One of Pop’s Hottest Stars Is Uniquely Refreshing. I Think I Know the Secret to Her Success.

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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.