“They’ve raised me on the greatest songs of all time”: Sabrina Carpenter gets her Let’s Groove on and celebrates September a month early as she's joined on stage by Earth, Wind & Fire at Lollapalooza

In another collaboration we didn’t see coming - she brought out Duran Duran last month for a performance of Hungry Like The Wolf in London’s Hyde Park - Sabrina Carpenter invited funk and soul legends Earth, Wind & Fire to the stage during her Lollapalooza set this weekend (3 August) to sing two of their classic hits.

“Does anyone want to dance tonight?” Carpenter asked her audience as she prepared to introduce EW&F. “I had this idea… let’s see how you feel about it,” she continued. “I just thought it would be really, really fun if I could bring out some friends for you guys, and we could just let loose - we could just groove. So I thought, ‘why not bring out my friends from Chicago?’ Give it up for Earth, Wind & Fire.

Sure enough, the band - including long-time members Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson - appeared to the strains of the vocoded intro to Let’s Groove, Earth Wind & Fire’s 1981 hit.

After that number, Carpenter moved on to September, from 1978. They were a month early for that one, admittedly, but we could happily listen to it at any time of the year.

Writing on Instagram after the show, Carpenter suggested that she’s long been an EW&F fan. “Getting to bring out the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire who have raised me on the greatest songs of all time, true soul moving timeless music, that was and will always be one of my favorite memories of my life!” she said.

EW&F’s guest appearance followed Weezer’s cameo during Olivia Rodrigo’s Lollapalooza set on 1 August.

Carpenter’s attention will now turn to the release of Man’s Best Friend, her new album, which is set to land on 29 August. Explaining why she’s releasing a new record just a year after 2024’s still-going-strong Short n’ Sweet, Carpenter recently told fans: “I went back to some of my favourite artists growing up, listening to a lot of Stevie [Wonder], Dolly [Parton], Donna [Summer] etc, and was surprised to find so many of those artists I loved put out a new record every year for a long time.”