Tate McRae

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Tate McRae is a Canadian singer, songwriter and dancer whose first American number-one single came on someone else's record. In May 2025 she featured on Morgan Wallen's song "What I Want", taken from his album I'm the Problem. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

  For a performer who had spent years building a catalogue of her own, that was an odd way to reach the summit. Her route there was odder still. She started as a child in dance studios, became known through a television competition, and then turned songs recorded in her bedroom into a pop career.

  How does a ballet-trained girl from Calgary end up with a record-breaking radio climb, a Grammy nomination and a chart-topping album? And what made her sound change so sharply along the way?

  7098100

• 2. Roots in Dance

  ›

  Calgary, Alberta, is where Tate Rosner McRae was born, on the 1st of July 2003. Her mother, Tanja Rosner, was a German dance instructor. Her father, Todd McRae, was a lawyer for oil and gas companies and has Scottish ancestry.

  At the age of two, she moved with her family to Oman because of her father's work. She spent three years there and attended The American International School Muscat. Dance lessons began at age six, as a recreational activity.

  Returning to Calgary at eight made the training serious. She competed with Drewitz Dance Productions. From eleven she studied every style at YYC Dance Project, a company her mother owned, and she took ballet at the School of Alberta Ballet. Her academic path ran alongside all of it. She attended Western Canada High School and graduated online in 2021.

  New York City hosted her first big prize in 2013, when she won Mini Best Female Dancer at the Dance Awards. Social media attention followed, and the American dance shoe maker Capezio made her a brand ambassador. In 2014 she became a finalist at the New York City Dance Alliance's National Gala. Between 2013 and 2015 she also voiced a character named Spot Splatter Splash in the Lalaloopsy franchise.

  Berlin came next, in 2015. A silver medal as a soloist and a bronze for a duet at the Youth America Grand Prix earned her a two-week scholarship with the Berlin State Ballet company. She danced in the music video for Walk off the Earth's platinum-certified single "Rule the World". She also won Best Female Dancer at the Dance Awards for a second time, now in the Junior category.

  The following year, 2016, would put her in front of an American television audience.

  26111219

• 3. Third Place

  ›

  In June 2016, McRae joined the thirteenth season of the American series So You Think You Can Dance. She was a non-American competing for the title of America's Favorite Dancer. The American dancer and actress Kathryn McCormick mentored her. No Canadian in the show's history had gone further, and she placed third on the final episode.

  The Toronto Sun reacted, "The fact that Canadians couldn't vote for Tate makes her third-place finish all the more impressive. While she might not have been voted America's favorite dancer, she certainly might be Canada's."

  Other stages opened around that run. In April 2016 she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with the DancerPalooza troupe. In June she performed at Justin Bieber's Calgary concert on the Purpose World Tour, during his song "Children". She danced at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards as a finalist from the show's cast. In October she returned to Ellen with the Jump Dance Convention troupe.

  Dance Spirit magazine put her on its cover in April 2017. That May, she danced a pas de deux in the Alberta Ballet Company's production "Our Canada", choreographed by Jean Grand-Maite. In November 2017 she danced to Demi Lovato's "Tell Me You Love Me". Lovato then invited her to rehearse with their dancers for an American Music Awards performance.

  Las Vegas hosted the 2018 Dance Awards, where she won Best Female Dancer for the third time, in the Teen category. That made her the first dancer in the competition's history to win in every category from mini to teen. In April 2018 she choreographed and danced in the music video for "Just Say When" by the American rock band Nothing More.

  921242523

• 4. Bedroom Recordings

  ›

  Since 2011, McRae's YouTube channel had been filled mostly with dance clips. In 2017 she began a video series built around original songs that she wrote and recorded in her bedroom. The first, "One Day", drew more than 40 million views. She released it herself as her independent debut single, and it eventually went gold in Canada, her first certification.

  From 2017 to 2019 she kept uploading and releasing independent singles. Record labels noticed. In March 2019 she put out a standalone single called "Kids Are Alright".

  RCA Records signed her in August 2019. Three singles followed: "Tear Myself Apart", "All My Friends Are Fake" and "Stupid". Those were the only singles released from her coming debut EP.

  "Stupid" charted in Ireland and Canada. In Canada it received heavy radio play and peaked inside the top 15 of the pop radio charts. It was certified gold there as well.

  The EP All the Things I Never Said arrived on the 24th of January 2020. She announced a tour of the same name, headlining in Europe and North America. Every stop sold out, and the tour earned positive reviews.

  Her next release would land in April 2020.

  1014363841

• 5. Lockdown Star

  ›

  "You Broke Me First" reached the top ten in several countries, among them Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It also became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It stayed on that chart for 38 weeks, the longest run of any song released by a woman in 2020. On the Mediabase Top 40 chart it took 28 weeks to reach number one, a record for the longest climb by a female solo artist. She performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Near the end of the year, Sony/ATV signed her to a worldwide publishing deal.

  June 2020 brought "Vicious", featuring the American rapper Lil Mosey. "Don't Be Sad" followed in August. In October she released "Lie to Me" with the Canadian singer Ali Gatie, and in December came "R U OK".

  September 2020 brought a nomination for the MTV Video Music Award for Push Best New Artist, and she performed at the VMAs pre-show. Dork magazine put her on its cover. She was named YouTube's Artist on the Rise, MTV's Push Artist for July and a Vevo DSCVR artist. Billboard placed her on its 21 Under 21 One to Watch list. In December she was the youngest person on the music category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Rolling Stone listed her among its top ten breakthrough artists of 2020.

  David Friend, a music reporter at The Canadian Press, called her "a bonafide star of the lockdown". Early pandemic restrictions meant her late-night and awards appearances often happened in isolation or in studios, including the virtual edition of MTV's European music awards. She said this sometimes led her to disassociate herself from the fame she was experiencing.

  In January 2021, "Rubberband" appeared. On the 3rd of March 2021 she announced her second EP, Too Young to Be Sad, with a promotional single called "Slower". The EP was released on the 26th of March and debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard 200. By the end of 2021 it had passed one billion Spotify streams, making it the most streamed EP of the year by a female artist. It earned Juno Award nominations for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year at the 2022 ceremony.

  On the 8th of May 2021, she gave a global virtual show for the EP, and it was praised. Later that month she signed her first endorsement deal, with Essentia Water. In late 2021 "That Way", a track from her first EP, went viral on TikTok and charted in the UK and Ireland. A remix with Jeremy Zucker had come out that September.

  November 2021 brought "Feel Like Shit", the lead single from her first album. In February 2022 she followed it with "She's All I Wanna Be", which reached the top ten in Canada, Ireland, Norway, Singapore and Belgium. It debuted at number 52 in the US, her highest Hot 100 debut at the time. That month Maybelline also named her a brand ambassador and the face of its Vinyl Ink liquid lip color.

  Her debut album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, came out on the 27th of May 2022. Critics reviewed it positively, and it debuted at number three in Canada and number 13 in the US. By the end of that year she was describing her coming work as a "new chapter", with a more pop-oriented sound.

  4445606265

• 6. Greedy

  ›

  On the 15th of September 2023, McRae released "Greedy". It became her biggest Spotify debut to date and her first entry in the top ten of the global Spotify charts. In Canada it climbed to number one on the Hot 100. It debuted at number one in Denmark and Norway.

  It also topped charts in Australia and the Netherlands. On the Billboard Global 200 it reached number one, making it her first official number-one single worldwide. It peaked inside the top ten in France, Iceland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In the United States it peaked at number three on the Hot 100, her first top-ten entry there. It spent eight weeks at number one on the US Pop Airplay chart and finished as that chart's year-end number one for 2024.

  A follow-up single, "Exes", arrived in November and also reached the top ten in Canada.

  The second studio album, Think Later, was released on the 8th of December 2023. It was described as a "career-defining shift", and reviews were positive. It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, with 66,000 album-equivalent units, of which 8,000 were pure album sales. That was her first top-ten album in the United States.

  At the 2024 Juno Awards she won Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year for "Greedy".

  In late 2023 she made her Saturday Night Live debut. She performed "Greedy" and a then-unreleased song called "Grave". Through the rest of 2023 and early 2024 she took "Greedy" to the Billboard Music Awards, the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, the Brit Awards and the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

  98991007095

• 7. So Close to What

  ›

  September 2024 saw the release of "It's OK I'm OK". It reached the charts in several countries and became her highest debut on the Hot 100, at number 20. In November came "2 Hands", which peaked at number 41 on the Hot 100 and number 22 in Canada. With that second single she announced her third studio album, So Close to What, and a trek called the Miss Possessive Tour.

  the 24th of January 2025, brought the next single, "Sports Car". It peaked at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top ten in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The album followed on the 21st of February 2025 and became her first number one on the Billboard 200. The tour began on the 18th of March. The album also produced international top-ten hits with "Revolving Door" and "Tit for Tat".

  On the 25th of February she made her first couch appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As an interview guest, she taught him the dance to "It's OK I'm OK". On the 1st of March she performed "Sports Car" and "Dear God" on Saturday Night Live for the second time. She went back to Fallon's show on the 5th of March to perform "Revolving Door", her third appearance as a performer there.

  Also in May 2025, "Just Keep Watching" was released. It was included on the F1 soundtrack, which came out on the 27th of June 2025. The song earned her first Grammy Award nomination, for Best Dance Pop Recording.

  Wembley Stadium hosted her at the Capital Summertime Ball on Sunday the 15th of June, in the middle of the Miss Possessive Tour. On the 9th of September 2025 she performed "Revolving Door" and "Sports Car" at the MTV VMAs. She won two awards there for "Just Keep Watching". Ten days later she played the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

  The single "Tit for Tat" was released on the 26th of September 2025 and was reportedly about her ex-boyfriend the Kid Laroi. A deluxe edition of the album followed on the 21st of November.

  In February 2026 she appeared in an advertisement for NBC's Winter Olympics coverage. Some Canadians objected, among them the actor Jack Innanen. McRae answered with a line of her own: "Y'all know I'm Canada down."

  7084

• 8. Influences and Image

  ›

  Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Khalid, Jessie Reyez and Jeremy Zucker top McRae's list of musical influences. Her own sound mixes pop, alternative pop and dance-pop with touches of R&B and soul.

  Zendaya and Dua Lipa are the two women she calls her biggest idols, and she says she looks up to them in all aspects of life. For bringing dance into her shows she points to Bruno Mars, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Ciara, Jennifer Lopez and Justin Timberlake. Taylor Swift, Julia Michaels and Alec Benjamin are her songwriting inspirations. She has called herself a "huge fan" of Swift and described her as "one of the greatest songwriters". She has also voiced admiration for Billie Eilish and Rosalia.

  The press has tried many labels on her. i-D called her "the teen dance star turned future pop idol". Notion went with "the new teen queen", Elle chose "Canada's answer to Billie Eilish", and The Independent called her "one of pop's bright young hopes". Writers have also pointed to her honest lyrics, her vocals and her relatable music.

  Paula Abdul, the artist, dancer and choreographer, declared her a "gift from God". The choreographers Stacey Tookey and Blake McGrath each said she was talented beyond her years, and McGrath called her one of the best dancers he has ever worked with. Two-time Emmy winner Travis Wall has named her one of his muses. Margaret Fuhrer of Dance Spirit described her dancing as virtuosic, both technically and artistically.

  Off stage, she dated the Columbus Blue Jackets player Cole Sillinger from late 2021 to early 2023. In April 2024 the Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi confirmed he was in a relationship with her. They collaborated on "I Know Love", a track on So Close to What, and the couple broke up in July 2025. As of 2025, she lives in New York.

  As of January 2026, her YouTube channel had collected more than 2.9 billion views. Her career streams across all platforms had passed 8.4 billion.

  316483