ADDISON RAE MAKES COVER OF ROLLING STONE

Addison Rae just took an early lead in the 2025 Breakout Artist of the Year stakes by notching her first Rolling Stone cover in advance of her upcoming Columbia debut, Mood Boards.

The Louisiana native rocketed to pop culture stardom on TikTok, racking up 87m followers since joining the platform in 2019. Rae, who's repped by Justin Greenberg and Joe Izzi at Ocean Avenue, has said that she never intended to be an influencer and always intended to make her move musically, something that clicked when she released the infectious “Diet Pepsi” in August of last year, notching 267m global Spotify streams so far.

She told Rolling Stone that she knew she made the right choice after a first meeting with Columbia CEO Ron Perry, saying “I just mood-boarded my vibes. I literally had no music to play him at that point, so it was about trust. Like, ‘Yes, I’m in the clouds, and I enjoy being there. But I’m also serious.’”

Rae also gained traction thanks to a co-sign from Charli xcx, who contributed to her single “2 Die 4” and recruited her to pitch in on an A.G.-Cook-helmed remix of “Von Dutch.” Her list of supporters and collaborators also includes Max Martin publishing signees Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd, who co-wrote all the songs on Mood Boards with her.

Meanwhile, Rae’s A&R, SVP Julian Swirksy, has dropped 30 pounds since starting his all Diet Pepsi diet.

In the Rolling Stone piece, writer Brittany Spanos notes that Charli xcx called Rae “a fucking genius,” and Rosalía echoed similar sentiments, saying “She’s the absolute project manager of her work and has a very clear vision of what she’s creating. Her choreographies seem so beautiful to me. I love how she brings the 2000s American pop star back to these days.”

HITS is still trying to get that plate of bad clams off our mood board.