Tate Rosner McRae (born July 1, 2003) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer. She first gained prominence as the first Canadian finalist on the American reality television series So You Think You Can Dance (2016). She was later signed by RCA Records after gaining traction for her 2017 debut song, "One Day". She went on to release two extended plays (EPs), All the Things I Never Said (2020) and Too Young to Be Sad (2021). The latter was the most streamed female EP of 2021 on Spotify and was preceded by the single "You Broke Me First" which became an international hit peaking top ten on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
In 2022, McRae released her debut studio album, I Used to Think I Could Fly (2022) which peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard 200. The album spawned the single "She's All I Wanna Be" which peaked top ten in Canada. After developing a more pop-oriented sound, McRae released the single "Greedy" which saw worldwide commercial and critical success peaking at number one in Canada and number three on the Hot 100. The song was featured on McRae's second studio album, Think Later (2023) which debuted in the top five within several countries. On the 21st of February 2025 her album So Close To What will be released. She also released it's ok I'm ok in September 2024, 2 Hands on November 2024 and Sports car on the 24th of January this year.
Early life and education
Tatum Rosner McRae[6] was born in Calgary, Alberta, on Canada Day in 2003. Her Canadian father of Scottish descent was a lawyer for oil and gas companies and her mother, of German descent, a dance instructor.[7][2][8] At the age of four she moved with her family to Oman on account of her father's work where she lived for three years.[7][8][9] During her time in Oman, McRae attended The American International School Muscat (TAISM).[10] McRae began recreational dance training at age six.[9][11] Having returned to Calgary, at the age of eight, she began to train more intensively in dance[12] and competed with Drewitz Dance Productions. From age 11, she began training in all styles of dance at YYC Dance Project, a dance company owned by her mother,[13] and underwent ballet training at the School of Alberta Ballet, the training school for the Alberta Ballet Company.[14][11][15]
McRae attended Western Canada High School and graduated online in 2022.[16][17][18]
Career
2013–2018: Dance career
McRae was awarded Mini Best Female Dancer at the 2013 Dance Awards in New York City.[19] After gaining some prominence,[20] she became a brand ambassador for the American dance manufacturer Capezio.[9] She became a finalist at the New York City Dance Alliance's 2014 National Gala.[21] She also voiced Spot Splatter Splash for the Lalaloopsy (2013–2015) franchise.[22]
In June 2016, she performed at Justin Bieber's concert in Calgary for the Purpose World Tour during Bieber's performance of "Children".[25] In April 2016, McRae performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as part of the DancerPalooza troupe.[26] In June 2016, she took part in the thirteenth season of American television show So You Think You Can Dance.[27] While competing for the America's Favorite Dancer title as a non-American, she was mentored by American dancer and actress Kathryn McCormick.[28] She advanced further in the competition than any other Canadian in the show's history, placing third on the final episode.[29] Canadian TV host Murtz Jaffer from 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 favourite dancer, she certainly might be Canada's."[30] She performed at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards as a finalist from the SYTYCD cast.[31] She performed again on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2016 as part of the Jump Dance Convention troupe.[32]
She was featured on the cover of Dance Spirit Magazine in April 2017.[33] In May 2017, she was featured in a pas de deux in Alberta Ballet Company's production, "Our Canada" choreographed by Jean Grand-Maître.[34][35] In November 2017, after performing a dance to Demi Lovato's song Tell Me You Love Me she was invited by Lovato to rehearse with their dancers for their performance at the American Music Awards.[36] For the third time, she won Best Female Dancer at the 2018 Dance Awards in Las Vegas, this time in the Teen category,[37] making her the first dancer in the competition's history to win in all categories from mini to teen. In April 2018, she choreographed and danced in the music video for the song "Just Say When" by American rock band Nothing More.[38][39]
2017–2020: Music beginnings and "You Broke Me First"
Since its creation in 2011, McRae's YouTube channel has featured primarily dance videos although in 2017, she began a video series showcasing original songs she wrote and recorded in her bedroom.[16] The first song she released as part of the series, "One Day", attracted over 40 million views, prompting her to self-release the song as her independent debut single.[40][2] The song would eventually be certified gold in Canada, marking her first certification.[41] From 2017 to 2019, McRae continued to upload and release independent singles leading to her being named YouTube's Artist on the Rise.[42] Her singles caught the attention of record labels.[16] In March 2019, she released the standalone single, "Kids Are Alright".[43]
McRae signed with RCA Records in August 2019,[43] and released the singles "Tear Myself Apart", "All My Friends Are Fake" and "Stupid".[44][45][46] The songs would become the only singles released from her then-forthcoming debut EP.[47] "Stupid" charted in Ireland and Canada, earning significant radio airplay performance in the latter, peaking within the top 15 of the Canadian pop radio charts.[48] "Stupid" was certified gold in Canada.[41] McRae released her debut EP, All the Things I Never Said, on January 24, 2020, and announced her All the Things I Never Said Tour, headlining Europe and North America.[44] Each stop on the tour was sold out.[49] The tour received positive reviews.[50]
In April 2020, McRae released the single "You Broke Me First" which retroactively became the lead single from her then-forthcoming second EP.[51][52] The song was an international success, peaking within the top ten of the charts in several countries and becoming her first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[53] It was also the longest charting song released by a female artist in 2020 on the Billboard Hot 100, at 38 weeks.[54] It peaked at number one on the Mediabase Top 40 chart, breaking the record for the longest climb to number 1 by a female solo artist at 28 weeks.[54] She also performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,[55] and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[56] Towards the end of the year, following the success of "You Broke Me First", she signed a worldwide publishing deal with Sony/ATV.[57]
Throughout the rest of 2020, McRae released a string of standalone singles including "Vicious" featuring American rapper Lil Mosey in June,[58] "Don't Be Sad" in August,[42] "Lie to Me" with Canadian singer Ali Gatie in October,[59] and "R U Ok" in December; the latter retroactively became the second single from her second EP.[60]
In January 2021, McRae released the song "Rubberband", which retroactively became the eventual third single from her then-upcoming second EP.[18] On March 3, 2021, alongside a promotional single titled "Slower", McRae announced that her second EP, Too Young to Be Sad, would be released on March 26, 2021.[76] Upon release, the EP received positive reviews, debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard 200.[77] At the end of 2021, the album amassed over one billion streams on Spotify, becoming the most streamed EP that year by a female artist.[78] The EP was nominated for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year at the 2022 Juno Awards.[79] McRae received two Juno Award nominations,[80] and was announced as an Apple MusicUp Next artist.[51]
In April, McRae featured on the song "You" alongside Regard and Troye Sivan.[81] On May 8, 2021, McRae performed a global virtual show, "Too Young to Be Sad",[82] which was praised.[82] Later that month, McRae signed her first endorsement deal with Essentia Water,[83] was nominated for the Social Star Award at the IHeartRadio Music Awards,[84] and featured on the soundtrack of the Amazon original series Panic with the track "Darkest Hour".[85] In June, McRae was featured on the song "U Love U" by Blackbear,[86] and released the song "Working" with Khalid.[87] In October, she was featured on the Billboard 21 under 21 list for 2021[88] and People magazine's One to Watch list for 2021.[89] McRae was featured on the cover of Numéro in November 2021.[90]
"That Way", a track from her debut EP, experienced a resurgence in late 2021 after going viral on TikTok and charted in the UK,[91] and Ireland.[92] In September 2021, McRae released a remix of "That Way" with Jeremy Zucker.[93] In November 2021, McRae released "Feel Like Shit", the lead single off her then-forthcoming debut album which she began teasing earlier that same year.[94][95][96]
In February 2022, McRae released "She's All I Wanna Be", the second single from her then-forthcoming debut album.[97] The song found commercial success and reached the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, and Belgium. It also charted in the Top 40 in several countries. The song debuted at number 52 in the US, becoming her highest debut on the Hot 100 at the time.[98] That same month, McRae was announced as a brand ambassador for Maybelline and the face of their new Vinyl Ink liquid lip color.[99] McRae released "Chaotic" as the third single in March and released "What Would You Do?" as the fourth single in May.[100] McRae announced that her debut albumm I Used to Think I Could Fly, would be released on May 27, 2022.[101] The album received positive reviews from music critics and debuted at number 3 in Canada and 13 in the US.[102]
In September 2022, McRae released the follow-up single "Uh Oh".[103] In November, she featured on Tiësto's "10:35", released for the opening of the luxury resort Atlantis The Royal, Dubai.[104] Towards the end of 2022, McRae began to express interest in a more pop music-orientated sound, describing her forthcoming work a "new chapter".[105]
2023–present: Think Later and So Close to What
By August 2023, McRae began teasing a new song.[106] On September 15, 2023, she released her song "Greedy" which became her biggest debut on Spotify to date,[107] and her first top 10 on the Global Spotify Charts.[108] The song debuted at number one in Norway[109] and Denmark[110] and peaked at number one in several countries including Canada, Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands, as well as the Billboard Global 200, making it her first official number one single worldwide. It also became her first song to chart within the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 3.[111][112] It also became the year-end number one song of 2024 on the US Pop Airplay chart after peaking at number one for eight weeks total.[113] The song was a commercial success and acted as the lead single off her then-upcoming sophomore studio album.[114] In November, she released a follow-up single titled "Exes", which also peaked top ten in Canada.[115]
McRae released her sophomore studio album, Think Later, on December 8, 2023.[116] The album received positive reviews and was described as a "career-defining shift" for McRae.[117][118] It debuted in the top five of the charts worldwide including number four on the US Billboard 200, earning 66,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, of which 8,000 were pure album sales; This marked McRae's first top-ten album in the US.[119] McRae won the Juno Award for Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year for "Greedy" at the 2024 Juno Awards.[120]
In September 2024, McRae released the single "It's OK I'm OK" which found commercial success, charting in several countries worldwide and becoming her highest charting debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20.[127][128][129] She followed with a second single "2 Hands" in November which peaked at number 41 on the Hot 100 and 22 in Canada.[130][131][132] Alongside the second single, McRae announced her third studio album, So Close to What, set for release on February 21, 2025, along with plans for the Miss Possessive Tour, to launch a month after the album's release.[133] A third single, "Sports Car", was released in January 2025.[134]
McRae has been described as "the teen dance star turned future pop idol" by i-D,[156] "the new teen queen" by Notion,[149] "Canada's answer to Billie Eilish" by Elle,[148] and "one of pop's bright young hopes" by The Independent.[50]
She has also been noted for her honest lyrics, "impressive" vocals and relatable music.[157][144] Additionally, McRae has received considerable acclaim as a dancer, and has been praised by artist, dancer and choreographer Paula Abdul who declared her a "gift from God",[46] and choreographers such as Stacey Tookey and Blake McGrath, both of whom stated that she's talented beyond her years, with the latter describing her as "one of the best dancers he has ever worked with"[158][22] as well as two-time Emmy winner Travis Wall,[159] who has named her as one of his muses.[160] Margaret Fuhrer of Dance Spirit Magazine described her dancing as virtuosic both technically and artistically.[37] As of March 2024, her YouTube channel has amassed over 1.5 billion views and she has garnered more than 8.4 billion career streams across all platforms.[161][162]
^Sherwin, Amanda (January 1, 2015). "You Should Know: Tate McRae". Dance Spirit. Archived from the original on November 27, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
^Okechukwu, Nmesoma (September 18, 2023). "Tate McRae – greedy". EUPHORIA. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
^Rouhani, Rania Aniftos,Katie Atkinson,Katie Bain,Stephen Daw,Griselda Flores,Josh Glicksman,Lyndsey Havens,Carl Lamarre,Cydney Lee,Jason Lipshutz,Jessica Nicholson,Jessica Roiz,Neena; Aniftos, Rania; Atkinson, Katie; Bain, Katie; Daw, Stephen; Flores, Griselda; Glicksman, Josh; Havens, Lyndsey; Lamarre, Carl (May 15, 2023). "Billboard's 21 Under 21: See Who Made the 2023 List". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)