Nate Ruess
Nathaniel Joseph Ruess[1]
February 26, 1982
Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Glendale, Arizona, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
2000–present
Since 2013, he also performs as a solo musician, collaborating in several successful songs, including "Just Give Me a Reason" with Pink, which received two nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards and won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration.[5] In 2015 he published his solo studio album Grand Romantic, which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200.
Ruess has also written and composed several successful songs, including "Die Young" by Kesha, "Stay the Night" by Zedd and Hayley Williams, "Walk Me Home" by Pink and with Keith Urban, Maroon 5 and Ellie Goulding. In 2015 he was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his song writing. [6]
Early life[edit]
Ruess was born the second child of Larry Ruess and Bess Zinger.[7][8] His uncle, John Ruess, was a performer on Broadway and served as an influence for Ruess's musical ventures.[9]
In 1986, his family moved to a farm in Glendale, Arizona, due to repeated bouts of pneumonia Ruess faced as a child.[10] Ruess's pneumonia and the move are referenced in the lyrics of the song "The Gambler". Ruess remained in Arizona throughout his childhood and attended Deer Valley High School, graduating in 2000.[11] During his time in school, Ruess played in punk bands and upon graduation chose to pursue music professionally. In an interview with American Songwriter Ruess states, "I'm not one to take lessons, so I decided that the only way I was going to learn how to sing, if what they were saying was true, was to go in my car and put on any sort of music from a vocalist that might be really hard to mimic, turn it on as loud as possible and try to hit all those notes".[12] He took a job in a law firm as a way to support himself while he pursued his musical ambitions.[13]
In 2002, at the age of 19, he launched the band the Format with his longtime best friend, Sam Means. The Format was his first musical endeavor to gain widespread attention.
Career[edit]
2000–2008: The Format[edit]
After forming in 2000,[14] the Format released a five-song EP, titled EP, which generated local interest and led to the band being signed to Elektra Records in 2002. They released their first studio album, Interventions + Lullabies, on October 21, 2003, leading to more local mainstream success. The band's fanbase began to grow, and the Format released their second EP, Snails, with Atlantic Records in April 2005. However, while working on their second album, Dog Problems, they were dropped from Atlantic. They eventually created their own label, The Vanity Label, and released the album on July 10, 2006. On February 4, 2008, Ruess announced through the band's blog that the Format would not be making another album.[15]
Personal life[edit]
From 2009 to 2013, Ruess dated fashion designer Rachel Antonoff, the sister of Fun guitarist Jack Antonoff.[42] Rachel and Ruess both provided backing vocals for the song "Dakota" from the 2007 album Trampoline by Jack's band Steel Train.[43] Later, Rachel sang on some Fun songs and appeared in the video for "We Are Young". Rachel and Ruess collaborated on The Ally Coalition, an activist project to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues.[44][45][46]
Ruess began dating English fashion designer Charlotte Ronson in March 2014.[47] They had their first child, a son, in early 2017.[48] They had their second child, a daughter, in March 2019.[49]
