Ruth B.

Last updated
Ruth B.
Birth nameRuth Berhe
Born (1995-07-02) July 2, 1995 (age 28)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Genres Alternative R&B, alternative pop [1]
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active2013–present
Labels Columbia, REB Music Productions/Downtown Records
Website www.ruthbofficial.com

Ruth Berhe (born July 2, 1995), [2] better known by her stage name Ruth B., is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Edmonton, Alberta. She started by singing songs on Vine in early 2013. In November 2015, she released her debut extended play The Intro . On May 5, 2017, she released her debut album Safe Haven . It has gathered over 2.5 billion overall streams globally as of June 2024. Her double-platinum single "Lost Boy" has accumulated over 850 million streams on Spotify, and her YouTube channel has received a total of 750 million views as of May 2023.

Contents

Her song "Dandelions" from Safe Haven became a sleeper hit in 2022, when it grew in popularity due to TikTok and charted internationally, including chart debuts in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Germany. It has accumulated over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify alone.

Early life and education

Berhe was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. [3] Her parents emigrated from Ethiopia in the 1980s. Berhe speaks her parents' native language Amharic fluently. [4] She spent some of her teenage years working at a local Reitmans clothing store and described herself in an interview with The Canadian Press as an "introvert". [5] She said she was "never the big party chick." [6] While working part-time she started posting videos on Vine. She says she chose the six-second video service because it took less effort to upload short clips, compared to other popular services like YouTube. [5]

Berhe graduated from Ross Sheppard High School in 2013. She attended MacEwan University, but took time off her studies to focus on music. [2]

Career

Berhe posted her first Vine video in May 2013, and started making singing Vines about a year later. [2] [3] Her singing Vines, typically six second covers of popular songs, helped her grow a following. [3] In November 2014, she posted a Vine of herself singing a line that she had made up, which was inspired by the television series Once Upon a Time . [2] It garnered around 84,000 likes within a week, which was unusual for her at the time. She took note of its popularity, with some of her followers commenting that she should make it into a full song. [7] It became "Lost Boy", which she shared to YouTube on January 18, 2015. [8] The song "Superficial Love" was featured on her debut EP The Intro later that year and on her 2017 debut album Safe Haven, which also included the song "Dandelions".

Berhe was nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award and Songwriter of the Year, and won Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards. [9] In June, she honoured National Arts Centre Award winner Michael Bublé at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards gala by performing his song "Home" [10] as well as Bryan Adams' "Heaven" during Adams' induction for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards. [11] In September, she performed Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" for his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame. [12]

At the 2018 Juno Awards, she was nominated for three awards including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Pop Album of the Year. [13] The CBC Kids television series Addison also debuted that year, with a theme song performed by Berhe. [14] In May, her song "Shadows" appeared in the second season of the Netflix series Dear White People .

In 2019, she released an EP called Maybe I'll Find You Again, which includes the song "Slow Fade," which she co-wrote with the British alternative group Oh Wonder. [15] [16]

In the summer of 2020, she released the song "If I Have a Son" as a response to the George Floyd Murder in Minneapolis. [17] "Dirty Nikes" was the first single released from her sophomore album, Moments In Between. On December 3, she performed a virtual concert representing the MusicCares Foundation to raise money during the COVID-19 pandemic. [18]

In 2021, her second album Moments in Between was released. [19]

In August 2022, her song "Paper Airplanes" was featured as the leading original song for the Tyler Perry Netflix film, A Jazzman's Blues soundtrack. [20]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
CAN
[21]
Safe Haven 17
Moments in Between—

EPs

TitleExtended play detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
CAN
[21] 		US
[25]
The Intro
  • Released: November 27, 2015
  • Label: Columbia
  • Formats: CD, digital download
2052
Maybe I'll Find You Again [26]
  • Released: March 22, 2019
  • Label: Columbia
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
——

Singles

As lead artist

TitleYearPeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbum
CAN
[27] 		DEN
[28] 		IRE
[29] 		NLD
[30] 		SWE
[31] 		UK
[32] 		US
[33]
"Lost Boy"201514148941199724The Intro and Safe Haven
"Superficial Love"2017— [upper-alpha 1] ——————
"Rare" [39] 2018———————Maybe I'll Find You Again
"Slow Fade"2019———————
"Dirty Nikes"2020———————Moments in Between
"Situation"2021———————
"28"
(with Dean Lewis) [40] 		2023———————TBA

Promotional singles

TitleYearPeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbum
CAN
[27] 		AUS
[41] 		IRE
[29] 		MYS
[42] 		NLD
[30] 		SGP
[43] 		SWI
[44] 		UK
[32] 		US
Bub.
[45] 		WW
[46]
"In My Dreams"2016——————————Safe Haven
"If This Is Love"2017——————————
"Dandelions"585380
[47] 		1010099042951
  • BPI: Platinum [34]
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum [23]
"Crave"2018——————————Maybe I'll Find You Again
"If I Have a Son"2020——————————Non-album single
"Die Fast"2021——————————Moments in Between

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2016 Shorty Awards Best Vine MusicianHerselfNominated
iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards Fan Fave Vine Musician
Teen Choice Awards Next Big Thing
BET Awards BET FANdemonium Award
2017 Juno Awards Juno Fan Choice Award
Breakthrough Artist of the Year Won
Songwriter of the Year Herself —
•"Lost Boy"
•"Superficial Love"
•"2 Poor Kids"		Nominated
Canadian Radio Music Awards Best New Group or Solo Artist: Hot AC"Lost Boy"Won
Best New Group or Solo Artist: Mainstream ACNominated
Best New Group or Solo Artist: CHRWon
Western Canadian Music Awards Pop Artist of the YearHerselfNominated
2018 Juno Awards Artist of the Year
Album of the Year Safe Haven
Pop Album of the Year
2023 Black Reel Awards Outstanding Original Song"Paper Airplanes"Nominated

Artistry

Berhe has listed Lauryn Hill, The Beatles, Carole King, Grouplove, Adele, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran as some of her musical influences. She said that "the one thing all my favourite artists have in common is they are all storytellers. Something that I try to incorporate in my music", in an interview with Idolator. [48]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Superficial Love" did not chart on the Canadian Hot 100, though did peak at number 44 on the CHR/Top 40 chart. [38]

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References

  1. ↑ "Ruth B / Canadian-Ethiopian Singer-Songwriter Plans To Write & Produce Her Own Album". Flaunt Magazine. September 28, 2020. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Edmonton singer Ruth B launches career in an instant". CBC News. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Sperounes, Sandra (November 25, 2015). "Who is Edmonton's Ruth B? The latest online star to get a record deal". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ Kohn, Daniel (2016-08-31). "Inside Ruth B'sDebut". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  5. 1 2 Friend, David (November 15, 2016). "Edmonton singer Ruth B on life after Vine: 'I write full songs now, not just 6 seconds'". Global News. Global News/The Canadian Press. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Edmonton singer Ruth B on life after Vine: 'I write full songs now, not just 6 seconds' - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca".
  7. ↑ Khan, Sarah (November 30, 2015). "Ruth B Talks Vine, The Intro & Getting Inspired By 'Once Upon A Time'". ANDPOP. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lost Boy on YouTube
  9. ↑ "Edmonton's Ruth B wins Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year". Global News . April 3, 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Michael J. Fox, Michael Bublé honoured at Performing Arts gala — with a little help from Joan Jett". CBC News. June 29, 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "SOCAN Awards Shine Bright Lights on Canada's Music Creators and Publishers". Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. June 19, 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Here's what you missed at the 2017 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame". CBC News. September 24, 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Pop singer Ruth B, Nickelback and pianist Jan Lisiecki among 10 Alberta acts to watch at 2018 Juno Awards". CBC News. March 23, 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  14. ↑ Addison - Six Eleven Media / CBC Kids - Ruth B on Vimeo
  15. ↑ Magnocavallo, Fabio (April 18, 2021). "Ruth B. — Situation". Euphoria. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  16. ↑ Newman-Bremang, Kathleen. "Suggested Song Pairing: Ruth B's "Slow Fade" & An Overdue Breakup". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  17. ↑ "Ruth B. Balances Hope and Fear on "If I Have a Son" Re-Release". Complex. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  18. ↑ "Ruth B. Livestream Performance Brought in $160K For Musicares". December 8, 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  19. ↑ "ALBUM REVIEW: RUTH B. – MOMENTS IN BETWEEN". Beats Per Minute . June 15, 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "Ruth B.'s Original Song 'Paper Airplanes' from Tyler Perry's 'A Jazzman's Blues' Released" . Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  21. 1 2 "Ruth B Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "Canadian certifications – Ruth B." Music Canada . Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "American certifications – Ruth B." Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Moments in Between by Ruth B. on Apple Music". Apple Music . Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Ruth B Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Maybe I'll Find You Again / Ruth B." Tidal . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  27. 1 2 "Ruth B Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  28. ↑ Hit Listen Top 40
  29. 1 2 "Discography Ruth B". irishcharts.com. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  30. 1 2 Dutch Charts
  31. ↑ Sverigetopplistan
  32. 1 2 "RUTH B | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company . Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  33. ↑ "Ruth B Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  34. 1 2 "British certifications – Ruth B". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 12, 2023.Type Ruth B in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  35. ↑ "Danish certifications – Ruth B. – Lost Boy". IFPI Danmark . Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  36. ↑ "Sverigetopplistan – Ruth B." (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  37. ↑ "Dutch certifications – Ruth B" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved June 11, 2023.Enter Ruth B in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  38. ↑ "Ruth B Chart History: Canada CHR/Top 40". Billboard . Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  39. ↑ RuthBVEVO (2018-09-21). "Ruth B. - Rare (Official Video)". YouTube . Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  40. ↑ "Ruth B. Teams Up with Dean Lewis for New Single". PM Studio. November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  41. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 11 July 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1688. Australian Recording Industry Association. July 11, 2022. p. 4.
  42. ↑ Peak chart positions on RIM's Top 20 most streamed international & domestic songs in Malaysia:
    • "Dandelions". January 7–13, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022– via Facebook.
  43. ↑ "RIAS Top Charts Week 9". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original on March 8, 2022.
  44. ↑ Discography - singles peaks in the Switzerland ( Swiss Hitparade ):
  45. ↑ "Ruth B Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Ruth B Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  47. ↑ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association . Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  48. ↑ Wass, Mike (November 25, 2015). "Popping Up: Ruth B". Idolator. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
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