Age is just a number for Ruel. At only 16, the Sydney singer-songwriter is already the youngest winner of the prestigious ARIA Award for “Breakthrough Artist of the Year”. Charmingly, a conversation with his family about a crush inspired him to write his own heartfelt music and will be Live in Malaysia at The Bee, KL this 29 March 2019.
Ruel’s love affair with music started early. Influenced by his music-loving father, Ruel was immersed in soul, blues, and jazz where he was introduced to Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, and Dave Brubeck. As he got older, he gravitated to more contemporary artists like Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, and James Blake.
Things began to look up for Ruel when he debuted on M-Phazes’ track Golden Years. He was invited to perform on Australian radio station Triple J’s “Like A Version”.
His first single Don’t Tell Me was an instant hit. Produced by his mentor M-Phazes, the track raked in millions of streams (100 million to date) and climbed up charts everywhere. Not long after that, he found himself co-writing with Julia Stone, touring with Grammy-nominee Khalid, and even found a fan in Sir Elton John.
His first EP, Ready has over 100 million streams, with standout tracks Younger, Dazed and Confused, and Don’t Tell Me certified Gold in Australia.
Supporting Act: NYK
Acts in the Malaysian urban music scene don’t get any fresher than NYK, with his ingenious and addictive blend of R&B and pop. After being an opening act for The Sam Willows and James Arthur over the course of a few meteoric months, he released his debut self-written single, FWB to much acclaim. The song went on to chart in multiple countries on Spotify, and racked up over a million plays in no time his second single, "Make it On Me” released in March 2018.
THE BEE, PUBLIKA: 36B, Block C, Level G2, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1, KL. Doors open For info about The Bee, call 03-6201 8577 or e-mail bees@thebee.com.my7pm. Tickets at RM169 from https://www.galactix.asia/upfrontpresentsruel
