Addison Rae

Addison Rae is a singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and social media personality. She rose to fame on the video sharing app, TikTok, in which she gained 88 million followers.

## Early Life

Addison Rae Easterling was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, to parents Monty Lopez and Sheri Easterling. Rae has two younger brothers, Enzo Lopez and Lucas Lopez. Addison's parents initially divorced when she was younger and were on and off often throughout her childhood before remarrying in 2017.

Rae started dancing competitively at the age of six where she attended competitions across the country. Before moving to Los Angeles (LA) to pursue her TikTok career, the dancer briefly attended Louisiana State University (LSU) where she studied sports broadcasting in the fall but then dropped out when she began to gain popularity on TikTok. In an interview with *Elle* magazine, Addison Rae talks about her choice to move to LA saying, "a few people in LA reached out to me, and I was like 'I need to go. I need to go.' So my parents supported me fully."

## Career

Addison Rae has more than 88 million followers on TikTok; she first joined TikTok in July 2019, uploading dance videos to trending songs on the platform. She was part of The Hype House, a TikTok collaborative group, since its formation in December 2019 until sometime in early 2020. In just a few months, Rae gained over one million followers on TikTok and decided to leave LSU in November. "I remember that's when it changed for me," Rae told Business Insider in April 2020. "I knew I wanted to take it more seriously and expand it to other platforms. I uploaded a video to YouTube and got really active on Instagram." She signed with talent agency WME in January 2020, along with her parents. In that same month, Addison released a weekly podcast exclusive to Spotify with her mother called "Mama Knows Best" in July 2020 entailing topics covering their personal and career life. In 2021, Rae relaunched this podcast with the new name, "That was Fun? With Addison and Sheri." Addison has launched her own cosmetics line, Item Beauty, with her as the role of *Chief Innovation Officer.* She co-founded Item Beauty with Madeby Collective, and she oversees most of the products in the brand.

Rae starred in *He's All That*, a remake film of the 1999 teen comedy *She's All That*. Her role was inspired by Freddie Prinze Jr.'s character Zachary Siler from the original. The film was released on Netflix in August 2021 and though it was the most streamed film of its week, it received negative reviews from critics. Rae subsequently signed a deal with Netflix. On February 2, 2022, Rae announced on Instagram that she had signed to join the cast of a new movie called *Fashionista,* produced by Paramount, which is currently in the works.

## Music Career

Addison Rae released her debut single Obsessed on March 19th 2021 under Sandlot Records. She had plans to release more singles and an album, but those plans have never been realized and the album is believed to be scrapped.

## References

1. ↑ Addison Rae Just Opened Up About Leaving College and Moving to LA on Her New Podcast With Her Mom - Seventeen, July 20 2020
2. ↑ Addison Rae Shares New Details About Her Studies at LSU - Distractify, April 1 2020
3. ↑ Addison Rae Is Ready to Prove You Wrong - Elle, July 26 2021
4. ↑ Addison Rae Easterling is the top-earning TikTok star with $5 million in the last year, according to Forbes. But Charli D'Amelio is close behind - Business Insider, August 8 2020
5. ↑ TikTok star Addison Rae signs deal with Netflix - CNN, September 9 2021
6. ↑ Addison Rae Just Signed on to Her Next Movie Role - Seventeen, February 23 2022