<\/p>\n
There is a certain art to recovering from being memed, memeified, or simply run into the ground by social media. In other words, a rebrand. Many celebrities have mastered such artistry within the past few years, including Addison Rae, Tate McRae and Sabrina Carpenter. And yet, the comeback that’s been flying under the radar \u2014 but is finally getting its flowers \u2014 is Zara Larsson<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Swedish pop star, who once dominated the charts circa 2017, found herself in a precarious position when Clean Bandit’s “Symphony,” featuring Larsson, was reincarnated as a viral TikTok dolphin meme in the summer of 2024. And where some artists might be mortified, Larsson found opportunity, as the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard TikTok Chart.<\/p>\n Within the whimsical imagery of a dolphin flying through the air, Larsson found opportunity in bright colours, rainbow backdrops and a Y2K aesthetic, reminiscent of Malibu Barbie. Sophia Sonit, the makeup artist behind Larsson’s staple maximalist mermaid looks, said the pair have “started a worldwide trend” in a recent TikTok.<\/p>\n Her visual identity \u2014 now fully realized and at its peak \u2014 is carried confidently through her latest album, Midnight Sun<\/i>, and its accompanying tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Grammy-nominated pop star’s rebrand has gained recent attention thanks to her trending collaboration with PinkPantheress<\/a>, “Stateside,” which debuted at No. 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (and just today got a new music video).<\/p>\n