Who is Tate McRae?

by Mia Grace, edited by Uday Lingampalli, Geethi Tarra, & & Shayna Mehta, Art & Layout by Sahithi Lingampalli

We’ve all been there: blasting “you broke me first” in the car, windows rolled down, hair blowing in the wind. And if you haven’t been there yet, add it to your to-do list, along with listening to Tate McRae’s entire discography. But who is this young star, whose name grows more popular with each day?

Tate McRae is an 18-year-old up-and-coming pop star. She was born on July 1, 2003, in Calgary, Canada. McRae was born to dance: her mother is a dancer who owned a studio until McRae was around two years old. McRae began practicing ballet at age six, at Alberta Ballet, a prestigious dance studio in Canada. From a young age, McRae won various dance competitions, such as a silver medal in the New York City Finals at the 2015 Youth America Grand Prix, the largest ballet competition for students in the world, when she was just 11 years old. In 2016, McRae was a contestant in “So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation”, where she placed third.

Although McRae’s success in the dance industry helped her gain fame, her primary source of attention came from her music and original songs. McRae posted videos on her YouTube channel, in mini series such as “create with tate” and “i wrote a song” that sent her into stardom. Her original song “one day” went viral on YouTube, now amassing a great 38 million views. In 2020, she released her debut EP, “all the things i never said”. The song that truly pushed her career forward, however, was “you broke me first”, which quickly garnered attention on TikTok. When McRae spoke to magazine NME, she said, “This song is about someone in a relationship who couldn’t care less for the other person and then 6 months later decides to crawl back. It’s the feeling of knowing how much they meant to you, but this time not letting them back in.” It currently has 862 million (and counting!) listens on Spotify. Additionally, the song reached a peak of 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was on it for around 38 weeks. McRae has been on the Hot 100 three other times, alongside Khalid for “working” and Troye Sivan and Regard for “You”.

McRae released her most recent song, “she’s all i wanna be”, on February 4, 2022. She reflected on her personal experiences with comparison and the lack of self-love, pouring such emotions into her music. The captivating music video involves a dance competition between her and another girl, jealousy spiraling. By the end, however, McRae and her rival have joined forces, dancing together to the punk track. The video has around 5 million views, and the spotify track has about 40 million listens.

McRae is only 18, yet she already has many accolades to her name. She is making a name for herself in both the dance and music industries, and is someone to keep an eye out for. With her infectious personality and her immense talent, McRae will continue to take the world by storm.

by Sahithi Lingampalli