Background
Ryan Lewis was born on March 25, 1988 to Julie and Scott Lewis.
Ryan Lewis was born on March 25, 1988 to Julie and Scott Lewis.
He attended Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Comparative History of Ideas.
Along with producing his own album titled Instrumentals, Lewis produced the albums The VS. European Parliament (2009), The Heist (2012) & This Unruly Mess I"ve Made (2016). Lewis has two sisters, Teresa and Laura, four years and two years older than him, respectively. At an early age, he played guitar in rock bands, and nursed a growing interest in music production around the age of 15.
2006-2008: 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–present: with Macklemore
Lewis first met Macklemore in 2006, but only in 2009 they formalized the collaboration with Macklemore as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and released the European Parliament The VS. European Parliament. In October 2010, he produced the VS. Redux European Parliament 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 United Kingdom 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 United States 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 United States. 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.
In January 2015, Lewis announced via Twitter that his third studio album will 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 Editor Sheeran.
On August 27, 2015, the duo released a new song, "Downtown," featuring Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz.
lieutenant was performed at the 2015 Music Television 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.