Is The Kid LAROI’s New Single ‘A Cold Play’ Inspired by Tate McRae? Fans Speculate

Breakups make the best music — and The Kid LAROI just proved it.

The 22-year-old star shocked fans on Friday, September 5, when he dropped a brand-new track titled “A Cold Play.” Announced only the day before, the emotional single immediately stirred speculation that it was inspired by his split from fellow singer Tate McRae earlier this summer.

Produced by KBeazy, the ballad strips things down to a raw honesty that LAROI’s fans say they’ve been missing. In the opening verse, he confesses, “I hope you know you were appreciated / Around my house, I still got up all of our pictures, baby, mm / ’Cause I still love you, that’s how I feel at my core / Flew different states to come see you in between tour / I gave you everything I had and even more.”

The heartache only intensifies later, when he admits, “You said to me, baby, you was all in / I think we just probably should’ve stayed friends / I think that we probably could’ve saved tears (And saved years).”

Fans were quick to connect the dots. Many pointed out that the song’s release came the very same day Tate sang Coldplay’s “Fix You” during her Miss Possessive Tour soundcheck. Even more eyebrow-raising? She liked LAROI’s Instagram post announcing the track. Given that “Fix You” is also referenced multiple times in the lyrics, Swifties-level sleuthing ensued, with one fan tweeting, “This is gonna sound horrible but thank you tate for bringing back peak laroi.” Another added, “I feel like I’m a kid choosing between my parents with laroi and tate. I KNOW we’ve had no official confirmation but ‘A Cold Play’ is SO clearly a breakup song.”

The speculation doesn’t come out of nowhere. LAROI — whose real name is Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard — confirmed in August that he and Tate remain on good terms following their breakup. The pair were first friends before sparking a romance that lasted from January 2024 until July 2025. The end of their relationship coincided with the release of his song “Hot Girl Problems,” which had already fueled rumors of a split.

Tate herself previously reflected on their beginnings during a November 2024 appearance on “The Mitch Churi Chat Show,” recalling, “We honestly weren’t the closest of friends, we were kind of like acquaintances, we always had awkward encounters. And then something just clicked.”