# Ren Gill

Ren Eryn Gill (born Ren Erin Gill, 29 March 1990), known professionally as Ren, is a Welsh songwriter, musician, rapper, producer, and director. He was a member of the indie hip-hop band Trick The Fox and the British busking band The Big Push.
Before his career, Ren was a student of the University of Bath, studying Commercial Music. Later in his career, Ren has officially released two albums, Freckled Angels (2016) and Sick Boi (2023). Sick Boi reached the number one spot on the UK charts on October 20, 2023. In the US, it debuted at No. 137 on the Billboard 200. Ren debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart and No. 54 on the Billboard 100 Artists chart.

## Early life

Ren was born on 29 March 1990, in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, and was raised in Dwyran, on the island of Anglesey. After receiving a guitar from his father at the age of 10, Ren fell in love with music. He taught himself to play guitar by slowing down tracks by Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante,$^{:20:11}$ and was influenced by a variety of the musicians his parents listened to. Artists like Shy FX, Mickey Finn & Aphrodite, early Eminem, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Marley. He dreamed of being a producer and later a musician. When he was 12, Ren sold homemade beats made with Reason on CD.$^{:01:33}$ At 13, he began performing live with an AFI song rendition.$^{:11:02}$

## Early career

In 2009 he started experiencing health problems which caused him to struggle with his studies.$^{:00:15}$ Whilst living in Bath in England, Ren started a band called Trick The Fox.$^{:01:45}$ It was around this time that Ren was discovered. Eric Appapoulay, a music producer, heard Ren busking one of his own songs and was impressed. Eric arranged for Ren to sign a recording contract with his label, a sub-label attached to Sony Records$^{:34:23}$ in 2010
Ren began working on his debut album with Charlie Fowler, and later Tom Frampton, 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 started touring and began receiving airplay. Halfway through recording the album, Ren became very sick. He started feeling dissociated, experienced physical pain, and became so weak and tired that Ren was unable to hide what was going on. It affected his ability to perform.
On 15 February 2016, Ren released his first official single, "Jessica". Currently his writing is influenced by the stories of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin McDonagh.
In addition to his solo career, Ren was a member of The Big Push, a Brighton-based busking band. Glenn Chambers was the drummer and Ren, Romain Axisa, Gorran Kendall were the front men. Their 2021 UK Tour sold out. The Big Push played their last gig and broke up in 2022 due in part to Ren's health issues.

## Breakthrough albums

As of 2025, Ren has released two albums, Freckled Angels (2016) and Sick Boi (2023). Sick Boi reached the number one spot on the UK charts on October 20, 2023. In the US, it debuted at No. 137 on the Billboard 200.

### Freckled Angels

On 2 January 2016, Ren's debut solo album Freckled Angels was released. The self-released album contained 16 tracks, including around half of the tracks recorded for the Trick The Fox album. Eric Appapoulay gave Ren permission to use them.$^{:38:08}$ Ren dedicated the album and the title track to one of his best friends, Joe Hughes, who died by suicide in 2010.

### Sick Boi

His second album Sick Boi was released on 13 October 2023. Ren wrote composed, arranged, and performed the song, while Ren Gill and Samuel Perry-Falvey directed the video. 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.
Over the course of the year prior to the album's release, many tracks from the album were released as singles to major streaming services, with accompanying videos published on Ren's YouTube channel. Two of the singles, "Suicide" and "Murderer", both placed in the Top 100 of the UK Singles Sales Chart during the week after their release. 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. After Ren secured the number one spot Rick Astley congratulated Ren and went on to say "He’s been at this for a while. This is not something new to him, he’s been making music for a long time so it’s a well deserved number one. Check out some of his videos on YouTube - amazing stuff." Huw Stephens included Sick Boi in his book Wales: 100 Records, calling it an "impressive record" and Ren's style of rapping "mesmerizing". "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." He was unable to perform to promote his album due to his ongoing treatment in Calgary and attributed the level of its success to his friends and his fan base's promotion of it.
The next six songs Ren released, "Sick Boi", "Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve Retake)", "Illest of Our Time", "Animal Flow", and "Suicide" also appeared in the United Kingdom's Trending Music Video Chart on YouTube. He was invited to play at Glastonbury 2023 and other major UK summer music festivals.

#### Money Game part 3 single

The song "Money Game part 3", from Sick Boi, was London Music Video Awards' (LMVA) choice for Music Video of the Month in December 2023. 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, a one-shot, was produced by Connor Hunnisett, Samuel Perry-Falvey & Amy Ellery. and directed by Ren Gill and Samuel Perry-Falvey. Ren and Samuel met when they were teenagers and have been working together professionally for quite some time. Ren chose to work with him when creating some of his earliest videos.

## Miscellaneous career

In 2022, Ren released "Hi Ren", a viral video that charted worldwide in YouTube's trending music video chart. It garnered 6.8 million views in two months and received an honourable mention for best European music video at the Prague music video awards, as well as a nomination for best music video at Camerimage 2023.
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.
Ren appeared centre stage 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.
Ren was chosen to perform live at the 2024 Sky Arts Awards along with The Darkness, Slash and Brian Johnson, The Three Sopranos, The Kanneh-Masons and Aleighcia Scott. In May 2023, Ren was interviewed by Justin Hawkins of The Darkness on Hawkins's YouTube channel.$^{:0.00:00}$

## Other projects

* On 15 December 2022, he self-released a music video for his song "Hi Ren", which became a viral hit, receiving 6.8 million YouTube views in two months.
* In the video to "Hi Ren", he mentions dealing with autoimmunity, illness, and psychosis.
* The video for "Hi Ren" received an honourable mention in the best European music video category at the Prague music video awards in April 2023.
* In October 2023 it was nominated for the Camerimage 2023 Best Music video award. Ren was listed as the director and Samuel Perry-Falvey the cinematographer.
* 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.
* During February 2025, Ren made an appearance in Fire In The Booth on YouTube.

## Private life

Ren moved to Bath to study music at Bath Spa University's Newton Park Campus. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Commercial Music. In 2013 Ren moved to Brighton. While in his bedroom, Ren wrote songs and recorded music. In a Q&A video that premiered on YouTube on 28 September 2023, Ren spoke about, among other things, his middle name. When asked this question, he answered "My middle name is Eryn. Like Eryn, E–R–Y–N. Eryn."
In June 2023, Ren presented a cheque for £21,000 to the RNLI crew on Beaumaris, Anglesey. He had used his status as a musician to let people know about the volunteer organization. His fans helped him raise the money in recognition of the RNLI's great work in saving peoples lives and the effort they put in trying to find his friend Joe Hughes, who jumped from the Menai Suspension Bridge in 2010. Ren often uses his public persona to raise awareness of mental health issues. Also, a restaurant in Menai Bridge, Anglesey is named after his album, Freckled Angels.

### Personal Health Struggles

At one stage, Ren went to his mother's home in Wales to rest and recuperate for three months. Three months turned into a year. Bedridden for up to 23 hours a day$^{:36:23}$ and too sick to work on the album, he was unable to continue his music career. Ren went from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with him. For years he was misdiagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Ren went to Brussels to have testing done by a specialist in chronic fatigue syndrome in October 2015 and was ultimately diagnosed with Lyme disease. Ren finished and released the Freckled Angels album in an effort to help raise money for treatment. He received his first experimental stem cell treatment in 2016, and his second in March 2017. After the treatment, he regained some of his health back, but didn't have the same energy level as the average person. He was left with ongoing autoimmune issues, brain damage, and PTSD. Despite this he "started busking on the streets of Brighton" and continued to record and release music and music videos over the next several years, both solo and in collaboration with other UK-based independent artists, mostly on his personal YouTube channel. He was also 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.
Ren went to Canada in January 2023, he received specialised medical treatment for his illness. After completing his treatment in Canada, Ren returned to the U.K in July 2024
On 26 September 2024, Ren shared that many of his symptoms had been in remission after he received treatment for the Lyme disease co-infection Bartonella from October 2023 until June 2024. 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. Later that September, Ren was hospitalised in A&E (Accident and Emergency) "due to complications with his autoimmunity". His social media accounts were managed by his team of friends while he was in A&E and as he rested and recovered at home.
Since becoming sick, Ren has said that his life's work has been closely related to looking for better ways to deal with mental health issues.

## Discography

Ren has also collaborated with several artists, such as Prof, Chris Webby, Viktus, and Knox Hill. See their discographies for more details.

### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | UK | UK HH/R&B | AUS | SCO | US |
| Freckled Angels | Released: 15 January 2016 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sick Boi | Released: 13 October 2023 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD, LP, cassette | 1 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 137 |

### Extended plays

| Title | EP details |
| The Tale of Jenny & Screech | Released: 15 September 2019 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD, EP |
| Demos (Do Not Share), Vol 1 | Released: 29 April 2020 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD, EP |
| Demos (Do Not Share), Vol 2 | Released: 14 October 2020 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD, EP |
| Violet's Tale | Released: 29 July 2022 Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download, CD, EP |

### Singles

| Year | Title | UK Sales | Album/EP |
| 2018 | "Jessica" (featuring Orlean) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "Girls!" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "Blind Eyed" (with Sam Tompkins) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "Children of the Moon" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Humble" (with Eden Nash) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Money Game" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "How to Be Me" (with Chinchilla) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2020 | "Money Game, Pt. 2" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2021 | "Round Town [Skit]" (Chinchilla feat. Ren) | — | Moon Maintenance For Dummies |
| 2021 | "Chalk Outlines" (with Chinchilla (singer)) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2022 | "Power" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2022 | "Violet's Tale" | — | Violet's Tale |
| 2022 | "The Hunger" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2022 | "Genesis" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2022 | "What You Want" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2022 | "Hi Ren" | 50 | Non-album singles |
| 2023 | "For Joe" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2023 | "Sick Boi" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Illest of Our Time" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "gutter - Ren Remix" (venbee feat. Ren) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2023 | "Animal Flow" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Suicide" | 94 | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Murderer" | 95 | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Love Music, Pt. 4" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Down on the Beat" (featuring Viktus) | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Masochist" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Lost All Faith" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2023 | "Money Game, Pt. 3" | — | Sick Boi |
| 2024 | "Mackay" | — | Non-album singles |
| 2024 | "Pain Salesman" (Prof ft. Ren) | — | Non-album singles |
| 2024 | "Baggage"(Chris Webby ft. Ren) | — | Last Wednesday |
| 2024 | "Fentanyl"(Knox Hill ft. Ren) | — | Chaos Theory 2 |
| 2024 | "Troubles" | 12 | |
| 2024 | "KUJO BEAT DOWN" | 15 | Non-album singles |
| 2024 | "Money Ties" | 53 | Non-album singles |
| 2024 | "Slaughter House" (featuring Kit) | 47 | Slaughter House |