Friday, January 24, 2025

Tate McRae “Sports Car” released

Sports Car

Tate McRae

Writer(s): Tate McRae, Julia Michaels, Ryan Tedder, Grant Boutin (see lyrics here)

Released: January 24, 2025

First Charted: February 5, 2025

Peak: 16 BB, 1¹ RR, 11 A40, 3 UK, 9 CN, 8 AU (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 1.92 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 77.13 video, 697.91 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Singer/songwriter and dancer Tate McRae was born in Canada in 2003. In 2016, she was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance. She charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020 with “You Broke Me First” (#16). She released her first album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, in 2022. Her next album, 2023’s Think Later, gave McRae her biggest hit yet with “Greedy” (#3, Billboard Hot 100).

Her next album, 2025’s So Close to What, sent three songs into Billboard’s top 40. The most successful was “Sports Car” (#16), a “blunt message here is that there are few greater pleasure enhancers than a fat wallet, particularly if you can uh-uh in its spoils.” ^PF

“Her minimalist sex song of tire squeaks, engine revs, and ASMR-whispered findom demands.” ^PF It “might be the most emblematic of her skill set as a modern hitmaker: a slick, combustible banger that translates to both top 40 radio and a choreo-heavy arena show. McRae stays comfortable with her flirtatious cooing in the opening chorus, then drops the hammer: a whisper chorus, both audacious and undeniable.” ^BB’25

“Sports Car” shares the “hyper-sexual” ^RS’25 quality of the Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait (The Whisper Song),” released two decades earlier. “Sports Car” also “has a whisper chorus…and plenty of her own horny lines – most memorably ‘So good it hurts / Thinkin’ ’bout what we did before this verse.’ Sonically, it echoes Y2K pop like Nelly Furtado and Britney Spears, but with a fresh update.” ^RS’25

Resources:

^BB’25 Billboard (12/11/2025). “The 100 Best Songs of 2025: Staff Picks”
^PF Pitchfork.com (12/1/2025). “The 100 Best Songs of 2025”
^RS’25 Rolling Stone (12/4/2025). “The 100 Best Songs of 2025”

The Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductees, 1969-2025

Songwriters Hall of Fame:

1969-2025

Songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond established the Hall in 1969. As the website says, “To be nominated for induction…a songwriter must have been active for a minimum of 20 years and have written an extensive catalogue of hit songs. Once candidates are determined, ballots are sent to the members of the National Academy of Popular Music, which comprises songwriters and other music industry professionals.”

There were no awards given in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Hall has also given out special awards (noted in listing below by two-letter code after award name), including:

Johnny Mercer Award (JM) 1980-2022. Given to previous inductees (with the exception of Frank Sinatra) who have been determined by the nominating committee to have “established a history of outstanding creative works.” Personally, this seems like an unnecessary award designed to create double inductees. Noted in list below as JM.
Sammy Cahn Award (SC). 1980-2012. Given “to individuals or teams who are recognized as having done a great deal to further the successes of songwriters.”
Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award (HR). 1981-2018. Acknowledges “artists or ‘star makers’ in the music industry who have been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs for an extended period of time.”
Hal David Starlight Award (HD). 2004-2023. Honors “gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.”
Pioneer Award (PA). 2012-2013. Established to “recognize the career of a historic creator of an extensive body of musical work that has been a major influence on generations of songwriters.”
Contemporary Icon Award (CI). 2015-2019. Established “to celebrate a songwriter-artist who has attained an iconic status in pop culture.”

Here are the inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (and recipients of special awards – noted by two-letter codes). Note: click on the name to see the act’s bio in Dave’s Music Database Music Maker Encyclopedia. Click on “bio” to see the act’s bio at the Songwriters Hall of Fame website.

Click here to see a list of recipients of special awards who have not been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

See other Hall of Fames.

SONGWRITER HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES