Shell Ruin

Shell Marie Wilson (born August 10, 1985), known professionally as Shell Ruin, is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in the early 2000s, performing as part of the sister duo Voguegirl and initially as a solo act under the name Shell Wilson. Ruin released two albums under these guises, to mediocre critical and commercial success. In the years following her early music career, Ruin made her name as a socialite in London in the mid-2000s before returning to music in 2007.

Following a two year hiatus from music, Ruin released Kill Pop and The Dirty Is Done respectively 2007. With her third studio album The Dirty Is Done she made her breakthrough, cementing her status as a credible performer and songwriter. In 2008 Ruin released Charm Offensive which saw her experiment with more alternative sounds and steer away from the pop direction of her previous work. In doing so, Ruin introduced herself to new musical audiences. She later returned to her pop roots, releasing Never Stop in 2009. The album was Ruin's most successful to date, spawning a string of Top 10 singles including "Love, Inc.", "Joy Division" and "Politics of Love".

At the turn of the decade, Ruin's behavior became erratic, at one point faking her own death for a year. She returned in 2011 and released Panic Station. The album leaned towards a more urban-pop sound and was hailed as a return to form for Ruin but the album and its singles "Living Proof" and "Dictator" were both commercial failures. Following this Ruin took an unofficial hiatus from music.

After four years out of the spotlight, Ruin released her eigth studio album Play in September 2015. Following in the footsteps of long-time friend and collaborator Alesha, the album would be the first time the pair had worked together since 2009. Play became the most commercially successful album of Ruin's career, debuting at number one on the Official Albums Chart and surpassing near two million units within a year. Following a sold-out world tour, Ruin began releasing new music every week as part of her New Music Sundays series, eventually leading to the release of her ninth studio album Nocturne on August 8, 2016. In September 2016, Ruin starred as the lead role of Angel Saint Clare in the Netflix original web series Died Blonde.

2004—2005: Career beginnings
Further information: London Brat Pack

Performing under the name Shell Wilson, Voguegirl released their debut single "Go" in August 2004, which failed to receive positive reviews and did not gather much success, along with their debut album Drab Subscription. They also embarked on the Voguegirl Present... Live and More!' tour, which sold considerably well. "I am quite proud of that album, it has more of a reflection of myself than the Stories of a Girl album" said Shell in the April 2006 edition of i-D magazine. After the cancelled release of a follow-up single, the duo disbanded. Ruin signed a solo contact soon after and released debut single "Not a Love Song" in October 2004.

Ruin returned at the end of December to start the promotional campaign for her debut solo album, Stories of a Girl, which was released on January 17, 2005. The album has become a cult pop-rock album, influencing a wave of young female artists after her, including Taylor Brookes and Josie Matthews. The second single to be taken from the album was "Boys & Girls." Both the single and album charted at number six in the UK, despite a short absence. It was announced shortly after that Ruin would not release a third single from the album. Ruin also embarked on her first international solo tour, Boys and Girls of America. Ruin toured the Americas for two months before cancelling the last leg of the tour.

Between February and June 2005, Ruin started recording for a more electro-pop influenced album. Ruin released a third single in August 2005; seven months after the release of Stories of a Girl. Ruin showcased this new, electro sound and released "Loving Is Easy."

Ruin was long associated with a circle of female musicians known collectively by the media as the 'London Brat Pack.' The group consisted of female artists including Alesha, Taylor Brookes, Kati, Josie Matthews and self-proclaimed mother of the group, Buffi. The group tend to drift apart from time to time and have endured several highly publicised fall-outs. As a group they were considered to be some of the most sought after celebrities in the year 2005.

After the cancellation of her second studio album in the fall of 2005, Ruin stopped working on new material but didn't leave the media spotlight. Throughout 2006, she participated in numerous charity events for Save the Children and UNICEF, and made a television appearance on Red Nose Day in March of that year.Ruin became more known for her appearances at fashion events and her social circle rather than her earlier music success. Ruin made several appearances in magazines such as i-D and POP, securing her position as 'one to watch' in the fashion world. She publicly expressed her dislike for the music industry on many occasions. In an interview with i-D in April 2006, Ruin said "As soon as I signed with a major label, I had no control over anything [...] I was too controlled. I sacrificed my music and my image."

In June 2006, Ruin announced on her official blog that Wonderland was a possible title for her second studio album. Soon after, two untitled songs leaked onto the internet, however it would be a further six months before any official news surfaced. In December 2006, Ruin co-hosted The Clothes Show Live at the Birmingham NEC. During this time she changed her name from Shell Wilson to Shell Ruin. Ruin has never commented on the name change other than to say she had been going under this alias since 2006.

2007: Breakthrough and The Dirty Is Done
On February 11, 2007, Ruin's new record label Ensemble issued a press release for her second studio album. The title was confirmed as Kill Pop, with "Jealous Girls" as its second single. The album received critical acclaim thanks to its impressive list of producers which included Alesha, Ivy, girlASKboy, Buffi and Jack Stevens. On April 1, 2007, "Jealous Girls" charted, and peaked, at number four in the UK. The following week, Kill Pop also debuted at number four. Soon after the release of her second studio album, it was announced that Ruin would go on a nation-wide tour.

In May 2007, Ruin, Alesha, Buffi and Taylor Brookes announced that they would release the "Power Power" EP on July 9, 2007. The EP consisted of two brand new tracks, "Power Power" and "Cherry Bomb," plus eight re-recorded songs taken from their current studio albums. The EP was met by rave reviews from critics and fans alike and the promotional campaign kicked off with immense hype from the media. Adverts ran on Channel 4 throughout the campaign and both songs were A-listed by BBC Radio 1 within the first week of their initial release.

Ruin started recording her third studio album, The Dirty Is Done in mid-2007, before its commercial release in the fall. The album was mainly written and produced by Ruin, with contributions from Alesha on "Intro" and "Kitsch Bitch Kool." Ruin recorded her collaboration "Strangers with Candy" with Cleo Clarice shortly after Clarice gave birth in 2007.

The album's sound was described as "bigger" by Ruin in an interview with POP magazine which was conducted in July, where she also stated that "The sound is a lot more complicated. I thought Kill Pop was quite 'alternative' sound-wise, but the songs on this album are a lot bigger and lyrically a lot more challenging ... I love it."

Ruin released the first single "My Teaches" to huge commercial success, becoming one of her biggest selling singles to date and being certified Platinum soon after its release. Despite this, Ruin abandon the project, leaving her record company Ensemble to release two further singles without music videos or promotion. "Hair of the Dog" was released to moderate success in January 2008, and won Ruin her first Urapopstar Award for the category of Best Songwriter. The album's third single "Gasoline" was used to advertise the American television show Gossip Girl in the UK.

2008: Artistic growth, motherhood and Charm Offensive
In June 2008, Ensemble reissued The Dirty Is Done, presumably because of Ruin's recent praise for her songwriting abilities. The new songs included on the reissued version of the album, including the lead single "El Bastardo," are all out-takes from album's recording sessions. "El Bastardo" entering the Top 10, marked the return to work for Ruin. On August 22, "In for the Kill," a duet with Jack Stevens, was released as the final single from the album. The song became Ruin's first, and Stevens' thirteenth number one single.

Recording sessions for the Ruin's fourth studio album took place between March and June 2008. In an interview with Baby Baby Baby magazine, Ruin said "There are songs on this album which are completely made up of percussion, guitar, keyboards, that sort of stuff. A lot of the songs are very minimal, and more personal to me." The album, Charm Offensive, was released on 22 September, 2008. The album is significant in that it marks the third change of direction for Ruin, and was her highest charting to date, debuting at number two.

2009: Commercial success and Never Stop
Ruin confirmed to BlackBook magazine in March 2009 that she was recording her fifth studio album, scheduled for release in summer 2009. The album was described by Ruin as "a more pop vision, and more commercial than Charm Offensive." Ruin released her fifth studio album, Never Stop, on May 11, 2009. The first single to be released from the album was "Love, Inc.," a song which touched upon the current global recession. The album saw Ruin return to the more commercial sound and image of her earlier eras. Ruin released the second single from the album, "Joy Division", in June 2009.

Ruin made a prominent appearance and is credited as co-director for Alesha's "Brooklyn to Brixton" music video, which was premiered on 5 June, 2009. Ruin wrote both songs on the double A-side Tiara Coles single "Body Phenomenon"/"Crowd Control" and features on the latter. The single was postponed twice and eventually cancelled. In August 2009, 4Music aired an edited version of the 2008 documentary Deep Comatose, which was renamed Shell Ruin: What Became of Me.

"Delusions of Grandeur", a duet with Alesha, was released on November 16, 2009. Ruin had performed the song at the Urapopstar Awards just hours before faking her death. Self-hyped as one of their best singles yet, the song received universal acclaim from music critics. It topped the singles chart upon its release, making it Ruin's second number one. The Agony and the Ecstasy, a greatest hits collection, was released three weeks after the single. It charted at number five and was certified silver within two weeks.

2010-2011: The Holy Trinity years
Towards the end of the decade, Ruin's behavior became more and more erratic. At the end of 2009, she cancelled her 90-date Enfant Terrible world tour without explanation and six weeks later faked her own death. Ruin spent most of 2010 in hiding in Morocco with her three-year-old daughter Lily.

In December 2010, Ruin came out of hiding and embarked on a tour of small venues in the UK, performing all new material. All of the sold-out shows received poor reviews, with the British press disapproving of Ruin's new rock direction. Her sixth studio album, Original Doll, was scheduled to be released in January 2011 but was cancelled weeks before release.. The majority of the material on the LP was unrecognisable in comparison to "the Shellesha sound" which Ruin and Kurdadze had been building on since 2007. The LP contained almost no "radio-friendly" material. In February of that year however, Ruin made a successful live comeback at the Urapopstar Awards, where she performed a medley alongside Alesha and Putanovska. The military themed performance would be the inspiration behind Ruin's next studio album.

Less than six months later, Ruin released her seventh studio album, Panic Station. The album was cited as a return to form for Ruin, who received mainly positive reviews for the album. However, journalists began reporting of "The Shell Ruin effect", which included bias negative reviews of her music and a shift in public perception since her staged death in 2009. Both lead singles, "Living Proof" and "Dictator", sold poorly world-wide despite positive reviews.

Shortly after the failure of the Panic Station era, Ruin announced that she would be taking an indefinite break from music and focusing on her acting career. In August 2011, Ruin released The Albums box set which debuted at #7 with sales of over 50,000 - her most successful endeavor in two years.

2015-2016: Return to music and acting
In early 2015, Ruin began writing and recording music for the first time since 2011. Early recording sessions proved fruitful and Ruin collaborated with Alesha, whom she hadn't spoken to or worked with since 2009. Alesha acted as a mentor throughout the development process, sharing concepts and ideas as well as co-writing the majority of album. In June 2015, Ruin announced the release of her eighth studio album Play and its lead single "Feel Alive" which were subsequently released in September of that year. Ruin appeared on the cover of Vogue, i-D, PAPER and Rolling Stone. The album provided Ruin with her first number one album and biggest opening week sales of her career. "Feel Alive" subsequently debuted at number one on the Official Singles Chart. The following month, Ruin opened the 27th Urapopstar Awards with her second single "Blue". Ruin announced she would embark on the Playroom World Tour in February 2016. The tour was directed by Will Baker who previously directed Ruin's Cowboys & Angels World Tour in 2011. In March 2016, "Dancing on Air" became the second number one single from Play. "Lucid Dreams" featuring Kenya became the last single to be released from the album. A controversial video directed by David LaChapelle featured Ruin and Kenya as gay lovers having sex in a Motel Six.

Ruin's memoirs, All That Glitters: My Story were published by HarperCollins in June 2016. The book proved to be a talking point in the press, making headlines for its outspoken nature. All That Glitters topped The New York Times Best Sellers list. To accompany the personal nature of her memoirs, Ruin simultaneously released Saturn Returns: A Personal Portrait of Shell Ruin, a documentary film directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The film premiered on HBO on June 30 in the United States, and a week later on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Filmed over a period of two years, the film documents Shell's return to music, rare footage of her recording process, backstage scenes from her Playroom World Tour and never before seen moments of family life in New York. The film was watched by over 10 million viewers during its premiere. In July 2016, Ruin appeared in the film Exile in Nashville, as well as contributing songs to its soundtrack, including Alesha's number one single "How to Disappear".

A year after the announcement of Ruin's return to music, it was announced that she would be releasing new music every Sunday for the next two months. Dubbed New Music Sundays, the series saw Ruin stream two songs from her ninth studio album Nocturne every week exclusively on Apple Music and BLOC. Nocturne was was released worldwide on August 8. The lead single "Same Parties" rose to the number one spot on the Official Singles Chart the following week. To promote the album, Ruin appeared on the cover of FADER magazine and the September issue of Rolling Stone in Australia. During the album release week, Netflix announced that Ruin would star in their latest original series Died Blonde, directed, written and produced by Sofia Coppola. All eight episodes of Died Blonde premiered on September 2, 2016. The series received mixed reviewed the following month Ruin released Died Blonde: A Netflix Original Series Soundtrack featuring music from the show.

Music production
Main article: Shell Ruin production discography

Ruin is a Urapopstar Award-nominated and sought-after songwriter and producer. Working both alone since the beginning of her career and with Alesha since 2007, Ruin has become renowned for her compositions. In 2005, Ruin wrote and produced Kati's second single "Morning After Blues" and Izzy's debut single "Tonight". The following year, Ruin wrote several songs for Kati's Asian-only album, Antidote.

In 2007, Ruin wrote the number one single "Bad Boyfriend" for IDOL winner Stacy Hart. They continued their work together in 2009 when Ruin penned the lead single and several songs for her second studio album. In 2008, Ruin worked closely with Tiara Coles when writing her second studio album, Philharmonic CameraFlash Chronic. Ruin wrote and produced seven songs for the album.

Ruin has also become renowned for her work with Alesha. The pair have worked closely on each other's studio albums since 2007. Ruin wrote both the lead singles from The Second Coming and Bigger Than God respectively. Emily Henning's entire third studio album, due in November, was written and produced by Alesha and Ruin. Henning, who was inspired by Alesha's "darker" compositions for Matthews' 2007 album Resurrection, hoped to move away from what she described as a "commercial sound", in favour of more creativity and a darker edge to her music. Alesha and Ruin often works with Putanovska. Her fifth album The Glitterati features Ruin's productions, such as the lead single "Worship Me (Song 4 Putanovska)" and two other songs.

Other artists to perform works by Ruin include Jack Stevens, Intoxicated, Arwyn Knight, Sandi Cohen and Twisted Disco.

Public image
When Ruined released her debut album in 2005 at the age of 19, her image was that of a 'girl next door'. Rolling Stone magazine described Ruin as "the love child of Debbie Harry and Pat Benatar". Ruin first modified her image in 2007 with the release of her second studio album Kill Pop. The reinvented image included 90s rave influences, with neon colours, leggings, customised t-shirts and bold accessories. Later that year, Ruin streamlined her current image for the release of The Dirty Is Done, incorporating gold chains, her signature square sunglasses and hooded jackets.

In 2008, Ruin again reinvented her image for the release of her fourth studio album Charm Offensive. This time, Ruin displayed more of a Bohemian style to correspond with the new folk sound. Ruin was influenced by Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith. In 2009, for the release of her fifth studio album Never Stop, Ruin would reinvent herself once more as an 80s pop diva. Ruin showcased a new platinum blonde hair style with a blunt fringe, and wore 80s inspired clothing mixed with contemporary high fashion pieces.

Following a year in hiding, Ruin emerged in 2010 for the release of her sixth studio album Original Doll, now aged 25, Ruin's style was influenced by Courtney Love and 'riot grrrl' acts of the 90s. Her blonde hair was tousled and unkempt, and she wore plaid shirts and black leather as her signature style. The following year, during the release of the seventh studio album Panic Station, Ruin reinvented herself once again, this time incorporating military influences in her look. She wore Earth tones such as beige and khaki with custom military-inspired jackets, sunglasses and star-spangled pieces.

Upon Ruin's return in 2015 after a four year hiatus, she reinvented herself for the release of the eighth studio album Play. Now aged 30, Ruin's look was that of a sophisticated disco diva, taking influences from Grace Jones and Donna Summer. She wore shimmery gowns with a lot of structured suits and tailored pieces. The following year, during the release of her ninth studio album Nocturne, Ruin's style evolved once again. She wore a uniform of plain shirts, bomber jackets in a black and white colour palette, incorporating her signature sunglasses with an up-do 'bun' that became the 'look' for the era.

Select discography
For a detailed list of releases, see: Shell Ruin discography.


 * Stories of a Girl (2005)
 * Kill Pop (2007)
 * The Dirty Is Done (2007)
 * Charm Offensive (2008)
 * Never Stop (2009)
 * Original Doll (2010)
 * Panic Station (2011)
 * Play (2015)
 * Nocturne (2016)