Sarah Barrios

A Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter specializing in sleek, acoustic-leaning pop, Sarah Barrios honed her craft through songwriting contests and regional performance competitions before securing her initial publishing agreement in 2017. Her first major-label EP, Letters I Never Sent, arrived in 2020.

Born and raised in Torrington, Connecticut, Barrios began learning guitar and composing songs at the age of 13. Upon completing high school she entered the competition circuit, trying out for The X Factor and entering several national songwriting contests. She earned the Best New Artist honor at the New England Music Awards in 2014. In 2016 she reached the Top Five in a singing and songwriting event sponsored by a major music retailer, appeared before the celebrity judges in the preliminary rounds of American Idol, and issued a self-released, self-titled debut album.

Around the same period she opened for artists such as Charlie Puth and Melanie Martinez; in 2017 she moved to Los Angeles to advance her career. The relocation proved fruitful: six months later she obtained a publishing deal with Warner Chappell. Subsequent collaborations involved Bonnie McKee, Gryffin, and Becky G, and she co-wrote a track included on dance-pop artist Steve James’ EP + one, released in February 2020. Two months afterward, Visionary Records and Arista jointly issued her debut single, “I Didn’t Mean To,” which featured on her first EP, the lovelorn Letters I Never Sent, in July 2020.