Ruth B.

Contemporary singer/songwriter and producer Ruth B. began attracting widespread attention in 2015 after uploading a brief piano-and-vocal performance of her original ballad “Lost Boy,” a piece whose lyrics drew from the fantasy drama Once Upon a Time. The clip’s rapid circulation led directly to a recording agreement with Columbia, after which the completed single became a multi-platinum Top 25 success in both her native Canada and the United States, earned her the Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and paved the way for the assured full-length Safe Haven in 2017 as well as the more refined follow-up Moments in Between four years afterward.

Born Ruth Berhe in Edmonton, Alberta, she had already begun sharing short vocal renditions of well-known songs on social platforms by 2013. In December of the following year she posted a sorrowful original fragment that soon prompted her to expand it into a complete composition. A live version appeared on YouTube the next month, and a studio recording was later offered for download. The track inspired numerous covers by emerging performers and caught the ear of Columbia executives, who signed Berhe in July 2015. By year’s end she had recorded the four-track EP The Intro over two days in a Brooklyn studio; the set contained “Lost Boy” alongside three additional self-produced numbers for voice and keyboards only. The single ultimately reached number 14 on the Canadian chart and number 24 on the U.S. chart, earning multi-platinum certification in each territory. At the 2017 Juno Awards she received three nominations and took home the Breakthrough Artist prize.

Just weeks after that ceremony, Berhe released her debut album Safe Haven in May 2017. Crafted chiefly by Joel Little, whose prior credits include work with Lorde, Broods, and Khalid, the project adopted a more layered and overtly pop approach than the earlier EP. It entered the Canadian albums chart at number 17 and was certified gold within a short span. Turning her focus to a sophomore effort, she returned in September 2018 with the pop-R&B single “Rare,” written and produced in tandem with D’Mile. The 2019 EP Maybe I’ll Find You Again functioned as an interim release, while the full-length Moments in Between, issued in June 2021, was introduced by the singles “Dirty Nikes,” “Die Fast,” and “Situation.” In 2022 the previously overlooked 2017 cut “Dandelions” finally emerged as a sleeper success.