Jade MacRae

Born into a musical family—MacRae's mother is respected session vocalist Joy Yates and her pianist father is Dave MacRae—MacRae's musical education began at a young age as she grew up in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia. The singer commenced learning the piano at the age of three years and the violin at the age of eight. After finishing her Australian Higher School Certificate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (during her time as a Conservatorium student, MacRae engaged in musical projects with members of The Sleepy Jackson and Pnau), MacRae began singing in a number of Sydney's entertainment venues. As well as singing in a band with Mahalia Barnes, daughter of popular Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, she supported Renée Geyer and Jackie Orszaczky.

She released the EP Oh Innocence on 14 March 2013, and MacRae revealed the Dune recordings were self-funded, self-produced, and self-released. MacRae's live band for the Dune project consists of a bassist and drummer, Luke Hodgson and Leigh Fisher (both from the band Gypsy and the Cat), and the group was invited to play at the 2013 Great Escape Festival held annually in Brighton, UK. In an early 2013 interview with the Time Out media group, MacRae provided an insight into the response from fans of her previous work under the "Jade MacRae" title:

I think some people are quite disappointed in the new direction – some people on the urban scene can be quite staunch ... It’s amazing how short people’s memories are although. A lot of the people I deal with in media have no recollection of me ... There’s no culture these days in the mainstream really – the idea of discovering an artist, getting all their albums, and getting obsessed with them is dying out. It still exists to some extent in indie bands and left-of-center music.

Following the release of the MacRae's second album, the singer assumed a new musical pseudonym -- "Dune". In a September 2012 interview, MacRae explained, "The music I’m making is definitely more alternative, so I thought it needed its name, its identity and personality". MacRae's debut release under the Dune name, the song "Shoestring", was released globally in July 2012, together with a music video (MacRae co-directed the music video).

In 2012, MacRae contributed vocals to the soundtrack of the Australian film The Sapphires (alongside Jessica Mauboy and Lou Bennett, Juanita Tippens and Darren Percival), in addition to the fourth album of Australian artist Kevin Mitchell (recording under his "Bob Evans" pseudonym), Familiar Stranger.

In August 2011, MacRae married hip hop artist Phrase, based in Melbourne, Australia, after dating since 2008.

In November 2009, Phrase revealed on his Twitter profile that MacRae was rehearsing with musicians for new recorded material.

After several delays, MacRae's second album Get Me Home was released in October 2008, together with the singles "I Wanna Be in Love" and "In The Basement". However, the album failed to enter any music charts, and the lack of popular attention impacted the singer's confidence. She composed the songs on the album. In 2012, MacRae revealed she was "shell-shocked after that didn't work out. It was a hard thing to recover from."

In 2007, MacRae performed an hour-long set prior to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s third and fourth Asian Cup quarter final matches in Sydney, Australia. The 2007 Asian Cup was the first time that Australia participated in the competition.

In mid-2007, MacRae toured Australia as part of the Broad show, performing alongside Deborah Conway, New Buffalo, Anne McCue, and Abbe May. MacRae collaborated on the song "Life" in late 2009 with the duo "Space Invadas" (Katalyst and Steve Spacek).

MacRae's debut album later garnered two ARIA Award nominations in 2006—"Best Urban Album" and "Best Female Artist". In 2006, MacRae performed the Australian national anthem at the 2006 NRL (National Rugby League) Grand Final.

MacRae signed on to participate in the Australian celebrity television singing show, It Takes Two in 2006, and was partnered with Australian cricket player Michael Bevan—the pair was eliminated on 2 July 2006. MacRae returned to It Takes Two in May 2007, and was partnered with Home and Away's Bobby Morley (Morley appeared in the music video for MacRae's song "In The Basement" later that year). Morley and MacRae were eliminated on 12 June 2007. In 2008, MacRae returned to the television show for a third time, and was partnered with actor Paul O'Brien—the pair were eliminated in the eighth week of the season.

MacRae's self-titled debut album was nominated for Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), MTV Australia, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Urban Music awards in 2005 and 2006. The singer's second studio album Get Me Home was released in October 2008. In 2012, following her marriage to Australian hip hop artist Phrase, MacRae continued her musical career under the new moniker of "Dune". 2018 saw Jade return to the studio to capture what may prove to be her most pivotal record to date. A collection of songs penned in hotels and dressing rooms whilst on the road with US Blues guitar great Joe Bonamassa, this record reveals a depth, both musically and personally, not heard from MacRae before with a sound reminiscent of Etta James, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Big Maybelle and Dinah Washington. Recorded all live to tape, and featuring some of Australia's most revered musicians and singers, this highly anticipated record is slated for a 2019 release.

MacRae released her debut self-titled album in September 2005 and, in addition to the first two singles, it contained the third single release "Superstar" (featuring 6 Pound)—a fourth song "Up And Do Your Thing" was also released as a promotional/radio single. Also in 2005, MacRae performed the Australian national anthem "Advance Australia Fair" at the World Cup qualifying match, between Australia and Uruguay, at Sydney's Stadium Australia venue.

Through her association with Mahalia Barnes, MacRae attained further work as a backup singer with Jimmy Barnes in the period prior to the commencement of her solo career in 2004. In addition to her work with Jimmy Barnes, MacRae commenced session work as a singer with Australian electronic acts such as Disco Montego, Endorphin and Pnau. German dance producer Ian Pooley recruited her to sing on the track "Heaven", together with Danni'elle Gaha, and the song achieved the top position on the German dance charts.

During her time as Barnes' backup singer, MacRae signed a record contract with Michael Hegarty of Workstation Records. Producers, such as Warryn Campbell and White Chocolate, were recruited from Los Angeles, United States (U.S.) to undertake work on the album, while a selection of Australian producers, including Israel, Jarrad Rogers and the Elite Fleet, produced the first single "You Make Me Weak". MacRae wrote or co-wrote each of the album's songs and signed with Roadshow Music, an offshoot of Sony Music Australia, following the completion of recording. "You Make Me Weak" reached the top 50 of the Australian singles charts in early November 2004, while the successive single "So Hot Right Now" (featuring Israel) debuted in the top 20 in February 2005.

Jade Aurora Moana MacRae (born 4 June 1979) is an Australian soul singer and the daughter of professional musicians Joy Yates and Dave MacRae who live in Sydney, Australia. Her debut single "You Make Me Weak" debuted in the top 50 places of the Australian singles charts in November 2004, while her follow-up single "So Hot Right Now" debuted in the top 20 places of the Australian singles charts in February 2005.