Rolling Stone January 2026 : Tate McRae by Carin Backoff

[MModa]

Source: instagram @rollingstone

 

[thiago:)]

Good shot, good layout, good cover but... she's not Britney.

 

[tigerrouge]

In 2025, Rolling Stone is one of those magazines that always I enjoy seeing who's on the cover, but I can't see myself ever buying a copy for the contents.

But I can appreciate that they're trying to remember who they once were.

 

[ivano]

RS again on The Fashion Spot?! Be careful, isn't enough to post here for some 😏 joke aside, not a favorite, pop culture is trying hard to copy the early 2000s.

 

[KoV]

She's an entertaining performer and I can kind of appreciate the Britney comparisons when it comes to stage talent, but Tate is 4 albums in to her career, and she's yet to make a memorable song (ok, sure, Sports Car and t*t for Tat are bops, but no one is going to still be singing them in 25-30 years the way people do 4 or 5 of the songs from even Britney's first album. She's not a superstar.

 

[MulletProof]

I don't understand the Britney comparisons even if the inspiration for this cover (Britney's 1999 cover) is nothing but an invitation for that.. if you remember that specific year, Britney was a cultural phenomenon, so big she was highly divisive, everyone, from metal heads to classical musicians and country singers, kids to grandparents, had a strong opinion of her. No one right now can even compare to a fraction of her success back then, not Taylor or Beyonce, definitely not Dua, and certainly not the newer generation, not because they're not capable (Tate is a far superior dancer than Britney Spears ever was, Addison can't sing nor dance or even tone up but I'd argue she's prettier and has what Britney never had: participation in her own image)... but simply because we live in a time of short-attention span and being able to voice out our opinions and overly-scrutinise makes all objects less intriguing.

There's clearly a thirst for that level of mega stardom but at the same time, the current culture of quickly deflating the fantasy surrounding that makes it impossible to happen. I will say that all these pop singers who make super repetitive songs are at a good point of their careers where they can do exactly what Britney Spears did when she released Toxic and defied her own sound, and secure longevity.