Ruth B.
Ruth Berhe (born July 2, 1995), 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 billion overall streams globally as of April 2023. Her double-platinum single "Lost Boy" has accumulated over 745 million streams on Spotify, and her YouTube channel has received a total of 550 million views as of May 2023[update].
Ruth B. | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ruth Berhe |
| Born | July 2, 1995 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Genres | Alternative R&B, alternative pop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instrument(s) |
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| Years active | 2013–present |
| Labels | Columbia, REB Music Productions/Downtown Records |
| Website | www |
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 a billion streams globally as of April 2023.
Early life and education
Berhe was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Her parents emigrated from Ethiopia in the 1980s. Berhe speaks her parents' native language Amharic fluently. 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". She said she was "never the big party chick." 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.
Berhe graduated from Ross Sheppard High School in 2013. She attended MacEwan University, but took time off her studies to focus on music.
Career
Berhe posted her first Vine video in May 2013, and started making singing Vines about a year later. Her singing Vines, typically six second covers of popular songs, helped her grow a following. 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. 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. It became "Lost Boy", which she shared to YouTube on January 18, 2015. 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. 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" as well as Bryan Adams' "Heaven" during Adams' induction for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards. In September, she performed Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" for his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
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. The CBC Kids television series Addison also debuted that year, with a theme song performed by Berhe. 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.
In the summer of 2020, she released the song "If I Have a Son" as a response to the George Floyd Murder in Minneapolis. "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.
In 2021, her second album Moments in Between was released.
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.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | |||
| Safe Haven |
| 17 | |
| Moments in Between |
| — |
EPs
| Title | Extended play details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | US | |||
| The Intro |
| 20 | 52 |
|
| Maybe I'll Find You Again |
| — | — | |
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | DEN | IRE | NLD | SWE | UK | US | ||||
| "Lost Boy" | 2015 | 14 | 14 | 89 | 41 | 19 | 97 | 24 | The Intro and Safe Haven | |
| "Superficial Love" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| "Rare" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Maybe I'll Find You Again | |
| "Slow Fade" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Dirty Nikes" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Moments in Between | |
| "Situation" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "28" (with Dean Lewis) | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | TBA | |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | AUS | IRE | MYS | NLD | SGP | SWI | UK | US Bub. | WW | ||||
| "In My Dreams" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Safe Haven | |
| "If This Is Love" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Dandelions" | 58 | 53 | 80 | 10 | 100 | 9 | 90 | 42 | 9 | 51 |
| ||
| "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
| 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 | ||
| 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.
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
- "Lost Boy". Vine. December 1, 2014. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
As of April 2016, the first release achieved 1+ m loops and the re-release had 3+ m loops
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