Ren Gill

Ren was born on 29 March 1990, in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. When he was four his family moved to the island of Anglesey. They settled in the small village of Dwyran where Ren grew up. Ren fell in love with music when he was 10 after his father gave him his first guitar. He taught himself to play by slowing down tracks by Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante. and later a musician. When he was 12, Ren sold homemade beats made with Reason on CD. At 13, he began performing live with an AFI song rendition. == Career ==

2008–2012: Early career Ren was studying music at Bath Spa University when he began busking and created a band called Trick the Fox with classmate Charlie Fowler. Eric Appapoulay, a music producer, heard Ren performing one of his own songs while busking. He was impressed and arranged for Ren to sign a recording contract with his label, a sub-label of Sony Records in 2010. On 28 December 2010, Ren lost one of his best friends, Joe Hughes to suicide. The two had been friends since childhood, having met when Ren was 8. Joe's death deeply affected Ren and has influenced him to open up and write songs that talk about mental and emotional health. and chronic health conditions. Ren started working on his debut album with Charlie Fowler at Sanctuary studio in South London. They wrote and recorded tracks, posting a few of them and some videos on the band's Facebook and YouTube accounts. The group began touring, and drummer Tom Frampton joined in 2012. They started receiving airplay. Halfway through recording the album, Ren became very sick. He started feeling dissociated, experienced physical pain, He became so weak and tired that Ren was unable to hide what was happening. It affected his ability to perform. 2013–2016: Isolation and Freckled Angels Ren left his mother's home in Wales and moved to Brighton in 2013. His health issues kept him homebound. Some days were better than others. When he had enough energy, In October 2015, He released his first official single, "Jessica", on 15 February 2016. Not long after, he went to the United States to undergo an experimental treatment for Lyme disease that included stem cell transplantation. 2017–2022: Return to performing Ren's health improved after being treated with stem cells, and had ongoing autoimmune issues, brain damage, and PTSD. Despite this, he "started busking on the streets of Brighton," As his fan base grew, many of his videos were viewed over a million times. Jenny's tale, part of a trilogy of videos, had 3.3 million views by April 2020, a little over a year after its release. He also released several EPs and began working on his second album. The Big Push played their last gig and broke up in 2022 due in part to Ren's health issues. "Hi Ren" On 15 December 2022, Ren self-released the music video "Hi Ren". This was a breakthrough moment for him. "Hi Ren" is an expression of Ren's journey with mental health, autoimmunity, illness, psychosis, and the medical system. It brings a message of hope and positivity, and has helped people open up and talk about their own struggles, promoting open public discussions about mental health. A clip of the video received over 12 million views on TikTok in January 2023. The video received an honourable mention in the Best European Music Video category at the Prague Music Video Awards in April 2023, and was nominated for the Camerimage 2023 Best Music Video award in October 2023. Ren was the director, and Samuel Perry-Falvey was the cinematographer. Since 2023 In January 2023, Ren went to Canada to receive further treatment for Lyme disease. He had recorded multiple songs and several videos, including most of his upcoming album, before leaving. The album was released on 13 October 2023. The style has been described as kaleidoscopic hip-hop. It chronicles Ren's health journey over the past decade. The lyrics in several of the songs describe how he felt and what he went through as he battled chronic illness. His openness and honesty about his struggles with his mental and physical health is what has drawn people worldwide to his music. Upon release, Sick Boi was in a "heated battle for UK's no 1 album," with fewer than 400 chart units separating it and Rick Astley's new release Are We There Yet?. Sick Boi went on to secure number one by almost 6,000 units, surpassing artists like Drake and Troye Sivan on his way to the top. "The book analyses the very best works by some of the most important artists to come out of Wales". In the US, Ren debuted at No. 4 on the Emerging Artists chart and No. 54 on the Billboard 100 Artists chart. His album, Sick Boi, debuted "at No. 137 on the Billboard 200 with 9,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week. It also starts at No. 2 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 11 on Top Current Album Sales, and No. 13 on Top Album Sales." and attributed the level of its success to his friends and his fan base's promotion of it. It also won Best Music Video, Best Director, and Best Concept, and was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Narrative at the LMVAs 2024 competition. And, the album won Best Music Video, Best Director Music Video, and an Honourable Mention for Best Cinematography at the 2024 International Music Video Awards, and won Best Music Video in 2024 at the ÉCU The European Independent Film Festival. It was also chosen for the British Arrows Y24 Shortlist in the categories of Music Video Director and Music Video Producer. "Money Game part 3" was written, composed, arranged, and performed by Ren, and the video, was produced by Connor Hunnisett, Samuel Perry-Falvey & Amy Ellery. at the 2024 Secret Garden Party with a two-part, two-hour show called "Asylum". Produced and created by Ren Gill & Secret Garden Party, his first solo show in five years included collaborations with Chinchilla, Eden Nash and Romain Axisa, theatrical performances, and live strings. Just like the Sick Boi album, it showcased the asylum Ren experienced as he looked for answers from the healthcare system as to why he was ill. Also showcased was the asylum (safe haven) that others have found because of Ren and his music. New releases in 2025 In 2025, Ren dropped two singles called ''Vincent's Tale - Prologue - Sunflowers and Vincent's Tale - Self Portrait as a sequel to the trilogy Jenny's Tale (2015), Screech's Tale (2019) and Violet's Tale (2022). In 2026, Ren has released Vincent's tale - The bedroom , Richard's tale - Locked up , Richard's tale - Set The Scene , Richard's tale - The five stages of grief , Richard's Tale - Acceptance , and his latest release, Vincent's Tale - Starry Night'', all sequels to "The Tales" In October 2025, Ren announced to release the EP Sick Sick Soul, together with the London-based indie rock band The Skinner Brothers. Starting on 9 October with So The Story Goes..., they will release one song and corresponding music video every week. ==Other notable events==

• Ren was featured in the 2017 movie Unrest, and his song "Patience" was part of the soundtrack. He was a spokesperson for Lyme Disease UK at the time. • In February 2023, Ren released a "retake" of the Verve song "Bitter Sweet Symphony". Verve bassist Simon Jones voiced his appreciation and presented Ren with a guitar as a gift. • In May 2023, Ren was interviewed by Justin Hawkins of The Darkness on Hawkins's YouTube channel. • On 1 November 2023, Rolling Stone UK announced that Ren was one of five acts that had made "their own formidable stamp on British music throughout the year", and were nominees for the Breakthrough Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2023. • In 2024, Ren said his writing is influenced by the stories of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin McDonagh. along with The Darkness, Slash and Brian Johnson, The Three Sopranos, The Kanneh-Masons and Aleighcia Scott. • During February 2025, Ren made an appearance in Fire in the Booth on YouTube, hosted by Charlie Sloth. • During New York Fashion Week 2025, Ren, along with other celebrities, doctors, researchers, and Lyme disease advocates, walked the runway for Project Lab Coat, a production by Runway 7. The three largest US based Lyme organisations, Project Lyme, the Global Lyme Alliance, and the LymeLight Foundation, joined forces with Runway 7 for the event. Funds raised will go towards increasing awareness of Lyme disease, advocacy, research, and treatment. • Ren and the Skinner Brothers' song "So the Story Goes" was number 95 on the 23 October 2025 Official Singles Downloads Chart. Their EP Sick Sick Soul - Vol 1 reached number 5 on the 27 November 2025 Official Album Downloads Chart. == Personal life ==

Ren studied music at Bath Spa University's Newton Park Campus. and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Commercial Music. Ren wanted to thank the RNLI for their work in saving people's lives and for the effort they put in trying to find Joe. He started a fundraiser to benefit the RNLI crews on Anglesey. He let his fans know about the volunteer organisation and its selfless work. They responded, reaching the initial £5,000 target in one day, and they continued to donate. Ren presented a £21,000 cheque to the RNLI team on Beaumaris. Ren's symptoms started in 2009. He was attending Bath Spa University at the time, and his symptoms caused him to struggle with his studies. His symptoms continued to worsen, He went to the US to receive an experimental treatment for Lyme disease using stem cells. The treatment helped him to regain some of his health, They had to try a variety of medications to be able to find which would work best for Ren. Relapse After returning home, several stress inducing events caused him to relapse, and his symptoms returned. He said his health had rapidly declined over the past few weeks, and he would be returning to Canada for further treatment at the end of October. == Discography ==

Ren has collaborated with several artists, such as Sam Tompkins, Chinchilla, Prof, Chris Webby, Token, Viktus, and Knox Hill. Studio albums Extended plays Singles As main artist As featured artist Other appearances ==References==