- - Amy Allen Reflects on Becoming 'Really Close' with Sabrina Carpenter While Making “Man's Best Friend” (Exclusive)

Ilana KaplanDecember 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM

0

Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

Amy Allen and Sabrina Carpenter in February 2023 in Los Angeles -

Amy Allen has become one of the most sought-after collaborators in the music industry

The songwriter, producer and artist's decision to pursue music was a stark departure from her original plans

"My north star is always telling a true story as honestly as I can," Allen tells PEOPLE

Over the past several years, Amy Allen has undoubtedly become a titan of the music industry.

As a prolific songwriter and producer who has a singing career of her own, the Maine-born multi-hyphenate is one of the industry's most sought-after collaborators. While her earlier success stories included Selena Gomez's 2018 track ″Back to You" and co-writing Halsey's No. 1 hit ″Without Me" and Harry Styles' No. 1 hit "Adore You," she's since become even more wildly successful, working with everyone from Sabrina Carpenter to Tate McRae to Olivia Rodrigo (and the list goes on).

For Allen, her choice to pursue music was a stark departure from her original plans. "I started off wanting to be a nurse because I wanted to do something that helped people, and it took me a really long time for my brain to feel like writing songs was a way that I could be helpful to other human beings," the 33-year-old songwriter tells PEOPLE.

Now, eight years into her career, Allen has seen the "ripple effect" hat writing songs has had on other people. "I get it now," the two-time Grammy winner says. "Songs can change people's lives and songs can get them through things."

And the response to her work has been undeniable. At the 2023 Grammy Awards, she won for Album of the Year for her work on Styles' 2022 album Harry's House and last year, she became the first woman to took home the Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical). "My north star is always telling a true story as honestly as I can," says Allen.

Now, Allen is up for four Grammy Awards next year: Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical), Album of the Year for her work on Carpenter's 2025 LP Man's Best Friend, and Song of the Year for ROSÉ & Bruno Mars' "APT." and Carpenter's "Manchild."

Here, Allen reflects on how working with Styles transformed her songwriting, what she's learned from working with Jack Antonoff how she plans to celebrate if she wins at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Caity Krone

Amy Allen

PEOPLE: You’re nominated for four Grammys this year. How did you discover the news?

AMY ALLEN: I was driving from Los Angeles to Sedona, Ariz. for a camping trip, and I knew that the announcements were on. I was sitting with my boyfriend, he was like, "Do you want to put it on or do you want to just wait until we hear?" And I was like, "I usually don't like to put that type of thing [on] because I get stressed." But I was like, "Oh, f--- it. Let's do it." And so he put it on.

It was the first category that they called, and it happened so quick that we both just looked at each other and I was like, "Oh." Then, I immediately got a phone call from Sabrina and ROSÉ, which was so cute. And I was so excited for them too, because it's just been such a fun year. To be a part of songs that have resonated with the world in the way they have this year…I'm so grateful.

PEOPLE: How do you plan to celebrate if you win Grammys this year?

ALLEN: My whole family is coming again from Maine. They all came last year, and the first year that I was nominated. So I'm very excited for that. To have them all out here for a long weekend with me is so nice because we never get to do that. I'm going to be with them and probably just going for walks on the beach with them, which was so nice to have them here last year so we could all just be a family and be in L.A. in the warm weather as opposed to Maine where we always are together where it's freezing. Just being with friends and also massively celebrating all the artists, other songwriters and producers that I got to make these songs with is top of mind for me because I'm so grateful. Obviously, we always hope for the best.

PEOPLE: What was your favorite part of working with Sabrina Carpenter on “Manchild”?

ALLEN: I have such a vivid core memory attached to each one of the songs on [Man's Best Friend] at this point because it was just such a fun, and also emotional, ride that we went on with it. It’s such a joy to listen to, and it's this rollercoaster of emotion.

But I honestly think the overarching memory of it is becoming truly best friends with Sabrina through the process. We spent so many hours going on long walks, talking about life and all the things that come with being in your 20s. Just classic life things that take you by surprise. We just became really close and had so much quality time during it, and we laughed so much. I love how close I got to get to her through that process and how good of a friend that she has been to me through the whole thing, which has just been really nice.

PEOPLE: I love that. Do you have any other untold stories about working with Sabrina on Man's Best Friend?

ALLEN: A lot of times when we're trying to find the second verse of something, we'll go on a long walk and just start talking. We were walking in England and we came across these beautiful horses. I have this picture that I took of her with one of these horses that is such a beautiful picture. She looks obviously stunning and the horse is just so serene. We were working on “My Man on Willpower.” It was just one of those moments where I was just like, "I'm really grateful for my life right now. I’m with a friend. I'm in such a beautiful place in the world. I'm doing what I absolutely love to do.”

I have a very vivid memory of her with her arms around this horse, just holding it close, and it's snuggling into her. Of course, there's so many moments where we were jumping on couches, screaming, having fun and singing wild lyrics.

PEOPLE: How do you approach your writing process? Is it different for different artists?

ALLEN: It is definitely catered to each artist that I work with. When I'm writing alone, I have my own process, and when I'm writing with an artist, it's completely reliant on how they feel most comfortable writing and what they are feeling that day. Sometimes artists will come in and they just are like, "I don't know what I want to say today, but I feel like I want to write a fun uptempo song." Then, we just start talking and see what happens. Other days, an artist will come in and be like, "I have this concept that I love and let's try to write this today. It's been really weighing on me. I want to try to get this song out today."

So, it's totally dependent on their mood. I try to just be a friend through it. Even when it's somebody like ROSÉ, Tate or Sabrina, artists that I have a really good rapport with that I've been working with for years now, every day is just meeting them where they are. That's what makes me continuously fall in love with my job is that every single day is different.

PEOPLE: What's been your biggest "pinch-me" moment since winning two Grammys yourself?

ALLEN: I have a “pinch-me” moment anytime I go to a show where songs that I've co-written are being performed and [I get] to watch people in real-time. It's really cool to hear it on the radio, but it's a degree removed. To actually be in the arena or the stadium where your song that you were part of is being performed [is amazing].

I'm so lucky to work with so many artists that are so phenomenal in every aspect. Getting to see people interact with that in real-time, screaming the songs back to them or crying because it's their favorite one, that is always a “pinch-me” moment.

PEOPLE: You've collaborated with a lot of artists over the years. Is there a song that you're proudest of?

ALLEN: It changes all the time. One that has always made me feel really, deeply grateful is the song “Matilda” that I got to do with Harry a couple of years ago because it’s such an emotional song. When people write to me about songs that I've been a part of that means something to them, that one is one that is very prevalent, and I've always felt really connected to that song because it's about family and growing up. That one to me has always stuck out as one that I'll always really deeply love. But in terms of my favorite one today, I'm like, "It'll be different tomorrow." I love that I get to work with so many artists across so many genres.

PEOPLE: One of the first times you began working in the studio with artists was with Harry Styles. How was that transformative for your own songwriting career?

ALLEN: Yeah, he was definitely one of the first artists that I got to really be in the room with and dig in real time with and not have it be something that I had written beforehand. The connection that I felt with him immediately, how easy it was to create with him, how inspired I was by him, it fully changed the trajectory, I think, of my career, because then I realized like, "Oh, this is why I love to do this: getting to create with people that inspire me and have it be the artist that's actually going to be performing the song.” It just blew the doors open of what I was looking for in my career.

PEOPLE: What have you learned from working with Jack Antonoff?

ALLEN: He is the complete embodiment to me of somebody that has always been deeply in love with music [and] has never lost it to the industry of it all or the pressure of it all. That is something that I really needed at the time when I met Jack, because it can be easy to fall into this assembly line of how the music industry can feel sometimes.

When you meet somebody like Jack, you're just like, "Oh, this person is the best of the best at what they do." He’s kind of like a child and curious, the way that he moves through the studio. It's like he's always there for the first time figuring something new out and enjoying the ride of it. It brings me back to the first time I fell in love with music and started playing guitar. I feel like I'm seeing somebody that's just falling in love with it over and over again for the first time. That's what I love about him.

PEOPLE: You're working with so many artists across the pop genre. How would you define the sound of pop right now?

ALLEN: I feel like pop music is so exciting because there are no boundaries in terms of what people are making and what is “pop hit." For me, that moment was made so clear with [Sabrina Carpenter’s] “Please Please Please.” That has key changes and it's kind of country to go on to pop radio, but there were so many things about that tore the walls down on what people were thinking pop music was at that time. A lot of artists are really pushing the boundaries right now, which makes pop music such an exciting place.

PEOPLE: Is there a key to writing a hit?

ALLEN: No, I don't think so. In my opinion, the songs that I'm always proudest of that I've been a part of are really true stories that feel honest and vulnerable, and that means they can still be fun too. It's hard to get something that is catchy, that is honest, that the production is exciting. None of those things have to be a formula. Even if you just look at what the hits of this year have been, they've been so different. It can come from anywhere, which I think is exciting.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff in Los Angeles in December 2024

PEOPLE: Who is the artist you've been most starstruck to work with?

ALLEN: Honestly, Justin Timberlake. He was the first artist I've worked with that I went into the room with where I was like, "You are my childhood." I would not be the same if it weren't for *NSYNC and his solo project. He changed the face of pop music so many times over, and to be in the room with somebody that had that much influence on what we all listened to was wild to me.

And last week, I got to work with Mick Fleetwood. He's been my favorite drummer since I was little. Fleetwood Mac has always really been my favorite band, and then the Rolling Stones. But Mick, in particular, his style of drumming, getting to go in with him, how wise he is and how real, down to earth, humble and honest he is, I'll remember that forever. It felt very profound in my career at that moment to get to sit with somebody who's been one of my favorites forever.

PEOPLE: You've worked with Tate on several songs and she earned a Grammy nomination for “Just Keep Watching,” which you co-wrote. What's it been like for you seeing this track and her others become so massive?

ALLEN: Tate's like a sister to me, as well, so I want her to win so badly. I just think she is phenomenally talented in terms of songwriting, singing and dancing. Getting to see something like “Greedy” or so many of the other songs I've been a part of with Tate do well, it's exciting because it's cool to get to see something I've been a part of do well. But it's mostly exciting because I'm like, "That's my f---ing friend." I love that girl. To see her take the reins of her career, run with it and make it exactly how she wants it sonically, songwriting-wise, aesthetically and the dancing, it's so cool.

PEOPLE: Olivia Dean is certainly having a moment, too, and earned a Best New Artist Grammy. What was it like co-writing "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" with her?

ALLEN: That was the first day that she, John Ryan and I all were in the studio together, and that song was so fun and easy to make, honestly. She's so inspiring, her voice is amazing [and] she's a phenomenal songwriter. I watched so many videos of her performing live because I actually haven't seen her perform live [in-person] yet, and she's just effortlessly cool to me and real. Also, [she's] another really hard worker that is such a humble, great human being. I'll forever love that song because her, John and I just had such a nice time that day writing it.

PEOPLE: Who do you dream of collaborating with in the future?

ALLEN: So many. Probably Carole King. I've always loved her, and Dolly [Parton], of course. I was doing one of Zane Lowe's shows the other day and I was DJing and playing songs that had had a profound impact on my love of music and songwriting, in general. I played “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” So I was looking up little bits and I found out that she wrote that when she was 17.

PEOPLE: I know you met Paul McCartney at an Oasis concert this year. Have there been any conversations about getting in the studio together?

ALLEN: No, in my dreams. Many, many times over in my dreams, but never in reality.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”