One of Pop’s Hottest Stars Has Been Years in the Making. I Think I Know the Secret to Her Success.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Since Sunday, a video of Swedish pop star Zara Larsson performing at the Belgian music festival Pukkelpop has been going viral—not because it’s controversial, but because of decidedly more delightful reasons. In the clip, the 28-year-old Swede is performing her smash hit “Midnight Sun”—you might recognize the tune from its endless undulating chorus—but winds up bursting into an ongoing fit of giggles when some fans in the audience begin simultaneously lifting each other up into the air, with the airborne fans mimicking the song’s “dolphin” choreography. At first, she’s shocked by the sheer number of fans suddenly being held up in the air, but when she calls for more, the audience fulfills her request tenfold, until the crowd becomes a sea of bodies hilariously holding other bodies aloft. This sets Larsson off into a fit of bubbling laughter, her attempts to go back to singing thwarted by more chortling at her fans. The joy in the video is infectious, which perhaps explains how the clip has gone so viral and earned Larsson praise as a prime example of a pop star. It’s the cherry on top of a great year for the artist, who has finally reached new heights in her career after years in the game. Larsson found success at a young age in Scandinavia in the early 2010s, but has struggled to become a household name in the U.S., even as her earlier singles—”Lush Life,” “Ain’t My Fault,” “Never Forget You,” and her feature on Clean Bandit’s chart-topper ”Symphony”—were massive hits internationally. It was social media that breathed new life into “Lush Life” and “Symphony”—a song that soundtracked a 2024 “hopecore” TikTok trend, wherein people would superimpose text of negative personal confessions over an idyllic backdrop image of a sunny oceanic scene with a dolphin leaping into the air—priming Larsson for a new level of success when she released her fifth studio album, Midnight Sun, in 2025. Advancing the neon aesthetics and bright sounds used in those earlier tracks and online, Midnight Sun cemented Larsson’s popularity stateside and gave her an easily identifiable brand. Just try Googling her name and you’ll see the vibrant look and feel she’s come to be associated with: The screen fills with bubbles as twin dolphins leap across each other in front of an airbrushed pink-and-purple rainbow. Larsson’s ascent has been, in other words, overwhelmingly positive. In an era in which everyone seems to debate the merits of the Tate McRaes and Addison Raes of the current pop landscape, no one seems to be batting an eye at Larsson’s meteoric rise or foaming at the mouth to tear her down like they do with so many other starlets. What’s the secret to Larsson’s enviable position? It’s simple: She went back to the basics. It’s become common for newer pop acts to work like machines as they try to establish themselves, releasing single after single at breakneck speeds. (Just look at Katseye, a group that seems to follow the K-pop industry standard that allows almost no breaks as a unit, even if its members clearly need them.) The conventional wisdom these days is that attention is fickle, so audiences will quickly tire of a song. But Larsson, on the contrary, has taken a canny approach by milking “Midnight Sun” for all it is worth. The single was initially released in the summer of 2025, but the songstress is still performing it to this day, a year later. Larsson even promoted her summer-themed album through the winter, taking the full year to perform its tunes everywhere, at every possible venue and in every conceivable scenario, on television, at awards shows, at festivals, and during her “Midnight Sun” tour. This longevity, rather than making people sick of the song, has just made her stick around longer in the cultural consciousness, with fans turning her dance breaks into online dance challenges, her twerking into viral videos, her bedazzled neon makeup looks into beauty trends, and her standout vocal moments into singing challenges. It’s a way better alternative to our favorite artists disappearing shortly after album releases. Larsson has also gone back to the classic move of releasing a remix album for Midnight Sun, titled Midnight Sun: Girls Trip, with new features for every single song. Similar to when Beyoncé and Lady Gaga teamed up for their phone-themed singles that featured each other, Larsson has also done quid pro quo collaborations with artists PinkPantheress and Tyla, who both featured on Girls Trip after Larsson featured on each of their singles. “Stateside,” the PinkPantheress remix with Larsson, introduced new audiences to the Swedish singer, going viral on TikTok and peaking at the top of the Billboard Global 200 chart. There are other reasons why Larsson has felt like a breath of fresh air, from her unfiltered internet presence to her loud support for abortion rights (which she said lost her a $3 million brand deal) and disdain for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration’s hard-lining against immigrants. But, above all else, in an era where even vocal powerhouse Ariana Grande is facing criticism for leaning further than before into breathy vocals, Larsson has never once ceded the sheer power of her voice. Larsson’s astounding vocal endurance and agility are always on full display as she never lipsyncs. Larsson’s mic is always on, which is perhaps best evidenced by this latest viral video: Her pauses for bursts of laughter only underscore how impressive, and live, her singing actually is. None of this is particularly revolutionary, but, put together, makes up a pop package that just feels good. By doing things the way our pop foremothers used to, Larsson has proved that some tried-and-true methods to becoming a pop star are far from broken. Larsson spent years honing her craft and working toward her breakout international hit, polishing her performance, finding her lane in terms of aesthetics and sound—and when she perfected it all, she ran with it, full force, and has kept it up for more than a year now. May the midnight sun never set on her.