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Ruth B.

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Ruth B.
Birth nameRuth Berhe
Born (1995-07-02) July 2, 1995 (age 29)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
GenresPop, R&B
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active2014–present
LabelsColumbia
Websiteruthbofficial.com

Ruth Berhe (born July 2, 1995),[1] 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. Her single "Lost Boy" has accumulated over 450 million streams on Spotify alone as of December 2019, while her YouTube channel has received a total of 230 million views.

Early life and education

Berhe was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta.[2] Her parents emigrated from Ethiopia in the 1980s. Berhe speaks Amharic fluently.[3] 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".[4] She said she was "never the big party chick."[citation needed] While working part-time she started to dabble in 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.[4]

Berhe graduated from Ross Sheppard High School in 2013. She attended MacEwan University, but took time off her studies to focus on music.[1]

Career

Berhe posted her first Vine video on May 9, 2013, and started making singing Vines about a year later.[1][2] Her singing Vines, typically six second covers of popular songs, helped grow her a following.[2] In November 2014, she posted a Vine of her singing a line that she had made up, which was inspired by the television series Once Upon a Time.[1] 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.[5] It became "Lost Boy", which she posted on YouTube on January 18, 2015 and was released on iTunes on February 12, 2015.[6][7]

When the Vine clip first started gaining popularity, Berhe says she noticed that her life at school changed somewhat. "I’d be walking at school and they’d be like, “Oh, she’s the Vine chick.” It was cool to finally have something that I felt was mine," she told The Canadian Press in an interview.[4]

Dozens of Vine and YouTube users posted covers, which helped further its popularity and increased Berhe's following on social media. Record labels took notice and she then signed with Columbia Records in July 2015.[2] Her debut EP, The Intro, was released on November 27, 2015. It has four songs including "Lost Boy".[8]

Berhe entered the studio in early 2016 to begin recording her debut full-length album with Joel Little, a New Zealand producer who helped Lorde create her first album. She says she was writing songs long before the album went into production, so she had many songs to pick from when her label told her it was time to start putting something together.[4]

The singer says learning her songwriting through Vine helped her focus her thoughts and "make sure every line … is filled with the best message and melody it possibly can have."[4][9]

On February 19, 2016, she performed her single "Lost Boy" on TODAY.[10]

She honored National Arts Centre Award winner Michael Buble at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards gala by performing his song "Home". Later at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony she performed Neil Young's song "Heart of Gold" to honor his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame.[11]

She joined singer James TW in June to perform his hit song "When You Love Someone" on GMA.

At the 2017 Juno Awards Berhe was nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award, Songwriter of the Year and won Breakthrough Artist of the Year. She later performed her single "Lost Boy."

The following year 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.

In 2018, the CBC Kids television series Addison debuted, with a theme song performed by Berhe. In May 2018, her song "Shadows" appeared in the second season of the Netflix series Dear White People.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
CAN
[12]
Safe Haven[13] 17

EPs

Title Extended play details Peak chart positions
CAN
[12] 		US
[15]
The Intro
  • Released: November 27, 2015
  • Label: Columbia
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 20 52
Maybe I'll Find You Again[16]
  • Released: March 22, 2019
  • Label: Columbia
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
 — —

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
CAN
[17] 		DEN
[18] 		NLD
[19] 		SWE
[20] 		UK
[21] 		US
[22]
"Lost Boy" 2015 14 14 41 19 97 24 The Intro and Safe Haven
"Superficial Love" 2017 —[A] — — — — —
"Rare"[28] 2018 — — — — — — Maybe I'll Find You Again
"Slow Fade" 2019 — — — — — —

Promotional singles

Title Year Album
"In My Dreams" 2016 Safe Haven
"If This Is Love" 2017
"Dandelions"
"Crave" 2018 Maybe I'll Find You Again

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2016 Shorty Awards Best Vine Musician Herself Nominated
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 AC Nominated
Best New Group or Solo Artist: CHR Won
Western Canadian Music Awards Pop Artist of the Year Herself Nominated
2018 Juno Awards Artist of the Year Nominated
Album of the Year Safe Haven
Pop Album of the Year

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.[29]

Notes

  1. ^ "Superficial Love" did not chart on the Canadian Hot 100, though did peak at number 44 on the CHR/Top 40 chart.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Edmonton singer Ruth B launches career in an instant". CBC News. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d 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.
  3. ^ Kohn, Daniel; Kohn, Daniel (2016-08-31). "Inside Ruth B's Outspoken Debut". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  4. ^ a b c d e 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.
  5. ^ Khan, Sarah (November 30, 2015). "Ruth B Talks Vine, The Intro & Getting Inspired By 'Once Upon A Time'". ANDPOP. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  6. ^ "Lost Boy". YouTube. Ruth B. January 18, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  7. ^ "Ruth B on Twitter". Twitter. Ruth B. February 12, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  8. ^ Melanson, Jenna (November 27, 2015). "Interview – Ruth B". Canadian Beats. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  9. ^ The Canadian Press (2016-11-16), Why Ruth B will always have a soft spot for Vine, retrieved 2016-11-22
  10. ^ "Ruth B performs her hit 'Lost Boy' on TODAY". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  11. ^ "News". Ruth B. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  12. ^ a b "Ruth B Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Safe Haven by Ruth B." Apple Music (Spain). Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Gold/Platinum - Music Canada". Music Canada. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  15. ^ "Ruth B Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "Maybe I'll Find You Again / Ruth B." Tidal. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  17. ^ "Ruth B Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  18. ^ Hit Listen Top 40
  19. ^ Dutch Charts
  20. ^ Sverigetopplistan
  21. ^ "RUTH B | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  22. ^ "Ruth B Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  23. ^ "Certified Awards" (To access, search "Ruth B" in Keywords and select "Artist" in Search by). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Ruth B "Lost Boy"" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. February 2, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  25. ^ "Ruth B – Swedish Certifications" (in Swedish). Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. April 27, 2016. Archived from the original (To access, enter the search parameter "Ruth B" and select "Search by Keyword") on May 21, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  26. ^ "Gold & Platinum – RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America. April 7, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  27. ^ "Ruth B Chart History: Canada CHR/Top 40". Billboard. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  28. ^ RuthBVEVO (2018-09-21). "Ruth B. - Rare (Official Video)". Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  29. ^ Wass, Mike (November 25, 2015). "Popping Up: Ruth B". Idolator. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  • Official website
  • "Lost Boy". Vine. December 1, 2014. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. As of April 2016, the first release achieved 1+ m loops and the re-release had 3+ m loops
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