Anatomy of a Torch Pass: Pop’s Definitive Mother-Daughter Duos

I tuned into Sabrina Carpenter’s Weekend 2 Coachella set from bed, in the half-distracted way you watch Weekend 2 livestreams. I wasn’t expecting much different from the last weekend. But about halfway through, before my mind could catch up with my body, I shot up with a start at hearing the first glimmers of Madonna’s “Vogue.” I let out one of those shocked yell-laughs to myself in my room, “I can’t believe she got her,” I said to the void.

Madonna x Sabrina is a duo that, aside from their literal appearances and Carpenter’s archival pulls, I hadn’t fully imagined in practice, sonically. But it clicked seeing the two of them together, especially on Carpenter’s Old Hollywood-themed set (her Louboutin Mary Janes a remnant of Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour). It felt like Madonna was tapping Carpenter as an incarnation, or her 2020s counterpart.

As if to cement the moment and take their joint slay one step further, they recently dropped their single “Bring Your Love,” crowd tested on the Coachella Main Stage. The “mother and daughter” posts started almost immediately, with the usual debates about who’s actually next in line already queued up.

The internet is obsessed with determining pop’s family tree. It has no shortage of flow charts and web diagrams tracking the ancestors and descendants of every pop icon, from Donna Summer to Charli xcx, figuring out who mothered whom, who then mothered whom. A typical stem looks something like this: Tina Turner > Beyoncé > Chloe Bailey (the definitive “mothers” at the top of the chain being Summer, Turner, Cher, and Kate Bush). So there are duos, but there are also extended families: “aunts,” “cousins,” and “grandmothers.” (Case in point: Addison Rae deckside with Madonna at her West Hollywood Club Confessions II party.)

Madonna and Sabrina’s link-up naturally got me thinking about what mother/daughter duos I'd want to see next, who haven't collabed that should, who would either confirm what’s already obvious or reveal a connection hiding in plain sight. So what follows is a lineup of some of the de facto persona-, performance-, audience-, and ethos-based matchups, the incarnates, the “spirits of,” and the co-signs that feel like a natural lineage.

Less dreamcasting, more stylistic compatibility. Real all about it below!

Beyoncé

Zara Larsson

Zara Larsson’s hairography alone is enough to make her Beyoncé’s pop daughter. And Beyoncé called Larsson’s ascent early, tapping her as an opener for the Formation tour’s London stops back in 2016. It’s in their charisma, their magnetism. The way you could watch them both dance for days, the way the power behind their vocals leaves you dumbfounded at the sheer abilities of another human being. Larsson’s genre-bending pop feels like it was born of everything from Destiny’s Child to Renaissance, while her long game mirrors Beyoncé’s big-picture career approach. Midnight Sun-era Larsson is Self-Titled-era Beyoncé: the point where everything — vocals, visuals, choreography, creative agency — operates at full capacity.

Tinashe

Janet Jackson

Tinashe has said she “blacked out” when she first met Janet Jackson. She’s historically been vocal about Jackson’s influence on her, telling Rolling Stone she’s “my top inspo, top mother.” And she’s been able to keep Jackson’s blueprint close, combining hooky pop melodies and thumping bass with a tight, choreography-driven precision. Both are constantly evolving and keep their artistry top of mind. They appeal to the same kind of wide yet discerning audience, their discographies each full of such variety (The Velvet Rope vs. Rhythm Nation 1814, “2 On” vs. “Tightrope”) that they can win over both casual listeners and ride-or-dies. And that’s without even accounting for the dancing. Just pure, triple-threat longevity that sustains itself and defines careers.

Addison Rae

Britney Spears

Addison Rae told us exactly who her pop mother was the second she was papped walking through Beverly Hills, reading Britney Spears’ memoir. A daughter of one (Janet) and mother to many (Tate, Miley, Charli) but Rae has named herself the direct descendant. And I can’t argue with her.

Spears’ Mickey Mouse ClubMickey Mouse Club was Rae’s TikTok; each of them had all-American, down-home Louisiana charm, winning over their respective audiences and helping them pivot to pop stardom with a jolt. They both have that same instinct for performance-as-identity, simultaneously playing up the “pop star” role and doubling down on the fact that it’s exactly who they are. Rae honed comparisons that were once only rooted in their appearances and penchant for dancing, donning lingerie onstage that echoes Spears’ Onyx Hotel tour pink-and-black set and mixing “...Baby One More Time” into “I got it bad” on her Addison tour. A duo so powerful, so correct, so inevitable, may we pray we see it for real one day.

Lady Gaga

Jade

Even if unintentionally, Jade Thirlwall called out what makes her and Lady Gaga a match made in pop heaven: “Showbiz.”

Their unwavering commitments to pop fantasy world-building, gothic drama cut with sharp glitz, all tied together by cascading vocals over dancefloor-ready beats. Thirlwall’s That’s Showbiz, Baby! The Encore track “Church” and its corresponding video feel like they were pulled directly from Mayhem or The Fame Monster (she cited Gaga as a music video inspiration in our 2024 interview with her). They’ve both weathered the volatility of pop careers to reach their own kinds of longevity: Thirlwall carving out her identity post-Little Mix, outside of the Simon Cowell system; Gaga through physical and mental health struggles and the scrutiny of her so-called flop eras. Both are powerhouse vocalists and performers, devoted to their artistry and technique in a way that makes their stardom felt even without the makeup and costuming.

Imogen Heap

Pinkpantheress

When DJ and interviewer Derrick Gee surprised PinkPantheress with a call from Imogen Heap, she declared, “So many of my melodies are born from her. I am her daughter.” This match is less about specific genres and more about a shared lineage. Specifically, the London garage, dance, and house traditions that pushed both artists towards production, each crafting intricate compositions with breakbeat-driven drums and airy, autotune-forward vocals. Since Fancy That, Pink has stepped further into capital-P Pop Girl territory, but her underground influences and internet-born identity mirror Heap’s early YouTube vlogs (or “vBlogs,” as she called them). They both build their songs with technical precision, but leave space for those endless, trance-like stretches. Heap’s “Goodnight and Go” is a perfect example of that kind of delicate, looping structure that feels foundational to Pink’s identity, extending from structure to the Victorian visual world of the “Tonight” video.

Kylie Minogue

Rose Gray

Both Kylie Minogue and Rose Gray’s presences feel like hits of pure, concentrated sunshine. They make me want to find a beach and indulge, these indeterminate Euro/Aussie dance-pop princesses. Gray’s Louder, Please is a club-centric breakout that’s had the same career-catapulting impact for her as Fever had for Minogue, each mixing up their own disco-club-house-trance potion. They’re harbingers of sleek, euphoric pop, made for 4 a.m. on a humid summer night, fresh tan tingling on your shoulders and cheeks.

Björk

FKA Twigs

Björk and FKA Twigs are always at least five steps ahead of where pop’s headed next. They thrive on experimentation, never staying in one place for long. Twigs feels sonically aligned with Björk’s Vespertine and Homogenic—atmospheric, poetic, always complete with a moment that makes you pause. Neither is experimental for experiment’s sake; they’re driven by a genuine love of their craft. Their raw emotions are perpetually on display, whether soundtracked by sparse, intimate textures or more abrasive electronic extremes. (The web extends here, too: both having worked closely with Arca.) Their commitment extends across every medium: fashion, visuals, and performance alongside those hard-to-pin-down sonics.

Nicole Scherzinger

Tate McRae

Two dance-forward, at-times whiny vocalists with semi-questionable politics. Bonus points for the fact that I can’t listen to “Sports car” without also hearing The Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons.” This one just feels right, even if Scherzinger is technically the stronger vocalist (she was on Broadway, after all). But it’s the literal spirit that matters, the energy. Each of their dance-centric stage personas plays a part in what makes them both so enticing, the way their bodies move carrying the performance as much as, if not more than, the vocals and the mix of trip-hop, pop, and R&B.

Liz Phair

Olivia Rodrigo

If there’s one thing about Olivia Rodrigo, it’s that she loves herself a mother-daughter collab. She’s shared the stage with Avril Lavigne, Sheryl Crow, and Alanis Morrisette. But Liz Phair is the exact kind of guitar-forward pop-rock star whose diaristic-yet-cutting songwriting and effortlessly cool-girl image feel aligned with Rodrigo’s ascent from SOUR to the forthcoming you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. They both balance subdued, sullen, near-folk moments with thrashing bursts of angst and emotion. As far as I’m concerned, Phair is Rodrigo’s Everest.

Robyn

Tove Lo

Sweden rise! Robyn and Tove Lo are a pair I’m surprised have only crossed paths passively, most notably when Tove Lo covered “Dancing On My Own” in 2022. They both thrive in emotional club pop (glitchy, brash, and cutting), but can just as easily be polished by some straightforward EDM peaks, valleys, and sheens. It’s one of those collabs that makes you pause: They haven’t done a song together yet? It seems too good not to. With both circling new eras this year (Robyn already in hers with Sexistential, Tove Lo teasing her return), it feels less like a stretch and more like the Song of the Summer waiting to happen.

Images via Getty