This podcast episode is part of the Billboard editorial staff’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list. Find our accompanying Tate McRae essay here, and all the rest of our essays and podcasts related to the list here.
Few artists have been gradually growing their pop stardom from year to year this decade like Tate McRae. Since her 2021 chart breakthrough with “You Broke Me First,” she’s gotten a little bigger and a little more self-assured every year, growing as a writer and performer and seeing her audiences swell in turn. But after make our Greatest Pop Stars honorable mentions list in 2024, in 2025, she made the leap from hitmaker to unquestioned A-lister — with multiple long-lasting top 40 hits, a best-selling arena tour, her first Billboard 200 No. 1 album (and thanks to a collab with our No. 8 Greatest Pop Star, her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 as well), and a whole lot of silenced critics.
This Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast looks at how Tate McRae ended up at No. 7 on our list — her first-ever appearance in our top 10 — thanks to a year that saw her putting in the work all across the pop stardom spectrum, and reaping the rewards as a result. (You can find our essay on McRae’s All-Star season here.) Today, Billboard staffers and longtime Tater Tots Kristen Wisneski and Michael Saponara join host Andrew Unterberger to marvel at the resumé of McRae’s 2025, which began triumphantly in January and which she refused to let ever sag in momentum throughout the next 12 months.
While doing so, we ask all the most pressing questions about Tate McRae’s 2025: Why do so many pop fans still seem confused by her pop stardom? Are the fans still seething about her working with Morgan Wallen? Do we care about the details of her and The Kid LAROI’s breakup? If you’re covering a different song every tour stop, is it OK to read the lyrics off your phone? Is she actually the heir apparent to Britney Spears (or is she really more of an Xtina anyway?) And perhaps most importantly: Can there be a permanent place for Tate McRae in a pop landscape that seems to prioritize relatability and conceptuality over bangers and spectacle?
Check it out above, along with a YouTube playlist of some of the greatest moments of Morgan Wallen’s 2025 — all of which are discussed on the pod — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for complete podcast coverage of this year’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list!
And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:
Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe
Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
