Exclusive feeling before the show: These are Tate McRae’s 7 best soundcheck covers.
On March 18, Tate McRae kicked off her first arena tour in Mexico City with the “Miss Possessive” tour. The 22-year-old singer and dancer is starting a new chapter after the success of last year’s “Think Later” world tour and her third studio album SO CLOSE TO WHAT (2025).
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For the “Miss Possessive” tour, McRae added a personal touch: Anyone who has a VIP ticket has the chance to share intimate moments with the musician before the official show begins. At every soundcheck she covers songs from other artists, and occasionally she also performs her own. Fans can also ask her questions during a private Q&A – a rare, up-close opportunity to see the singer in person.
VIP ticket holders regularly exchange information about the shows in fan forums and everyone is enthusiastic about McRae’s campaign. “It’s so nice that she takes the time to get to know her community and gives us the chance to see the person behind the performer,” writes one Reddit user. The soundcheck shows themselves are particularly popular: the videos of the individual cover versions are widely shared, and fans agree – Tate McRae transforms a technical to-do into an intimate experience for them and their audience.
Each song during the mini-concert varies depending on the city. We have selected the seven most beautiful Tate McRae covers.
1. “Means I Care” – Tate McRae
The 22-year-old began the European part of her first arena tour with a cover of herself. “Means I Care” was released on their latest album SO CLOSE TO WHAT in 2025 and is one of the absolute fan favorites. While the studio version is carried by a driving beat, McRae transforms the song into a melancholic-sounding acoustic piece in her soundcheck version.
2. “Special” – SZA
At her show in Manchester, she played her fans a song that she said was “one of my favorite songs of hers” – meaning the R&B singer SZA, who wrote “Special” (2022), a melancholic pop-folk ballad about the feeling of being overlooked and taken advantage of by an ex. McRae once again brings a rather melancholic piece to the sound check stage. And the fans love it, because as we all know, a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved, especially when you can share it with Tate McRae.
3. “the 1” – Taylor Swift
Fans in Stuttgart, Dublin and Cologne had the chance to hear Tate McRae’s cover version of “the 1” – one of the many ballads from Taylor Swift’s acclaimed FOLKLORE album (2020). Apparently the song is not only a fan favorite, but is also one of Mcrae’s personal comfort tracks.
4. “Video Games” – Lana Del Rey
In Winnipeg, Canada, the singer performed the song that touched millions in 2012: “Video Games” by Lana Del Rey. After 13 years, Del Rey’s lines are still moving – McRae as well as her fans. So far she has only covered the ballad once; So the VIP ticket holders in Canada were very lucky.
5. “Season of the Sticks” – Noah Kahan
Noah Kahan thrilled the world with his tragically beautiful ballad “Season of the Sticks” (2022). The song gained additional attention through Olivia Rodrigo’s cover a year later. Tate McRae was also inspired by it and performed it at the sound check at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
6. “Fix You” – Coldplay
In 2005, Chris Martin wrote one of the most famous love songs of the last 20 years. At her second show at Madison Square Garden, McRae surprised her fans with a moving version of the song. “This wasn’t on my bingo card for the tour,” someone commented under the shots. Coldplay’s “Fix You” quickly became an evergreen cover among McRae’s fans.
7. “Back to Friends” – sombr
With his catchy breakup song “Back to Friends”, the musician sombr 2025 brought indie sleaze back into the hearts of many. No wonder Tate McRae couldn’t get past it either. At her show in Detroit, she turned the hit into an acoustic version.
This is Tate Mcrae
The 22-year-old Canadian Tate McRae has been one of the most important new voices in pop music since her breakthrough with “You Broke Me First” (2020). Born in Calgary in 2003, she began her career as a dancer and became known through the casting format “So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation” before launching her music career via YouTube and TikTok. Their sound ranges from emotional pop to dance elements and covers topics such as self-doubt, relationships and insecurity. Thanks to her approachable lyrics, McRae was able to quickly build up a loyal fan community, to whom she gives intimate moments with her sound check concerts, for example.
Her debut album I USED TO THINK I COULD FLY (2022) landed in the charts, and with THINK LATER (2023) she was able to establish herself as a global pop artist.
The musician will be on tour until November 8th. After completing the arena tour, McRae will have played a total of 83 concerts – and therefore 83 soundcheck concerts with at least 20 different cover versions. Fans are already speculating online whether this could result in a cover album. For example, a fan wrote under a video of the sombr cover: “I need this on Spotify, urgently!” The comment received over 200 likes – so the demand would be there.