"Manchild" is a song by American singer Sabrina Carpenter, released on June 5, 2025, through Island Records as the lead single from her seventh studio album, Man's Best Friend (2025). Co-written and co-produced by Carpenter and Jack Antonoff, with additional songwriting by Amy Allen, the track is a blend of country pop, bubblegum pop, pop rock, and synth-pop, featuring country influences and a disco-inspired energy. Lyrically, the song is a pointed critique of an ex-boyfriend, characterized by Carpenter as "stupid, slow, useless, and incompetent."
The song was a commercial success, debuting at number one in the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, while peaking at number two on the Billboard Global 200. It further reached the top ten in markets including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and the top twenty across much of Europe and Southeast Asia. "Manchild" earned four nominations at the 68th Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Music Video.
Release and promotion On June 2, 2025, Carpenter shared a cryptic Instagram post hinting at the release of new music. The singer released a teaser video showing her standing on the side of a road wearing Daisy Dukes, holding out for a truck to drive her home. At the end of the otherwise silent clip, she can be heard saying "oh boy". That same day, billboards appeared across the United States featuring references tied to a new project. The billboards featured various lines from the upcoming song.
Carpenter officially announced the song on June 3 on her social media, accompanied by the caption "this one's about you". She also shared the artwork, a snapshot taken from the trailer video. It depicts the singer hitchhiking on the side of the road, wearing a white button-down shirt, with the song title in yellow font on the right side. Upon announcing the song, it was made available for purchase on a clear transparent 7-inch vinyl, featuring a B-side track titled "Inside of Your Head When You've Just Won an Argument with a Man". To support the release, fans hosted a drive-in theater experience in New York City on June 6, paying homage to the "cinematic" feel of the project's rollout.
Composition Musically, "Manchild" has been described as a country-influenced country pop, bubblegum pop, pop rock, and synth-pop song with "feel-good disco energy." Multiple outlets compared the song to Carpenter's 2024 single "Please Please Please". The song is about a pathetic ex-boyfriend who Carpenter "comically lays into". The song begins with Carpenter laughing and says "Oh, boy", in a sarcastic tone before it transitions to a synth pop drum beat with a country twang. Throughout the song, she hurls "insults over sweet and upbeat melodies" and delivers "withering couplets".
Music video A music video, directed by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia, was filmed in May 2025 in Santa Clarita, California, and released on June 6, 2025. The video, inspired by the fast-paced editing of movie trailers, depicts Carpenter hitchhiking across the American West with a "diverse crop of men", some of whom use unusual modes of transportation, such as a jet ski, a shopping cart attached to a motorcycle, and a motorized recliner chair. She also gets into wacky and dangerous scenarios such as wielding a shotgun, falling off a cliff, and encountering an orca. In one scene, Carpenter is sitting in a bathtub with two pigs and says, "Hey, men," to them. This scene was the subject of several memes.
During an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers on December 8, 2025, Carpenter stated that the video shoot was originally a two-day shoot, but that she requested an additional third day of filming after watching a rough edit of the footage from the first two days and deeming it "not crazy enough yet."
Accolades Year Award Category Result 2025 MTV Video Music Awards Video of the Year Best Pop Video Best Direction Best Editing Best Visual Effects Song of Summer 2026 Grammy AwardsRecord of the Year Song of the Year Best Pop Solo Performance Best Music Video Brit Awards Best International Song American Music AwardsSong of the YearBest Pop Song
Commercial performance In the United States, "Manchild" debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, earning Carpenter her second number-one single, after "Please Please Please", and first number-one debut. The song also debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, ending the record-breaking 12-week reign of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren and becoming Carpenter's fourth number-one single and second number-one debut, after "Taste". In Brazil, the song debuted at number 38 on the Brasil Hot 100. It was less successful in Southeast and Western Europe, debuting at number 87 and after the release of its parent album, it peaked at number 55 in France, becoming Carpenter's second lowest-chart entry after "Taste" in the country, while peaking at number 48 in Spain and number 97 in Italy.
Live performances
Carpenter performed "Manchild" for the first time at the Primavera Sound 2025 festival on June 6, 2025. She also performed the song at BST Hyde Park on July 5 and 6, and at Lollapalooza on August 3. On October 18, 2025, Carpenter performed "Manchild" and "Nobody's Son" on an episode of Saturday Night Live where she served as both host and musical guest , while also performing the song on February 1, 2026 at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, as well as the 2026 revival of The Muppet Show.
Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Sabrina Carpenter – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriting, production, percussion Jack Antonoff – production, songwriting, programming, background vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, drums, electric guitar, percussion, sitar, synthesizer, engineering Amy Allen – songwriting, background vocals, percussion Rachel Antonoff – background vocals, percussion Sean Hutchinson – drums, percussion, engineering Greg Leisz – electric guitar, phin Bobby Hawk – violin Jack Manning – percussion, remixing, secondary engineering Michael Riddleberger – percussion, engineering Oli Jacobs – percussion, engineering Laura Sisk – engineering Jozeph Caldwell – engineering Joey Miller – recording, secondary engineering Kellie McGrew – recording, secondary engineering Serban Ghenea – mixing Bryce Bordone – mixing Ruairi O'Flaherty – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (20252026) Peakposition Austria Airplay (IFPI) 2 Canada AC (Billboard) 7 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard) 1 Canada Hot AC (Billboard) 2 Colombia Anglo Airplay (National-Report) 1 Croatia International Airplay (Top lista) 6 Greece International (IFPI) 5 Hong Kong (Billboard) 23 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 12 Israel (Mako Hitlist) 65 Latin America Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) 2 Latvia Airplay (LaIPA) 6 Latvia Streaming (LaIPA) 15 Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20) 2 Lithuania (AGATA) 33 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit) 13 Luxembourg (Billboard) 17 Malaysia (IFPI) [Select 2025 Week 24] 20 Malaysia International (RIM) 11 Malta Airplay (Radiomonitor) 3 North Macedonia Airplay (Radiomonitor) 2 Panama International () 30 Philippines (IFPI) [Select 2025 Week 25] 7 Philippines (Philippines Hot 100) 5 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100) 47 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 22 Romania Airplay (TopHit) 120 San Marino Airplay (SMRTV Top 50) 8 Serbia Airplay (Radiomonitor) 18 Singapore (RIAS) 7 Slovenia Airplay (Radiomonitor) 7 South Africa Airplay (TOSAC) 1 South Korea (Circle) 114 South Korea Download (Circle) 139 Turkey International Airplay (Radiomonitor Türkiye) 3 United Arab Emirates (IFPI) 13 Venezuela Airplay (Record Report) 39
Monthly charts Chart (2025–2026) Peakposition CIS Airplay (TopHit) 58 Estonia Airplay (TopHit) 5 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit) 11 Panama Streaming (PRODUCE) 152 Paraguay Airplay (SGP) 45
Year-end charts Chart (2025) Position Australia (ARIA) 38 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 72 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 56 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 104 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 30 Canada AC (Billboard) 37 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard) 16 Canada Hot AC (Billboard) 25 Estonia Airplay (TopHit) 52 Germany (GfK) 84 Global 200 (Billboard) 85 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 66 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit) 90 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 58 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 78 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 43 Philippines (Philippines Hot 100) 47 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 83 UK Singles (OCC) 24 US Billboard Hot 100 38 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 32 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard) 16 US Pop Airplay (Billboard) 20
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Label Various June 5, 2025 Island June 6, 2025 7-inch single Italy Radio airplay United States June 10, 2025 Contemporary hit radio
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