Ruel Vincent van Dijk, known mononymously as Ruel, is an English born Australian singer and songwriter from Sydney, best known for his singles "Don't Tell Me", "Younger" and "Painkiller". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018 he won the award for Breakthrough Artist for his single "Dazed & Confused".
Early life
Ruel was born on October 29, 2002, in Isleworth, London, to British mother, Kate van Dijk, and Dutch-born and New Zealand-raised father, Ralph van Dijk. His father is the founder of Australian radio agency, Eardrum. His family moved to Sydney, Australia in 2006.
Music career
2015–2017: Early years
In 2015, Ruel's father sent a demo of him singing James Bay's "Let It Go" to Grammy Award-winning producer M-Phazes. M-Phazes said, "I lost my mind when I heard his voice!" In April 2017, Ruel released his debut single "Golden Years" with M-Phazes. In June, Ruel made his live radio debut performing Jack Garratt's "Weathered" on triple J's Like a Version. At 14, he was the youngest-ever featured performer on the segment. The video gathered half a million video views in less than 48 hours. In July 2017, Ruel released "Don't Tell Me", which peaked at number 86 on the ARIA Chart. Later in September, Elton John played "Don't Tell Me" on BBC Radio 1, giving Ruel high praise. The track was also featured in CelebMix's 21 songs by under-21s in 2018. In November, Ruel joined Khalid on his American Teen Tour of Australia and New Zealand. Later that month, Ruel signed with RCA Records internationally. In December, Tom Thum released a cover of Rag'n'Bone Man's "Human" featuring Ruel on vocals.
2018–present: ''Ready'' and ''Free Time'' EPs
On 24 March 2018, Ruel played at Pop Spring Festival, Tokyo, where he did his first meet and greet. On 4 April, Ruel performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. On 19 April, a music video for the single "Don't Tell Me" was released. On 2 June, Ruel announced the release of his debut extended playReady on 15 June, as well as a headline tour in June and July. In October, Ruel performed to a sell-out crowd in Sydney, and received the news that his single "Younger" had recently been certified Gold by ARIA. On 11 October, Ruel was nominated for the Breakout Artist award for the ARIA Awards, which he later won, making him the youngest ever to do so. On 10 January 2019, Ruel was confirmed to appear on Hilltop Hoods' new album The Great Expanse, on the track "Fire & Grace". The album was then released on 22 February. On 1 May, Ruel released the lead single from his Free Time EP, "Painkiller", alongside an accompanying music video. On 9 August, Ruel released the single "Face to Face" alongside a music video that was shot while he was on tour in France. On 13 September, Ruel released his second EP, Free Time. In November 2019, Ruel was an opening act for two shows of. On 31 January 2020, Ruel collaborated with Cosmo's Midnight on the track "Down for You". The music video for this song premiered on the 18th of March.
The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Ruel has been nominated for one award.
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Ruel has won one award from one nomination.
The MTV Europe Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres international. Ruel has won one award from one nomination.
