Tate Mcrae: A 22-Year-Old Voice Behind TikTok’s Favorite Hooks

The rise of 22-year-old Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer Tate Rosner McRae is anything but ordinary. She first stepped into the spotlight in 2016 as the first Canadian finalist on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation.

After earning millions of views on YouTube for her original songs, McRae pivoted from dance to music. Today, the hitmaker is considered one of pop's brightest young stars.

Tate Rosner McRae was born in Calgary, Alberta, on July 1, 2003. Her mother, Tanja Rosner, is a dance instructor, and her father, Todd McRae, is a lawyer for oil and gas companies.

Her mom owned a dance studio until Tate was two years old. Due to her father's job, the family relocated to Oman when she was three, where she attended the American International School of Muscat (AISM).

While in Oman, McRae’s mom taught dance classes and encouraged her daughter to join in. At six, McRae was enrolled in formal dance lessons.

The family returned to Calgary when she was eight, and that’s when her structured training began. She studied ballet, jazz, hip-hop, ballroom, and contemporary dance.

She took daily ballet classes with Alberta Ballet School’s Professional Division and spent seven to eight hours a week on jazz and contemporary technique with YYC Dance Project.

McRae also took weekly voice lessons and rhythmic coaching. By age nine, she was dancing competitively and earned a silver medal at the Youth America Grand Prix, performing a classical pas de deux.

At 11, she appeared in the “Rule The World” music video by Walk Off the Earth, choreographed by Blake McGrath, alongside Broadway’s Myles Erlick (per Dance Informa).

Between 2013 and 2018, McRae’s dance career surged. At 10, she won Mini Best Female Dancer at the 2013 Dance Awards in New York City and became a Capezio brand ambassador.

Dance Spirit reports that in 2014 she was a finalist at the New York City Dance Alliance National Gala and booked a voice role. The next year, she earned a two‑week scholarship with the Berlin State Ballet after taking silver for her solo and bronze for her duet at the 2015 Youth America Grand Prix.

She picked up a second Best Female Dancer honor that same year (per Dance Spirit). In 2016, she performed during Justin Bieber’s Purpose World Tour stop in Calgary and appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with the DancerPalooza troupe, Dance Spirit noted.

She joined So You Think You Can Dance Season 13, mentored by Kathryn McCormick, and finished third, as reported by CTV News.

The TV exposure led to performances at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards and a 2017 cover feature in Dance Spirit. She also rehearsed with Demi Lovato’s dancers after performing to “Tell Me You Love Me” (via Stupid Dope).

McRae later claimed a third Best Female Dancer title at the 2018 Dance Awards and choreographed the video for Nothing More’s “Just Say When.”

While her YouTube channel primarily consisted of dance videos, McRae began posting a series of original songs she sang in her bedroom in 2017, titled Create With Tate. In just over a year, she had gained over 1.7 million subscribers and 130 million video views on her YouTube channel.

Three years after its initial release, her first song, “One Day,” became a hit, garnering 32 million views and eventually being certified gold in Canada (per Music Canada). Between 2017 and 2019, she released the tracks “don’t be sad”, “you broke me first”, and “vicious”, which were set to feature on McRae’s forthcoming EP.

The consistent release of original music earned her the title of YouTube Artist On The Rise. Music Connection reported that she signed with RCA Records in 2019 and subsequently released her single “tear myself apart.”

Tate McRae released her debut EP, titled "All the Things I Never Said," in January 2020. The extended play featured her breakout single “stupid” as well as “all my friends are fake” and “that way”.

The record also featured a track co-written by Billie Eilish, entitled “tear myself apart.” Other collaborations on the EP include McRae featuring on SAYGRACE’s single, “Boys Ain’t Shit”, alongside Audrey Mika (per NME).

The dancer-turned-singer proceeded to announce her All the Things I Never Said Tour. McRae was set to play a trio of sold-out European tour dates, which consisted of two gigs in Berlin and Amsterdam, before a show at The Camden Assembly in London on February 5, 2020.

She also announced a North American leg of her tour, which commenced in April of that year (per NME).

In April 2020, McRae dropped “you broke me first,” the single that anchored her second EP. Billboard reports it became her first entry on the Hot 100, peaking at number 17, and it logged a record-setting 28-week climb to number one on a key chart benchmark.

The hit’s certifications stacked up across markets, and it cleared one billion global streams (per Out Now Magazine).

Music Business Worldwide confirmed she signed a worldwide publishing deal with Sony/ATV at the end of 2020. Several standalone tracks also arrived that year, including “Vicious,” “Don’t Be Sad,” “Lie to Me,” and “R U Ok,” as noted by Billboard.

She earned a nomination for MTV’s Push Best New Artist and performed “you broke me first” during the VMAs pre-show (via Billboard). She later appeared on Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list in 2021 and became the youngest name on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in music.

CityNews reported that much of her rise unfolded during the pandemic, with late-night performances often staged in isolation. Her second EP, Too Young to Be Sad, arrived on March 26, 2021, and debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard 200. By year’s end, it had surpassed one billion Spotify streams and was described by her team as the most-streamed EP by a female artist that year.

McRae’s debut album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, arrived in May 2022 and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200. Its standout, “she’s all i wanna be,” spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 (per Billboard).

She returned in September 2023 with “greedy,” which marked her biggest Spotify debut and landed on the Billboard Global 200. The track also became her first top ten entry on the Hot 100, as reported by Billboard.

Her second album, "Think Later," was released on December 8, 2023. Rolling Stone called it a “career defining shift” for the rising star.

McRae then swept Artist of the Year and Single of the Year for “Greedy” at the 2024 Juno Awards (via Billboard). In September 2024, she released “It’s OK I’m OK,” which entered the charts as the highest-charting debut of the week and peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100.

A month later, she issued “2 Hands” and announced her third album, So Close to What, released February 21, 2025. Rolling Stone reports the set became her first number one on the Billboard 200.

“Sports Car” was released on January 24, 2025, reaching number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 and topping the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK. She launched her first arena tour, the Miss Possessive Tour, on March 18, 2025, spanning South America and Europe (according to NME).

In May 2025, she earned her first Hot 100 number one when Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want,” featuring McRae, debuted at the top spot, as reported by Billboard. That same month, she released “Just Keep Watching,” part of the F1 soundtrack.

McRae and The Kid LAROI went Instagram official in July 2024 after being linked that January. In a November 2024 chat with Mitch Churi, she said they were acquaintances for years before dating: “We honestly weren’t the closest of friends, we were kind of like acquaintances, we always had awkward encounters. Every encounter we had was just really awkward, and then yeah, something just clicked.”

People report that the pair seemingly split in July 2025, after more than a year together. Professionally, McRae is deep into the Miss Possessive Tour across North America, with dates from Saint Paul to Orlando and a planned finale at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles in November 2025 (via Cosmopolitan).

At 22, she has already carved out a serious lane in pop. Expect more new music and headline dates as the tour rolls on.

Yes. Pride interviewed McRae in February 2025 and published her comments praising her LGBTQ+ fans, including, “My whole team is gay! That’s the only opinion I really want when I’m releasing music. I feel lucky that I have their opinion. We want to do the most and push the boundaries, but it’s also the most brutally honest advice.” (Pride).

Tate McRae is half Scottish and German. Her mother is of German descent, and her father is of Scottish descent (per Tate McRae Fandom).

No, Tate McRae’s real name is not Tatiana. However, as revealed in an interview with Billboard, Tatiana is her onstage alter ego (per KS95).