself and has now been grammy nominated and has sold out shows on her first ever world tour.
This rebrand started back in 2024, when a meme of a dolphin at sunset surfaced featuring “Symphony” by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson. The meme included funny and relatable sayings like “What is my life,” “I’m going insane” and just about anything people could imagine. Larsson thought the meme was hilarious, and decided to incorporate it into her next album, Midnight Sun by writing music with lyrics like “Summer isn’t over yet” and “Show my tan lines, low-rise, rooftop down / It’s golden hour all the time.”
Her hit song on the album “Midnight Sun” is where these lyrics came from, and the song has so much imagery and love that it makes you want to dance. The song makes you want to dance so much that people have been coming up with choreography on TikTok to her hits “Lush Life,” “Midnight Sun” and “Stateside.”
She fully embraced this aesthetic shift by revamping her wardrobe with bright, colorful pieces, flower clips, swimsuit cover-ups and bold, bedazzled eye looks. This vibrant carefree energy didn’t just live online, it carried directly into her live performances. She began showcasing this rebrand while opening for the hit singer Tate McRae on her Miss Possessive tour in 2025. Larsson used the tour as an opportunity to present herself as a high energy performer rather than just a pop singer, building a new audience while gaining traction on social media.
I attended Tate’s show in Cleveland with my cousin, and we got to see Larsson open and she was amazing. We were instantly transported back to 2017, reminiscing about songs like “Lush Life” that we used to play in the car. Her voice was angelic yet powerful and her mic was on. Her dancing was so entertaining to watch, followed by her insane breath support; it was incredible. After that show, I started listening to her again, so her strategy definitely worked.
Larsson has been working toward this level of success for a long time, and it really shows in how she’s continued to grow, not just as an artist, but as a person too. This is the first album Larsson has written entirely herself and also the first album that has got her a grammy nomination.
Back in February she was nominated for best dance pop recording on her track “Midnight Sun” and had her Grammy debut performance, where she did a ballad of “Midnight Sun” with a full orchestra. She has sold out her entire North American and Australian tour and is supposedly adding more dates.
She announced she will be releasing a deluxe album in May of 2026 and is working on more music. You can see the light in her eyes when she talks about doing what she loves and she is excited to share this piece of herself with the world. A highlight so far from the tour has been when she brings one audience member up to spray paint a t-shirt for them and perform the famous “Lush Life” dance on stage. She has done this at every show and it always brings a smile to my face when I see it. Something I found really comical is that when she was doing her interview with Harriet Gibson she said, “I made the dress myself. I was singing Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On” in the finale, and I wanted to wear something blue and oceanic.” Little Larsson was foreshadowing her big break now at age 28.
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