Ryan Lewis

Early life

Lewis was born in Spokane, Washington, to Julie and Scott Lewis. Lewis has two sisters, Teresa and Laura, four years and two years older than he is, respectively. At an early age, he played guitar in rock bands with his childhood best friend Ryan Sanson, and nursed a growing interest in music production around the age of 15. Lewis attended Ferris High School in Spokane and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Comparative History of Ideas.

Career

2006–2008: Career beginnings

Lewis became a professional photographer and videographer. In 2008, he released his debut extended play, Instrumentals, with four alternative hip hop songs. In the same year, Lewis collaborated with Rhode Island–based emcee Symmetry in a self-titled work, released as an LP.

2009–2017: Career with Macklemore

Lewis first met Macklemore in 2006, but only in 2009 did they formalize the collaboration as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and release the EP The VS. EP.

In October 2010, Lewis produced the VS. Redux EP and, in December, their debut single, "My Oh My". "Wings" was released on January 21, 2011, followed by "Can't Hold Us" featuring Ray Dalton on August 16, 2011.

Their album The Heist was released in October 2012. Previously released singles "My Oh My", "Wings", and "Can't Hold Us" were announced to be included on the album – as was the song "Make the Money". "Can't Hold Us" was used as soundtrack for a Miller beer ad in UK and Ireland in June 2012. "Same Love" was released on July 18, 2012, and songs "White Walls" featuring Schoolboy Q and "Jimmy Iovine" featuring Ab-Soul were confirmed to be included on the album. The Heist debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 2.

On October 30, 2012, Lewis appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show performing their single "Same Love" and then again on January 18, 2013, performing their single "Thrift Shop", which they had sung previously on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on December 11, 2012. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, giving them their first number 1 hit in the US.

The Heist World Tour began in August 2012 to promote The Heist.

On January 26, 2014, Macklemore performed "Same Love" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, where Queen Latifah read marriage vows for 33 couples who lined the aisles, including Lewis's sister, Laura, and her now husband.

In January 2015, Lewis announced via Twitter that his third studio album would be released sometime in the second half of the year. On August 5, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)", which features Ed Sheeran.

On August 27, 2015, the duo released "Downtown", featuring Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz; it was performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30. "Downtown" is part of their new album, This Unruly Mess I've Made, which was released on February 26, 2016.

On January 22, 2016, the duo released "White Privilege II", the second single on "This Unruly Mess I've Made". On June 15, 2017, Macklemore announced via his official Instagram that the duo were on hiatus.

Since 2017: Other works

July 2017 saw the release of Kesha's song "Praying", which Lewis co-wrote and produced.

In 2017, Lewis co-wrote and co-produced "The Greatest Show," the opening track from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. The song, which also featured contributions from Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Greg Wells, Jake Sinclair, and Alex Lacamoire.

On August 19, 2019, Hobo Johnson's song "Subaru Crosstrek XV" was released, which Lewis co-wrote and produced.

In April 2022, Audiochuck launched The Deck, a true crime podcast for which Lewis wrote the theme music. Audiochuck released a video documenting behind-the-scenes of Lewis making the track.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Remixes

• "Vipassana (Ryan Lewis Remix)" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; from the VS. Redux EP
• "Otherside (Ryan Lewis Remix)" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Fences; from VS. Redux

References

References

1. "Hiphop Star Ryan Lewis Delights Leadership Students".
2. (2013-05-31). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis found history-making global success".
3. Sommerfeld, Seth. (February 26, 2013). "A Different Beat". [[The Pacific Northwest Inlander]].
4. Varga, George. (November 29, 2013). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: The stars align". [[San Diego Union-Tribune]].
5. (October 10, 2012). "Ryan Lewis 'Instrumentals'". Jeremy Timothy Brown.
6. (October 10, 2012). "Symmetry & Ryan Lewis LP". Audio Mack.
7. (October 10, 2012). "Real Sick Quality Rap NEW FREE ALBUM – Ryan Lewis & Symmetry – LP". This is Song Sick.
8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JErUzr8GSvU Jabari Presents: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Documentary)]. YouTube. Retrieved on December 30, 2012.
9. "Macklemore – "Irish Celebration"". thatsthatish.com.
10. (December 23, 2010). "Seattle rapper Macklemore records Niehaus tribute | Seattle Mariners blog - seattlepi.com". [[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]].
11. Baker, Geoff. (December 23, 2010). "New song about Dave Niehaus by Seattle rapper Macklemore". The Seattle Times.
12. Ryon, Sean. (October 6, 2012). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "The Heist" Album Stream". HipHop DX.
13. Dan Avery. "Macklemore, Madonna, Queen Latifah Host Gay Weddings". newnownext.com.
14. Jason Lipshutz. (January 2, 2015). "Macklemore Promises New Album Coming in 2015".
15. (August 5, 2015). "Macklemore Returns to Celebrate Daughter's Birth With Joyous New Track".
16. Nolan Feeney. (August 27, 2015). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis 'Downtown' – New Song".
17. Stuart, Tessa. (January 22, 2016). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Drop New Track 'White Privilege II'".
18. (June 15, 2017). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce Decision to Part Ways".
19. (June 15, 2017). "Macklemore Parts Ways with Ryan Lewis, Announces Solo Album".
20. McIntyre, Hugh. (July 6, 2017). "Kesha Returns Triumphantly With New Single 'Praying'". [[Forbes]].
21. "The Greatest Showman (2017) - Soundtracks - IMDb".
22. (August 16, 2019). "Zane Lowe and Hobo Johnson". [[Beats 1]].
23. https://thedeckpodcast.com/music-ryan-lewis/
24. (October 10, 2012). "Symmetry And Ryan Lewis (Free Download)". Symmetry Music.
25. (October 10, 2012). "Ryan Lewis producing his own album titled Instrumentals". Wantickts.