Ryan Beatty

Starting in 2011, Beatty covered popular songs and posted them on his YouTube channel. The videos were highly viewed with his most popular song, a cover of Bruno Mars' "Marry You", gaining over 6 million views.[1] He released his debut single "Every Little Thing" in November 2011, which reached #89 on the iTunes Pop Charts.[2] Ryan Seacrest premiered Beatty's debut music video "Every Little Thing" on February 2, 2012.[3]

Beatty released his debut EP Because of You which premiered on Radio Disney on July 23, 2012[4] and was released to the public exclusively on iTunes on July 24, 2012. Within 24 hours of its release, Because of You landed in the #1 spot on the US Pop Album Charts and #7 spot on the Top Album Charts.[5] In 2012, Beatty was chosen to be one of the faces of AT&T's national "It Can Wait" campaign to end texting and driving. The PSA, which urged fans to take the pledge not to text and drive, aired nationwide.[6] Ryan spent the summer of 2013 touring as one of the opening acts on Cody Simpson's Paradise Tour.[7] His first headlining tour was scheduled for November 2013, but was postponed until 2014.

In subsequent interviews after the release of his debut album, Boy in Jeans, in 2018, Beatty described this period somewhat negatively. He felt both creatively and emotionally constrained by his image as a "straight" teen heartthrob and the lack of input he was allowed when he was recording music.[8]

I was just rolling with the punches and dealing with what I was given. Being young I was just really underestimated and I remember never really being taken seriously. I get it, I was like 16, 17 in these sessions, but at the same time I did feel like I had a sense of what I wanted to do or whatever. Back then I didn't feel like I could be myself in any way and the times that I did and I tried to have my own identity, I never felt that it was taken seriously. Can you imagine my entire late teenage years I was being perceived as somebody that I just absolutely wasn't and that's something I can never take back. I don't want this to sound like I regret anything, but it's really difficult.

— Ryan Beatty interviewed by Colin Graves, "Ryan Beatty is the Brockhampton Collaborating Boy in Jeans Writing Pure Pop Bops about Boys.", Notion Magazine (December 19, 2018)

In 2013, he opted to fire his initial management team only a little over a year after his quick rise to recognition had begun.[9] In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Beatty recalled firing his manager on a plane flying back to Los Angeles after a gig and telling them, "I can't do this anymore."[10] His decision to fire his management and separate from his first label led to a protracted legal battle that prevented him from releasing music until 2016.[10]

After being inactive for three years, Beatty began to return to recording music in 2016 with the release of his singles "Passion" and "Stay Gold". That same year, he also publicly came out as gay.[11] In 2017, he began collaborating with the rap collective Brockhampton, providing backing vocals on Saturation II's "Queer" and Saturation III's "Bleach".

In 2018, Beatty released his first studio album Boy In Jeans featuring singles "Bruise" and "Camo". He released music videos for almost every song on the album, with the exceptions of "Cupid", "Money", and "Speed".[12] The first music video from the album for "Bruise" was directed by Brockhampton's Kevin Abstract.[13] That same year, he also collaborated with rapper Tyler, the Creator on his EP Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss' The Grinch and producer Benny Blanco on his album Friends Keep Secrets. Additionally, he performed with Brockhampton on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, alongside Jazmine Sullivan and serpentwithfeet, singing backing vocals on an early version of the song "Tonya" which later appeared on their album Iridescence. His backing vocals were later cut from the final version of the song.

Beatty performing in March 2019

Starting in January 2019, Beatty embarked on a short tour in support of his album Boy in Jeans, first with shows in Los Angeles and Brooklyn and then continuing in March with a West Coast tour with shows in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles.[14][15] In a 2020 interview with Complex magazine, he said that he initially delayed touring after the release of Boy in Jeans in order to focus on recording his second album, Dreaming of David.[16] He continued his collaborations into 2019 with features on Brockhampton member, Kevin Abstract's, third solo album Arizona Baby, Tyler, the Creator's Grammy Award-winning album Igor, Brockhampton's album Ginger (including the single "Sugar"), and Slow Hollow's album Actors.

Soon after the completion of his album Boy in Jeans in 2018, Beatty began work on his follow up album Dreaming of David through 2019. From the end of 2019 into early 2020, Beatty began releasing the singles "Dark Circles", "Patchwork", and "Casino", each with their own accompanying music videos, in the lead up to the release of his second album. On January 31, 2020, Ryan Beatty released Dreaming of David. Soon afterwards, he announced a US tour called "David, I Love You" in support of the album, though this was later cancelled due to the social distancing measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18] Additionally, he appeared in Brockhampton's second music video for their single "Sugar" released in February 2020.[19] He was also featured alongside Dua Lipa and Jon B in the remix of "Sugar", released in March 2020, which included an additional solo verse for Beatty not in the original version.[20] In May 2020, Brockhampton released a single, titled "Twisted", exclusively on YouTube which featured Beatty and Christian Alexander.[21] Starting late 2020, Beatty stopped using all social media platforms. His Twitter remains abandoned to this day. Beatty featured on Kevin Abstract's 2021 single "Sierra Nights".[22][23]

In March 2023, Beatty cleared his Instagram page, indicating new music would be released soon. This was his first social media activity in two and a half years.[24] On March 15, after a series of Instagram posts & the launch of his new website, Beatty announced his third studio album, Calico, would be released April 28, 2023.[25] The lead single, "Ribbons", was released the following Friday.[26] On April 4, Beatty announced that a live arrangement would be available on his YouTube the following day.[27] Coinciding with the release of the live version, a limited edition vinyl single featuring both studio and live versions of the song was made available for pre-order.[28] On April 21, Beatty posted the album tracklist on his Instagram account.[29] With the release of the album came a short film under the same name, containing music videos for the album's first three songs.[30] Calico was well received with critics calling the album "a transformative step for the visionary singer-songwriter, an intimate and admirable embrace" & "arguably his best work to date."[31][32] A five date North American concert tour titled "California In Every Color" was announced on May 2,[33] with a five date international leg of the tour being announced on July 18.[34] The tour ran from September 13 to September 23rd, with the international leg being canceled in early October due to logistical issues. Live versions of album tracks "Bruises Off The Peach" & "White Teeth" were made available on his YouTube on May 19[35] & June 15[36] respectively. The "Calico Tour" was announced on October 10th. The tour is expected to run from February 15th 2024 to March 15th.[37]