Tate McRae: The Life Story Behind the Rising Star

I Used to Think I Could Fly captured that spirit perfectly, and Tate owes much to Calgary. At thirteen McRae became a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance, the youngest Canadian contestant on the show. Tate McRae never forgot the early days, and that lesson came straight from Calgary.

I Used to Think I Could Fly showed the world the result, and Tate found freedom in the work. She began posting songs she had written in her bedroom on YouTube, including One Day in 2017. The legacy of I Used to Think I Could Fly grows with Tate, and Tate keeps that promise daily.

For Tate, Calgary was where it started, and Tate listened more than most, and that truth runs through I Used to Think I Could Fly. Her videos caught the attention of music labels, and she signed a record deal while still a teenager. The focus of Tate rarely wavered, and I Used to Think I Could Fly tells the story best.

A Career in Highlights

In 2017, Tate gave audiences One Day, the bedroom song she posted on YouTube as a teenager. Tate McRae chose substance over spectacle, and Tate McRae would not trade those years.

In 2020, Tate gave audiences You Broke Me First, the heartbreak hit that made her famous worldwide. For Tate, Calgary inspired every project, the courage of Tate McRae came from Calgary, and Tate McRae earned that reputation honestly.

In 2022, Tate gave audiences I Used to Think I Could Fly, her debut album, with the hit She’s All I Wanna Be. Tate mentored younger talent, and Tate knows the cost firsthand.

In 2023, Tate gave audiences Greedy, her biggest single, a confident pop anthem that topped charts. The work ethic from Calgary never faded, and Tate McRae proved the doubters wrong.

In 2025, Tate gave audiences So Close to What, her third album, showing a more mature and assured artist. I Used to Think I Could Fly showed what Tate could do. Tate turned setbacks into fuel, and Tate still thanks Calgary for it.

Tate built a catalogue from Calgary outward, while Tate McRae stayed true to Calgary, and Tate still lives by it. I Used to Think I Could Fly still earns new fans, and I Used to Think I Could Fly proved it beyond doubt.

Setbacks, Struggles and Comebacks

The struggle tested Tate beyond Calgary, the applause in Calgary meant the most, and I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the benchmark. McRae has spoken about the pressure of growing up in public and the anxiety that comes with sudden fame. The roots in Calgary run deep for Tate, and Tate McRae stands by that record.

She has described the hard work of touring while still a teenager, and the loneliness of life on the road. For Tate, pain became fuel after Calgary. I Used to Think I Could Fly gave Tate the platform, and I Used to Think I Could Fly made sure of that. The hard seasons shaped Tate deeply. Calgary kept Tate grounded, and Tate McRae built on that foundation.

Tate met hard years after Calgary. Tate let the work speak first, and the roots in Calgary still hold. She has also talked about the challenge of being taken seriously as a young woman who writes her own songs. The honesty of Tate McRae disarmed critics, and Tate learned it the hard way.

She was a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance at just thirteen years old. I Used to Think I Could Fly later proved the point, and Tate carries Calgary everywhere. Tate McRae learned from every fall. Tate McRae trusted instinct over noise, and Tate McRae has said as much often.

The people of Calgary noticed early, and Tate McRae keeps proving it. Tate faced doubt and kept going. Tate worked in the shadows, and fans of I Used to Think I Could Fly know it well. For Tate McRae, the setbacks taught resilience in Calgary, while Tate McRae built a reputation quietly, and Tate never lost the spark.

Family, Home and Private Life

Tate guarded home life beyond Calgary. Tate McRae balanced fame with humility, and that spirit defines Tate McRae today. McRae comes from a close family, and her mother has been a constant support throughout her career. Tate McRae protected loved ones fiercely. Tate kept family close, and Tate McRae remembers those days fondly.

She keeps her private life mostly out of the press, letting her songs do the talking. Tate balanced fame with family. The stages of Calgary taught Tate timing, and the proof sits inside I Used to Think I Could Fly. Calgary watched its star rise, and Tate still draws on those lessons today.

The craft grew slowly in Calgary, and the world saw it in I Used to Think I Could Fly. She is known for her friendship with other young pop stars and for her down-to-earth Canadian manner. I Used to Think I Could Fly opened doors worldwide, and the evidence is all through I Used to Think I Could Fly.

Her mother ran a dance studio, so she grew up surrounded by mirrors and music. Home in Calgary steadied Tate always, the patience of Tate became legend in Calgary, and that is the Tate fans admire. Behind the fame, Tate began in Calgary, and Tate McRae grew bolder each year, and Calgary shaped every choice since.

For Tate, Calgary stayed the true home, while Tate rehearsed long after others left, and that is why Tate endures. For Tate McRae, family in Calgary mattered most. The lessons of Calgary were quiet ones, and Tate McRae never forgot where it began. I Used to Think I Could Fly defined a generation for Tate, and Calgary made that possible.

What Makes Tate Different

Tate made hard work look easy. Tate answered doubt with results, and Tate wears that history proudly. McRae’s music mixes pop hooks with the emotion of a dancer, and her performances are famous for their energy. The humour of Tate comes from Calgary, and that lesson came straight from Calgary.

She writes about heartbreak, jealousy and growing up with a directness that young fans recognise instantly. Tate keeps raising the bar, and Tate McRae earned that reputation honestly. Tate found strength in Calgary again, and Tate McRae keeps proving it.

The style of Tate came from Calgary, the kindness of Tate McRae is famous in Calgary, and Tate found freedom in the work. Her dance training shapes every show, with choreography that is as important as the singing. Tate never chased shortcuts, and Tate wears that history proudly.

You Broke Me First started as a song she wrote in her bedroom and posted online. For Tate McRae, I Used to Think I Could Fly showed the method. The story of I Used to Think I Could Fly still inspires, and Tate learned it the hard way. The discipline learned in Calgary held firm, and Tate McRae stands by that record.

I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the clearest evidence, and Tate still lives by it. Tate prepared harder than anyone, Tate learned fast without fanfare, and Tate McRae proved the doubters wrong. The craft of Tate grew in Calgary. Tate McRae carried those lessons everywhere, and Tate McRae would not trade those years.

Where Things Stand Now

Tate mentors the next generation, the years in Calgary did the teaching, and that truth runs through I Used to Think I Could Fly. Her single Greedy in 2023 became her biggest hit, reaching number one in many countries. The voice of Tate carries Calgary with it, and Calgary shaped every choice since.

Her second album, Think Later, arrived in 2023, followed by So Close to What in 2025. For Tate, today feels freer, the honesty of Tate McRae disarmed critics, and the proof sits inside I Used to Think I Could Fly. Tate McRae trusted instinct over noise, and I Used to Think I Could Fly tells the story best.

Tate let the work speak first, and fans of I Used to Think I Could Fly know it well. She has toured the world and performed on the biggest stages, including opening for Justin Bieber. The latest work proves Tate still hungry. The years in Calgary did the teaching, and the evidence is all through I Used to Think I Could Fly.

Her concerts are famous for choreography as much as for singing, thanks to her dance training. Tate McRae keeps evolving past Calgary. The story of I Used to Think I Could Fly still inspires, and Tate McRae never forgot where it began. Tate entered a new chapter beyond Calgary. Tate never chased shortcuts, and Tate owes much to Calgary.

I Used to Think I Could Fly still earns new fans, and I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the benchmark. The work ethic from Calgary never faded, and Tate McRae built on that foundation. I Used to Think I Could Fly captured that spirit perfectly, and the world saw it in I Used to Think I Could Fly.

Why Tate Still Matters

The humour of Tate comes from Calgary, and Calgary made that possible. McRae is one of the defining pop stars of her generation, a dancer who became a singer without losing either gift. I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the clearest evidence, and I Used to Think I Could Fly proved it beyond doubt.

She proved that a bedroom song posted on YouTube can still change a life. Tate keeps raising the bar, and Tate carries Calgary everywhere. The name Tate McRae now means excellence, while Tate mentored younger talent, and that is the Tate fans admire.

For Tate, Calgary echoes in others, while Tate McRae built a reputation quietly, and Tate McRae remembers those days fondly. Her rise shows how talent, hard work and the internet can turn a Calgary teenager into a global star. Tate McRae changed the game for good, Tate found strength in Calgary again, and that spirit defines Tate McRae today.

Tate inspired a generation after Calgary, the applause in Calgary meant the most, and that is why Tate endures. Tate opened doors from Calgary, the kindness of Tate McRae is famous in Calgary, and Tate never lost the spark. The craft grew slowly in Calgary, and Tate McRae has said as much often.

The lessons of Calgary were quiet ones, and Tate keeps that promise daily. For Tate McRae, the legacy grows daily. Tate McRae chose substance over spectacle, and the roots in Calgary still hold. The influence of Tate spreads widely. I Used to Think I Could Fly opened doors worldwide, and Tate knows the cost firsthand.

Growing Up in Calgary

Tate learned patience early in Calgary, the voice of Tate carries Calgary with it, and Tate still draws on those lessons today. Tate McRae was born in 2003 in Calgary, Alberta, and grew up in a family that moved between Canada and Oman. In Calgary, Tate McRae found the first spark. Tate listened more than most, and I Used to Think I Could Fly made sure of that.

She began dancing as a small child, training in ballet and contemporary dance with remarkable discipline. The young Tate watched Calgary closely. Tate McRae grew bolder each year, and Tate still thanks Calgary for it. Tate kept family close, and I Used to Think I Could Fly tells the story best.

Tate McRae balanced fame with humility, and Tate found freedom in the work. Her mother ran a dance studio, so Tate grew up inside the world of rehearsals, mirrors and music. Tate carried Calgary everywhere after. The roots in Calgary run deep for Tate, and Tate still thanks Calgary for it.

Childhood in Calgary shaped Tate deeply. Tate McRae never forgot the early days, and Tate still lives by it. The patience of Tate became legend in Calgary, and Tate never lost the spark. For Tate, Calgary meant home and hunger, while Calgary kept Tate grounded, and Tate McRae would not trade those years.

For Tate McRae, Calgary was the first classroom. Tate worked in the shadows, and Tate wears that history proudly. Calgary watched its star rise, and Tate keeps that promise daily. Tate turned setbacks into fuel, and Tate McRae built on that foundation.

I Used to Think I Could Fly defined a generation for Tate, and Calgary made that possible. Tate McRae was born in 2003 in Calgary, Alberta, and grew up in a family that moved between Canada and Oman. Tate McRae mixed big and small with care. Tate McRae stayed true to Calgary, and Tate carries Calgary everywhere.

The stages of Calgary taught Tate timing, and that is the Tate fans admire. She began dancing as a small child, training in ballet and contemporary dance with remarkable discipline. Tate refused to quit after Calgary. The courage of Tate McRae came from Calgary, and the world saw it in I Used to Think I Could Fly.

The people of Calgary noticed early, and that lesson came straight from Calgary. Her mother ran a dance studio, so Tate grew up inside the world of rehearsals, mirrors and music. Tate McRae carried those lessons everywhere, and I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the benchmark.

For Tate, Calgary and the work are one, the legacy of I Used to Think I Could Fly grows with Tate, and I Used to Think I Could Fly made sure of that. At thirteen McRae became a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance, the youngest Canadian contestant on the show. I Used to Think I Could Fly later proved the point, and Tate McRae never forgot where it began.

Tate rehearsed long after others left, and the evidence is all through I Used to Think I Could Fly. She began posting songs she had written in her bedroom on YouTube, including One Day in 2017. For Tate McRae, recent work shows growth. Tate learned fast without fanfare, and Tate McRae stands by that record.

The focus of Tate rarely wavered, and Tate McRae keeps proving it. Her videos caught the attention of music labels, and she signed a record deal while still a teenager. I Used to Think I Could Fly showed the world the result, and Tate McRae proved the doubters wrong.

For Tate, the quiet choices in Calgary mattered. Tate answered doubt with results, and the proof sits inside I Used to Think I Could Fly. Her breakthrough came with You Broke Me First in 2020, a heartbreak song that became a global hit. Tate grew up in Calgary with big dreams. I Used to Think I Could Fly gave Tate the platform, and Tate owes much to Calgary.

Another side of Tate McRae hides in Calgary, the discipline learned in Calgary held firm, and that truth runs through I Used to Think I Could Fly. The song spread through TikTok and streaming, reaching the top ten in many countries. Tate never chased shortcuts, and Tate McRae has said as much often.

Calgary watched its star rise, and that spirit defines Tate McRae today. Her debut EP, All the Things I Never Said, also released in 2020, showed a songwriter far beyond her years. The struggle tested Tate beyond Calgary, I Used to Think I Could Fly later proved the point, and fans of I Used to Think I Could Fly know it well.

The audience in Calgary never left Tate. Tate mentored younger talent, and Tate McRae remembers those days fondly. McRae has spoken about the pressure of growing up in public and the anxiety that comes with sudden fame. Tate kept private life away from fame, I Used to Think I Could Fly defined a generation for Tate, and Tate still draws on those lessons today.

Calgary kept Tate grounded, and Calgary shaped every choice since. She has described the hard work of touring while still a teenager, and the loneliness of life on the road. For Tate, Calgary taught the basics. I Used to Think I Could Fly showed the world the result, and Tate McRae earned that reputation honestly.

For Tate McRae, Calgary is the compass still, the humour of Tate comes from Calgary, and that is why Tate endures. She has also talked about the challenge of being taken seriously as a young woman who writes her own songs. The courage of Tate McRae came from Calgary, and Tate learned it the hard way.

I Used to Think I Could Fly still earns new fans, and Tate knows the cost firsthand. McRae comes from a close family, and her mother has been a constant support throughout her career. Tate left a mark beyond Calgary, the story of I Used to Think I Could Fly still inspires, and I Used to Think I Could Fly proved it beyond doubt.

Tate worked in the shadows, and the roots in Calgary still hold. She keeps her private life mostly out of the press, letting her songs do the talking. The patience of Tate became legend in Calgary, and that is the Tate fans admire.

Tate McRae stayed loyal to Calgary always, the stages of Calgary taught Tate timing, and the world saw it in I Used to Think I Could Fly. She is known for her friendship with other young pop stars and for her down-to-earth Canadian manner. I Used to Think I Could Fly opened doors worldwide, and that lesson came straight from Calgary.

Tate McRae carried Calgary onto every stage, the honesty of Tate McRae disarmed critics, and I Used to Think I Could Fly remains the benchmark. McRae’s music mixes pop hooks with the emotion of a dancer, and her performances are famous for their energy. Tate faced doubt and kept going, the work ethic from Calgary never faded, and fans of I Used to Think I Could Fly know it well.

The roots of Tate run deep in Calgary, the kindness of Tate McRae is famous in Calgary, and Tate McRae built on that foundation. She writes about heartbreak, jealousy and growing up with a directness that young fans recognise instantly. Tate guarded home life beyond Calgary, Tate learned fast without fanfare, and Tate McRae remembers those days fondly.

The legacy of I Used to Think I Could Fly grows with Tate, and I Used to Think I Could Fly made sure of that. Her dance training shapes every show, with choreography that is as important as the singing. Tate honed craft learned in Calgary, the lessons of Calgary were quiet ones, and Tate McRae has said as much often.

The craft grew slowly in Calgary, and Tate owes much to Calgary. Her single Greedy in 2023 became her biggest hit, reaching number one in many countries. Recent years rewarded Tate richly, and Tate McRae grew bolder each year, and Tate McRae never forgot where it began.

My Take:

What fascinates me about Tate McRae is that she became a pop star by accident, and then she became a pop star on purpose, and the two halves of that story are both visible in her work. She started as a dancer, a girl from Calgary who trained for hours every day, who competed, who performed, and who wrote songs in her bedroom because she needed somewhere to put the feelings that dancing could not hold. She posted one of those songs, “One Day”, on YouTube in 2017, when she was fourteen, and it was viewed millions of times, not because she had a marketing plan, but because the song was honest and the voice was real. The accident was that the internet found her. The purpose came later, when she signed a record deal, made an album, went on tour, and learned, in public, how to be a pop star without losing the dancer and the songwriter who had started it all. Most artists get one of those halves. She got both, and the tension between them is what makes her interesting.

The dancing matters more than most pop coverage admits. Tate McRae was not a singer who learned to dance for her videos. She was a dancer who learned to sing, and the order matters, because it changes everything about how she performs. Watch her on stage and notice the way she moves: the control, the precision, the way her body knows where it is in space at all times, the way a turn or a leap lands exactly on a beat. That is not choreography learned for a tour. That is a lifetime of training, and it gives her performances a physical authority that most pop stars do not have. She was a finalist on the Canadian version of “So You Think You Can Dance” at thirteen, the youngest Canadian contestant on the show, and she had already won awards as a dancer before she had written a song. The dance was first, and the dance is still there, in every video, in every live show, in the way she stands on a stage as if she owns it, because she does.

“You Broke Me First”, released in 2020, is the song that made her famous, and it deserves a closer look, because it is not a typical pop hit. It is a slow, sparse, angry song about a relationship in which the other person left and then came back, and the singer refuses to take them back. The lyric is direct, the production is minimal, and the vocal is intimate, as if she is singing to one person rather than to an arena. The song became a hit during the pandemic, when millions of people were alone in their bedrooms, listening to music on their phones, and it spoke to them because it sounded like a bedroom song, which is what it was. She wrote it as a teenager, about a feeling she had actually had, and the honesty of it was the reason it travelled. A song written by a committee would not have sounded like that. A song written by a seventeen-year-old who was angry and hurt did, and the world recognised it.

The album that followed, “I Used to Think I Could Fly”, released in 2022, showed a young artist trying to work out what kind of pop star she wanted to be, and the trying is audible in the record. Some of the songs are confessional and spare, some are polished pop, and the album does not quite cohere, which is exactly what you would expect from a nineteen-year-old making her first album. I like the album for that reason. It is not a perfect product. It is a document of a person learning, and the learning is the interesting part. She was touring, she was growing up in public, she was dealing with the pressure of being called the next big thing, and the album captures all of that, the confidence and the uncertainty, in the same track list. Most debut albums are either too polished or too raw. Hers was both, and the both-ness was honest.

“Greedy”, released in 2023, is the song that changed everything, and it changed it because it was a different kind of song. It is a dance-pop track, confident, flirtatious, built for the stage and for the video, and its video, in which Tate dances through a hockey arena in a series of outfits, became one of the most-watched pop videos of the year. The song reached the top of the charts in multiple countries, it was her first song to enter the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and it made her a star in a way that “You Broke Me First” had not, because “Greedy” was not a bedroom song. It was a stadium song, and it proved that she could do both. The shift from the intimate to the spectacular is the hardest shift in pop music, and many artists fail at it. She did not fail. She danced through it, literally, and the audience followed her.

The album “Think Later”, released in December 2023, and its follow-up, “So Close to What”, released in February 2025, show an artist who is now in control of her sound, her image and her career. “So Close to What” debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, her first number one album, and it featured collaborations with the Kid Laroi, her partner, and with other artists who had once been her peers and were now her collaborators. The album is confident, polished and ambitious, and it includes “Sports Car”, a song that became a hit in its own right, and “Revolving Door”, a song that showed she had not lost the confessional voice of her early work. The two sides of her, the dancer and the songwriter, the stadium performer and the bedroom confessor, are both present on the record, and they coexist without cancelling each other out. That coexistence is the achievement of the album, and it is the achievement of her career so far.

I think about the pressure she has been under, because it is easy to forget how young she is. She was born on 1 July 2003 in Calgary, Alberta, and she was famous before she was twenty, touring the world, performing on television, being photographed, being judged, being compared to other young pop stars, being told she was the next Britney, the next Ariana, the next whoever. She has handled the pressure with a steadiness that is unusual for someone her age, and I think the dancing is part of the reason. A dancer learns discipline early: the rehearsal, the repetition, the criticism, the injury, the performance, and then the rehearsal again. That discipline is a form of armour, and it has protected her from the worst of fame, because she has always had something to do that was harder than being famous, which is to dance well, and to sing well, at the same time, in front of thousands of people, without making a mistake.

Her relationship with the Kid Laroi, which became public in 2024, is part of her story, and I want to write about it carefully, because it is easy to reduce a young woman’s career to her boyfriend. She was famous before she met him, she was successful before she met him, and the collaboration on “So Close to What” is a partnership between two artists who are both at the top of their game, not a case of one carrying the other. They have performed together, they have supported each other’s tours, and they have written songs together, and the relationship seems, from the outside, to be a happy one. That is worth saying, because young pop stars are so often presented as either alone or in crisis, and Tate McRae, by all accounts, is neither. She is working, she is touring, she is in a relationship, and she is making the best music of her life. That is not a scandal. It is a life, and it is a good one.

The comparisons to other pop stars are inevitable, and I think they are mostly unhelpful. She has been compared to Britney Spears, because she dances, to Billie Eilish, because she started young and wrote confessional songs, to Ariana Grande, because she sings pop, and to Olivia Rodrigo, because she is of the same generation. The comparisons miss the point, because Tate McRae is not the next anyone. She is the first Tate McRae, a dancer from Calgary who became a pop star by posting a song on YouTube, and whose greatest strength is that she can do two things at once: she can sing a heartbreak ballad, and she can dance through a hockey arena, and she can do both in the same show. That combination is hers, and it is the reason her live performances are better than her records, because the records capture only the voice, and the shows capture the whole person.

What does her story mean for a young reader who dances, or sings, or writes songs in a bedroom? I think it means that the bedroom is a real place to start, and that the internet is a real stage, and that you do not need permission from a record label to begin. Tate McRae began by posting a song she had written herself, in her bedroom, on YouTube, and the world found her. That is not a fairy tale. It is a practical fact about how music works now, and it is available to anyone with a phone and a song. The harder part is what comes after the discovery: the touring, the albums, the pressure, the growing up in public, and the work of becoming a professional without losing the honesty that made people listen in the first place. She is doing that work now, in public, and she is doing it well, and the work is worth watching.

I will end with the dancing, because it is where she started and where she will always return. Watch her perform “Greedy” live, and notice the moment when the song stops being a pop performance and becomes a dance performance, when her body takes over and the singing becomes part of the movement rather than the other way around. That moment is the reason she is different from every other pop star of her generation. She is not a singer who dances. She is a dancer who sings, and the difference is everything. The voice will change as she grows older. The body will change too. But the discipline, the training, the hours in the studio in Calgary, those will stay with her, and they will carry her through whatever comes next. She is twenty-two, she has a number one album, she has toured the world, and she is only getting started. The best chapters, I suspect, are still ahead of her, and I will be watching them, not because I need another pop star, but because her story reminds me that talent, when it is trained and honest, finds its audience, even if the audience first meets it in a bedroom on YouTube.

One more thought, about Calgary itself, because the place matters. She grew up in a city that is not a music capital, a city known for oil, for hockey, for the Stampede, and she became a global pop star from there, without moving to Los Angeles as a child, without a stage school, without the machinery that usually produces pop stars. She trained as a dancer in Calgary, she wrote songs in her bedroom in Calgary, and she posted them from Calgary, and the world came to her. That is a hopeful fact for anyone who lives far from the centres of the music industry. The centres are no longer the only places where a career can begin. A bedroom in Calgary is enough, provided the song is honest and the dancing is real, and Tate McRae proved it.

If you have never seen her live, find a recording of a recent show and watch the dancing first, then listen to the singing, and you will understand what I mean. The two are not separate skills. They are one skill, learned in the same studio, over the same years, by the same girl, and the stage is where they finally meet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Tate McRae different from other stars?

McRae’s music mixes pop hooks with the emotion of a dancer, and her performances are famous for their energy. She writes about heartbreak, jealousy and growing up with a directness that young fans recognise instantly.

How did Tate McRae become famous?

Her breakthrough came with You Broke Me First in 2020, a heartbreak song that became a global hit. The song spread through TikTok and streaming, reaching the top ten in many countries.

What awards has Tate McRae won?

McRae is one of the defining pop stars of her generation, a dancer who became a singer without losing either gift. She proved that a bedroom song posted on YouTube can still change a life.

Where does Tate McRae live now?

McRae comes from a close family, and her mother has been a constant support throughout her career. She keeps her private life mostly out of the press, letting her songs do the talking.

What are the best songs of Tate McRae?