2013–2018: Dance career McRae was awarded Mini
Best Female Dancer at the
2013 Dance Awards in New York City. After gaining some prominence through social media, she became a brand ambassador for the American dance shoes manufacturer
Capezio. She also voiced Spot Splatter Splash for the
Lalaloopsy (2013–2015) franchise. In 2015, McRae was awarded a two-week scholarship at the
Berlin State Ballet company after winning the silver medal as a soloist and the bronze medal for her duet at the
2015 Youth America Grand Prix. In June 2016, she performed at
Justin Bieber's concert in Calgary for the
Purpose World Tour during Bieber's performance of "Children". In April 2016, McRae performed on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show as part of the DancerPalooza troupe. In June 2016, she took part in the
thirteenth season of American television show
So You Think You Can Dance. While competing for the America's Favorite Dancer title as a non-American, she was mentored by American dancer and actress
Kathryn McCormick. She advanced further in the competition than any other Canadian in the show's history, placing 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." She performed at the
2016 Teen Choice Awards as a finalist from the
SYTYCD cast. She performed again on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2016 as part of the Jump Dance Convention troupe. She was featured on the cover of
Dance Spirit magazine in April 2017. In May 2017, she was featured in a
pas de deux in Alberta Ballet Company's production, "
Our Canada" choreographed by Jean Grand-Maître. 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. For the third time, she won Best Female Dancer at the
2018 Dance Awards in Las Vegas, this time in the Teen category, 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.
2017–2020: Music beginnings and "You Broke Me First" Since its creation in 2011, McRae's
YouTube channel has featured primarily dance videos. However, in 2017, she began a video series showcasing original songs she wrote and recorded in her bedroom. Her singles caught the attention of record labels. and released the singles "Tear Myself Apart", "All My Friends Are Fake" and "Stupid". "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. "Stupid" was certified gold in Canada. 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. Each stop on the tour was sold out. The tour received positive reviews. The song was an international success, peaking within the top ten of the charts in several countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and becoming her first single to chart on the
Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It was also the longest charting song released by a female artist in 2020 on the
Billboard Hot 100, at 38 weeks. She also performed the song on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Towards the end of the year, following the success of "You Broke Me First", she signed a worldwide publishing deal with
Sony/ATV. "Don't Be Sad" in August, and "
R U OK" in December; the latter retroactively became the second single from her second EP. In September, McRae was nominated for the
MTV Video Music Award for Push Best New Artist, and performed "You Broke Me First" at the
VMAs pre-show. That same month, she was also featured on the cover of
Dork magazine. McRae gained notable recognition as a rising artist in 2020, being named
YouTube's Artist on the Rise,
MTV's Push Artist for July, and a
Vevo DSCVR artist. She was also featured on
Billboards 21 Under 21 One to Watch list and named by
Pandora,
The Independent,
NME,
Amazon Music, and
Uproxx as an artist to watch in 2021. In December 2020, she was the youngest person listed in the
Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the music category. In the same month, she was named one of
Rolling Stones top ten biggest breakthrough artists of 2020, and featured on
TikTok's "The Come Up: Emerging Artists" list as one of the top emerging artists on the platform. She was also featured on ''
Harper's Bazaar''s On the Rise series. McRae's rise to mainstream popularity was unusual because much of it happened during early COVID-19 restrictions, which led David Friend, a music reporter at
The Canadian Press, to call her "a bonafide star of the lockdown". Her performances on late night and awards shows were often done in isolation and studios, including the virtual edition of MTV's European music awards. She said this led her to sometimes disassociate herself from the fame she was experiencing in isolation. 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. Upon release, the EP received positive reviews, debuted at number 94 on the US
Billboard 200. 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. The EP was nominated for
Album of the Year and
Pop Album of the Year at the
2022 Juno Awards. McRae received two
Juno Award nominations, In April, McRae featured on the song "
You" alongside
Regard and
Troye Sivan. On May 8, 2021, McRae performed a global virtual show, "Too Young to Be Sad", which was praised. was nominated for the Social Star Award at the
iHeartRadio Music Awards, and featured on the soundtrack of the
Amazon original series
Panic with the track "Darkest Hour". In June, McRae was featured on the song "
U Love U" by
Blackbear, and released the song "
Working" with
Khalid. In October, she was featured on the
Billboard 21 under 21 list for 2021 and
People magazine's One to Watch list for 2021. McRae was featured on the cover of
Numéro in November 2021. "
That Way", a track from her debut EP, experienced a resurgence in late 2021 after going viral on
TikTok and charted in the UK, and Ireland. In September 2021, McRae released a remix of "That Way" with
Jeremy Zucker. 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. In February 2022, McRae released "
She's All I Wanna Be", the second single from her then-forthcoming debut album. 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. That same month, McRae was announced as a brand ambassador for
Maybelline and the face of their new Vinyl Ink liquid lip color. McRae released "
Chaotic" as the third single in March and released "What Would You Do?" as the fourth single in May. McRae announced that her debut album
I Used to Think I Could Fly, would be released on May 27, 2022. The album received positive reviews from music critics and debuted at number three in Canada and 13 in the US. In September 2022, McRae released the follow-up single "Uh Oh". In November, she featured on
Tiësto's "
10:35", released for the opening of the luxury resort
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai. Towards the end of 2022, McRae began to express interest in a more
pop music-oriented sound, describing her forthcoming work a "new chapter".
2023–present: Think Later and So Close to What in 2024 By August 2023, McRae began teasing a new song. On September 15, 2023, she released her song "
Greedy" which became her biggest debut on Spotify to date, and her first top 10 on the Global Spotify Charts. The song peaked at the top of the
Canadian Hot 100, and debuted at the top of the charts in Denmark and Norway. "Greedy" also topped the charts in several other countries, including Australia and the Netherlands, as well as the
Billboard Global 200, making it her first official number one single worldwide. The song also peaked within the top ten in several countries, including France, Iceland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. "Greedy" also became her first song to chart within the top ten of the
Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, peaking at number three. 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. The song was a commercial success and acted as the lead single off her then-upcoming sophomore studio album. In November, she released a follow-up single titled "
Exes", which also peaked top ten in Canada. McRae released her sophomore studio album,
Think Later, on December 8, 2023. The album received positive reviews and was described as a "career-defining shift" for McRae. 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. McRae won the
Juno Award for Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year for "Greedy" at the
2024 Juno Awards. In late 2023, McRae made her
Saturday Night Live debut performing "Greedy" and a then-unreleased song titled "Grave". Throughout the rest of 2023 and early 2024, McRae went on to perform "Greedy" at various award shows including the
Billboard Music Awards, the
2024 NHL All-Star Game, the
Brit Awards, and the
iHeartRadio Music Awards. 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. She followed with a second single "
2 Hands" in November which peaked at number 41 on the Hot 100 and 22 in Canada. Alongside the second single, McRae announced her third studio album,
So Close to What, released on February 21, 2025, along with plans for the
Miss Possessive Tour, which commenced on March 18 of the same year.
So Close to What became McRae's first number one album on
Billboard 200. Her third single, "
Sports Car", was released on January 24, 2025. The song peaked at number nine on the
Canadian Hot 100, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. McRae made her first couch appearance on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on February 25, as an interview guest where she taught him how to do the "It's OK I'm OK" dance. She returned to
The Tonight Show on March 5, 2025, to perform "
Revolving Door", returning as a performer for the third time. She performed on
Saturday Night Live for the second time on March 1, performing "Sports Car" and "Dear God". In May 2025, McRae was featured on
Morgan Wallen's "
What I Want", taken from his studio album ''
I'm the Problem (2025). The song debuted at number one on the Billboard
Hot 100, becoming her first number one single. That same month, "Just Keep Watching" was released, and was included on the F1 soundtrack, which was released on June 27, 2025. The song earned McRae her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording. She performed at the Capital Summertime Ball on Sunday June 15 at Wembley Stadium, in the midst of the Miss Possessive Tour. On September 9, 2025, McRae performed "Revolving Door" and "Sports Car" at the 2025 MTV VMAs and won two awards for "Just Keep Watching". McRae later performed in Las Vegas on September 19, 2025, as part of the iHeartRadio Music Festival. McRae announced a new single, "Tit for Tat", which was released on September 26, 2025, and was reportedly about her ex-boyfriend the Kid Laroi. A deluxe version of So Close to What'' was released on November 21, 2025. In February 2026, she appeared in an advertisement for American broadcaster
NBC's
Winter Olympics coverage. McRae faced backlash for the advertisement from some Canadians, including from actor
Jack Innanen; she responded to the criticism by stating "Y'all know I'm Canada down." == Personal life ==