Ruel (singer)

Ruel Vincent van Dijk (born 29 October 2002), known mononymously as Ruel, is a British-Australian singer and songwriter from Sydney, best known for his singles "Don't Tell Me", "Younger", "As Long As You Care" and "Painkiller". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018 he won the award for Breakthrough Artist for his single "Dazed & Confused".
Early life.
Ruel Vincent van Dijk was born on 29 October 2002, in Isleworth, London, to English mother, Kate Vincent, 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, van Dijk's father sent a demo of him singing James Bay's "Let It Go" to Grammy Award-winning producer M-Phazes.
In April 2017, van Dijk released his debut single "Golden Years" with M-Phazes. In June, van Dijk 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, van Dijk released "Don't Tell Me", which peaked at number 86 on the ARIA Singles 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, van Dijk joined Khalid on his American Teen Tour of Australia and New Zealand. Later that month, van Dijk signed with RCA Records internationally. In December, Tom Thum released a cover of Rag'n'Bone Man's "Human" featuring van Dijk on vocals.
2018–2020: "Ready" and "Free Time" EPs.
On 24 March 2018, van Dijk played at Pop Spring Festival, Tokyo, where he did his first meet and greet. On 4 April, van Dijk 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, van Dijk announced the release of his debut extended play "Ready" on 15 June, as well as a headline tour in June and July. In October, van Dijk 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, van Dijk was nominated for the Breakthrough Artist award for the ARIA Awards, which he later won, making him the youngest ever to do so.
On 10 January 2019, van Dijk confirmed that he would 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, he released the lead single from his "Free Time" EP, "Painkiller", alongside an accompanying music video. On 9 August, van Dijk released the single "Face to Face" alongside a music video that was shot whilst on tour in France. On 13 September, Ruel released his second EP, "Free Time". In November 2019, van Dijk was an opening act for two shows of Shawn Mendes' .
On 31 January 2020, van Dijk collaborated with Cosmo's Midnight on the track "Down for You". The music video for this song premiered on the 18th of March.
2020: "Bright Lights, Red Eyes".
On 4 September 2020, van Dijk posted a video on Instagram with the caption "alayc", hinting at new music. On 10 September 2020, a new single "As Long As You Care" was premiered on Triple J, before releasing later that day, alongside an accompanying music video. van Dijk additionally announced his third EP, "Bright Lights, Red Eyes", which was released on 23 October 2020.
Awards and nominations.
APRA Awards.
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.
ARIA Music Awards.
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 the five nominations.
MTV Europe Music Awards.
The MTV Europe Music Awards is an award presented by Viacom International Media Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture.
National Live Music Awards.
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.
The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009.