The Australian singer-songwriter Ruel van Dijk, better known by his stage name Ruel, was born in the UK and is most known for his hits “Don’t Tell Me” and “Younger.” When he was barely twelve years old, he wrote his first song. After a demo of the young protégé singing the well-known James Bay song “Let It Go” amazed Grammy Award-winning producer M-Phazes, the protégé found a godfather in M-Phazes. As a result, the two began a fruitful relationship that peaked with the highly regarded song “Golden Years,” which catapulted Ruel to fame. Going forward, the two produced another popular song, “Don’t Tell Me,” which was played on BBC Radio 1 and received great appreciation from well-known English singer, pianist, and composer Elton John. Ruel gained more notoriety with the M-produced single “Younger.” It was included in his first extended play, “Ready.” Ruel also made history by becoming the youngest featured performer on triple J’s “Like a Version” when he made his live radio debut singing Jack Garratt’s “Weathered.”
Childhood & Formative Years
Ruel was born on October 29, 2002, in the United Kingdom’s Isleworth town to a British mother and a father who was born in the Netherlands and reared in New Zealand. Before moving to Sydney, Australia, with his family, he was raised in Isleworth. He has two sisters, Coco being the name of one of them.
From a young age, he developed a strong interest in music and began to play the guitar at the age of eight.
Career of Ruel
Ruel wrote his first song when he was twelve years old. During that period, Melbourne DJ and artist-manager Nate Flagrant was collaborating on a campaign with his father Ralph, who runs an advertising business in Sydney. Ralph gave Flagrant a preview of Ruel’s performance of James Bay’s song “Let It Go.”
Captivated by the 12-year-old boy’s performance, Flagrant forwarded the demo to producer and musician Mark Landon, better known by his stage moniker M-Phazes.
The producer, who was originally from Melbourne and is now based in Los Angeles, California, was quite impressed with this unknown kid’s vocal style and tonality after listening to the demo tape. M-Phazes said he went insane when he heard Ruel’s voice. Since then, M-Phazes and Flagrant have progressively trained the aspiring artist in songwriting, recording, and vocals.
Together with M-Phazes, Ruel released his debut single, “Golden Years,” in April 2017. Ruel received his first notice with the song, which was released by M-Phazes Productions Pty. Ltd. and featured contributions from M-Phazes as a performer, writer, and producer.
His live radio debut occurred in June 2017 when he sang along to the British singer-songwriter Jack Garratt’s song “Weathered” during a weekly “Like a Version” program on Triple J, an Australian radio station. With this, he made history as the segment’s youngest performer ever. Ruel received some attention after the video garnered over half a million views in just 48 hours.
With “Don’t Tell Me,” which was published in July 2017 and peaked at #86 on the ARIA Chart in August of the same year, the alt-soul singer continued on her path. Ruel was inspired to write the song at the tender age of 12 by an occurrence that happened when he was younger and told his parents and siblings about his crush on a girl. Many people commended Ruel for his songwriting maturity and his amazing voice at such a young age. In September 2017, Elton John, who was full of praise for the emerging talent, even aired the song on BBC Radio 1.
Together with Australian folk-blues musician and songwriter Angus Stone and his sister Julia, who is also a folk singer, Ruel wrapped up a tour that took him to New Zealand and Australia in September 2017. Additionally, he continued to appear as a guest performer on American singer-songwriter Khalid’s 2017–2018 American Teen Tour.
In November 2017, he signed a record deal with RCA Records Internationally. The budding sensation, who had previously tried out for “The Voice Kids,” was signed to a record deal by Sony Music’s American record division. The next month, he contributed vocals to a Tom Thum cover of Rag’n’Bone Man’s song “Human.”
On March 24, 2018, he performed at the pop music festival called “POPSPRING” in Japan. It was his first meet and greet as well. He gave a live performance of “Golden Years” during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which took place on April 4, 2018, in Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
On April 27, 2018, Ruel released the song “Dazed & Confused,” which was produced by M-Phazes, as the second single of his debut extended play, “Ready.” On May 30, 2018, the song’s Grey Ghost-directed music video was made available.
As the third single from “Ready,” he released the song “Younger” on June 8, 2018. Once more produced by M-Phazes, the song achieved its highest position of #9 on the Australian Artists (ARIA) chart and was certified gold in Australia in October 2018, which was Ruel’s first certification of that kind. Meanwhile, the music video for “Younger” was made available on August 2, 2018.
June 15, 2018, saw the release of The EP Ready. Six tracks make up the album, including the well-known single “Don’t Tell Me.”
Ruel has additionally demonstrated his maturity by accepting invites and giving exclusive performances for well-known figures in the industry, like the Grammy-winning British DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer Mark Ronson, at private events all around the world.
Young and upcoming talents find encouragement in the accomplishments this young artist has made at such a young age and in the direction he is taking in the music industry. His social media platforms, where he has become something of a sensation, have similarly mirrored his growing popularity. Since he opened his YouTube account on January 26, 2016, he has collected an incredible 14 million views and more than 166 thousand subscribers. Since joining the Twitter account “oneruel” in January 2016, he has acquired over 20 K followers, and on Instagram, he has amassed over 190 K followers.
Individual Life and Legacy
Ruel’s family has helped him to pursue his musical profession. He likes sporting and military-inspired clothing, and he likes short hairstyles. He is an avid guitarist. However, nothing regarding this attractive young singer-songwriter’s love affiliation or relationship situation has been made public.
The net worth of Ruel
The estimated net worth of Ruel is about $1 million.