A ‘UNICEF Child Ambassador’ to dance music superstar – Tara McDonald
In a sleepy countryside village in England, a little girl would sing and dance with dreams of making it as a global superstar. The life of Tara McDonald has been about overcoming hurdles while keeping her dream alive. Dubbed as the ‘Queen of dance music’, Tara comes from a non-musical background and would force her parents to watch her ‘performances’ at home.
”My parents would be exhausted with me. They would roll their eyes every time I would ask them to watch me perform. ‘Oh no! another hour long performance by Tara’ is what they would exclaim,” laughed Tara.
At just 9 years of age, she won a public audition for a musical in London and recorded her first album when she was 12. Tara became a ‘Child Ambassador’ for the UNICEF, after winning a competition.
“I traveled to Africa with supplies for schools. I have always loved exploring different cultures. This experience changed my vision towards life. I believe a lot in equality, anti-racism and anti-homophobia. We have a lot of problems in the world right now and music can be a great healer,” said Tara.
Her passion for exploring different cultures reflects in her music. Tara uses a lot of dance music samples from different countries while composing a song. Her upcoming album has cultural influences from Latin America and Asia, particularly India and Sri Lanka.
“I have used some of these elements in my music but with a pop background. It is kind of my version of world music. I have written about life experiences and I want it to be a global themed project. For me world equality is very important and music is a beautiful way to connect people,” quipped Tara.
Collaborating with dance music superstars
Tara is one of the rising female superstars in the world. She has been touring the globe with superstar DJs like David Guetta, Axwell, Armand van Helden for the last 5 years. Her collaborations with these megastars of dance music have been very well received. David Guetta asked to work with Tara after listening to her work with Axwell which became big hits in England. He choose 2 of her songs, one of them been the hit single ‘Delirious’.
“I wrote the song in my bedroom on a rainy day when I felt about going on a holiday to a sunny place. It was the first time I was starring in a music video. David Guetta really likes to share the stage, not every artist is like that. He helped me build a platform for my solo project,” said Tara.
It is her collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg that Tara credits as the highlight of her career so far. Being a life long fan of Snoop, she reached out to him for her album ‘Vay-K’.
“Snoop’s music is like a soundtrack to my life. I still cant believe it happened. It’s a crazy dream,” quipped Tara.
First Indian release
‘The white singer with the black voice’ is pretty pumped up about her first Indian release, ‘Money Maker’. She has teamed up with Reggaeton duo Zion & Lennox for the song which has been exclusively released by 9122 Records.
“I am so thank full to Sunil D’sa the founder of 9122 records for believing in the song and giving it such a wide release. India is my dream destination and this is such a wonderful opportunity to share my music here. I have some fans in India through my dance music collaborations. This will be the first time I will be seen as a solo artist here,” said Tara.
Originally published at https://www.musicplus.in/a-unicef-child-ambassador-to-dance-music-superstar-tara-mcdonald/