Two generations of pop culture collided in early February when hitmaker Sabrina Carpenter made a special guest appearance on The Muppet Show’s 2026 TV special, first aired on Disney+ and ABC.
The 26-year-old singer collabed with Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, revamping the classic pop duet “Islands in the Stream,” originally sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Music Man readers can watch the magic unfold in the video below – this viral performance has already amassed more than 260,000 views across its various YouTube uploads!
Sabrina was the ultimate match for this Muppets duet. Famed for her comedic stage antics, mid-song skits, and innate theatricality, Sabrina taps straight into her inner theatre kid for this surrealist performance, as she sings bright-eyed with the childhood icon in a canoe, placed in a lush forest setting.
As Sabrina serenades Kermit with her country-styled vocals, Miss Piggy soon steals the show, desperately paddling her own rubber-ring boat towards the singers in a hilarious moment. Before long, she climbs onto Kermit and Sabrina’s canoe, tipping Kermit from his place so she can duet with Sabrina herself!
Fans can’t get over how perfectly Sabrina pulled off this performance, with viewers pointing out the vivid similarities between Sabrina’s vocals and Dolly Parton’s original take. As one top commenter on this YouTube clip wrote, “Someone is auditioning for the inevitable Dolly Parton biopic,” another noted, “I’ve been saying for at least 3 years that Sabrina is like Dolly Parton meets Olivia Newton John. And this number confirmed it.”
Alongside her “Islands in the Stream” duet, Sabrina Carpenter kicked off the Muppets special with an absurd performance of her US and UK #1 single, “Manchild,” a song re-recorded especially for the show. Check it out in our second video above!
And she only earned more love from fans both new and old. One viewer even noticed, “Sabrina is a perfect fit for this. She clearly is fond of the Hollywood style of old, all the while being a modern superstar with a cheeky and tongue-in-cheek vibe not unlike that of the Muppets themselves. It’s the perfect bridge between past and present.”
Sabrina Carpenter wasn’t the only celebrity guest to grace The Muppets’ brand new TV special. Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph (of SNL and “Bridesmaids” fame) joined the show, alongside actor and comedian Seth Rogen (who you may recall for his voice work in “Paul,” “Kung Fu Panda,” and “Horton Hears A Who”).