SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 28: Ruel accepts the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist during the 32nd Annual ARIA Awards 2018 at The Star on November 28, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Ruel: Whether you know him or not, it’s likely you’ve already heard his music. Behind the likes of “Younger”, and “Dazed and Confused”, the 16 year-old was the youngest solo artist in ARIAs history to win an award, tonight. Striding confidently down the red carpet and onto the stage in a check long-line blazer, it is hard to believe he is still in high school.

Scoring the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist, he can thank his success to a line of a-list musicians. Praised by Elton John as well as performing with Khalid on his American Tour, Ruel first gained the attention of Queensland producer M-Phazes with his demo of James Bay’s “Let It Go”.

Fast-forward three years and he is breaking records. How does someone that young deal with fame? We asked:

“My friends don’t really see it as anything… Right now, it’s alright. In Sydney it’s fine. When I’m at home I try and almost distance myself and kind of think of the [music] Ruel as another person…and when I’m back in reality I just do normal teenager things. When people talk about Ruel, I think of him as another person.”

As for 2019, the singer/songwriter plans to release a new EP or fresh “body of work”. Stay tuned and listen to his music below.