Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks Made an Iconic Double Act at the 2026 Met Gala
At Monday’s “Costume Art” gala, the star power was very nearly too much to handle.
Reported by Vogue.
Some nights at the Met Gala are memorable. Some are historic. Monday's "Costume Art" gala landed firmly in the second category, delivering a performance lineup that felt less like entertainment and more like a fever dream you'd be upset to wake up from.
According to Vogue, the evening's musical centerpiece belonged to Sabrina Carpenter — fresh off headlining Coachella — who performed a tight set in the Temple of Dendur backed by a five-piece orchestra, four-piece band, and four dancers with choreography by Jasmine "JB" Badie. She ran through "House Tour" from her 2025 album Man's Best Friend alongside crowd-pleasers "Espresso" and "Please, Please, Please." The looks matched the moment: first a Versace Tribute dress from spring 2018 riffing on Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and James Dean silkscreens — prints that originated in Gianni Versace's 1991 Pop Art collection — then a fringed golden Bob Mackie number that had no business being that good.
Then Stevie Nicks Walked In
Between sets, Joshua Henry — currently starring in Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Ragtime — read from Walt Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric," a palate cleanser that somehow made what came next hit harder. Stevie Nicks closed the night in a vintage Morgane LeFay dress and Margi Kent jacket, having already made her carpet entrance in custom John Galliano for Zara with Tiffany & Co. jewelry. She and Carpenter duetted on Fleetwood Mac's 1975 classic "Landslide," Nicks went solo on "Gypsy" and "Edge of Seventeen," and then the two reunited for "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" backed by a 12-person choir. The pairing of a generational legend and pop's reigning it-girl wasn't subtle — it was exactly as powerful as it sounds.
The night had actually opened at a full sprint, with Henry launching "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" in the Greek and Roman sculpture galleries and moving through the Met's Great Hall — draped in cascading colorful wisteria — onto the carpet itself, backed by that same choir, eight dancers, and a four-piece band. Choreography came from Ellenore Scott, who also served as overall creative consultant, with music production by Joseph Abate. Past Met Gala pairings — Stevie Wonder and Usher in 2025, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in 2024 — set the bar high, but this year's programming felt like a different game entirely.
When the archive dressing, the cultural references, and the live performances are all operating at this level simultaneously, the Met Gala stops being a party and starts being an actual event — and 2026 made the case effortlessly.
Read the original at Vogue.
