Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ; born July 18, 1982)
is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album ''
Elm St.'', he released his first major-label album, ''
Take It All Away'', on August 17, 2004, which went on to sell over two million copies. Earlier in the year, Cabrera had become known for his up-tempo pop-
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
single "
On the Way Down". It was then followed by Cabrera's second single, "
True
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* ...
"; and his third single "40 Kinds of Sadness".
Early life
Cabrera was born in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas to Francisco "Frank" Cabrera and Debbie Cabrera. His father is Colombian and his mother is American. He was raised in
Flower Mound, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He attended
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (commonly referred to as Jesuit Dallas or Dallas Jesuit, and formerly known as Jesuit High School) is a private, college-preparatory school for Single-sex school, young men under the direction of the ...
, graduating with the Class of 2000. During this time, he was the lead singer of a self-described "noisy punk band" called Caine which he described as being "as bad as our name suggested" in a 2007 interview with Billboard. After graduation he briefly attended
The University of Texas at Dallas before dropping out to pursue music.
Career
After leaving school, Cabrera played in the band Rubix Groove, which opened for artists like
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...
and
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...
. Cabrera composed three songs that impressed a studio engineer, who then let Cabrera record a full-length album, ''
Elm St.'', for free at Deep Ellum Studios.
''Take It All Away''
Cabrera was signed to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
in 2002. His major debut single "
On the Way Down" debuted on American radio in May 2004.
"On the Way Down" peaked at number 15 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart.
''Take It All Away'' was released on August 17, 2004, at number eight on the
''Billboard'' 200 album chart and sold over 66,000 copies in its first week and eventually was certified Platinum.
John Rzeznik, lead singer of the
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
, produced ''
Take It All Away''.
The second single was "
True
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* ...
", whose music video featured
Taylor Cole
Taylor Cole (born April 29, 1984) is an American actress and former Model (person), fashion model.
Early life and modeling
Cole was born in Arlington, Texas. She attended Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas), Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, whe ...
, an actress from the TV show ''
Summerland''. The third single was "
40 Kinds of Sadness". Cabrera appeared on the ''
Son of the Mask'' soundtrack with the song "Inside Your Mind" and the Fantastic Four soundtrack with the song "Always Come Back To You". Cabrera has starred in a concert film, Live at the Wiltern, with him performing songs from his album ''
Take It All Away''.
2005–2008: ''You Stand Watching''
Cabrera's second album, ''
You Stand Watching'', was released on September 20, 2005, and it included his singles "
Shine On" and "Photo". Cabrera's relationship with
Ashlee Simpson inspired "Photo". Several songs were co-written with singer-songwriter
Andrew Ripp. ''You Stand Watching'' debuted at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold around 37,000 in its first week.
In 2006, Cabrera released the single "I Will Remember You". The song was used soon thereafter as the closing montage for the series finale of ''
Will & Grace
''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...
''. Soon after, the song was used to send off the female contestants on the 3rd season of ''
So You Think You Can Dance''. He added a re-recorded version of the song at the end of his third album, ''The Moon Under Water''.
''
The Moon Under Water'' was released on May 13, 2008, under Frolic Room Records/ Papa Joe Records and peaked at No. 177 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It released two singles, "
Say" and "
Enemies".
2012–present

On July 3, 2012, Cabrera released a new song called "Home". On August 2, he released another single called "I See Love" on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
, where it reached No. 83 on the top 100. In January 2013, he went on a U.S. tour with
Tyler Hilton
Tyler James Hilton (born November 22, 1983), is an American musician, actor, and author. He is known for playing Chris Keller, a prominent recurring character in the WB/ CW series '' One Tree Hill,'' and Elvis Presley in the Johnny Cash biopi ...
and
Teddy Geiger.
In March 2013, Cabrera launched the web series ''Live From Ryan's Living Room''. Joining Ryan were celebrities including
Colbie Caillat
Colbie Marie Caillat ( ; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame on the social networking website Myspace in 2005.
She signed with Universal Republic Records to release her debut studio album, '' Coco'' (2007), w ...
, Tyler Hilton,
Chord Overstreet and
Mark Ballas. Each month Ryan chose a charity to benefit, one being
City of Hope National Medical Center
City of Hope is a private, non-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, California ...
. In September 2013, Ryan went on an Ireland and UK tour with
Boyce Avenue.
In 2014, Cabrera was the first artist signed to Dynamite Music, which was founded by Mitchell Davis and Marco Liuzzo in partnership with
Caroline Records
Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...
and
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
. On October 7, 2014, Cabrera announced his single "House on Fire" with a video on his Facebook page. The single was released to iTunes on October 22. He released a lyric video for his single "House on Fire" on November 3, 2014, on Artist Direct's website. "House on Fire" peaked at number one on the US dance chart. Cabrera's EP, ''Wake Up Beautiful'', was released on March 3, 2015.
Formed in late 2015, Beyond the Sky is a musical conglomerate consisting of players, producers and vocalists from a multitude of genres. Cabrera took lead in this collaborative project, whose first single "Right on the Money" was released on February 12, 2016.
Television appearances
In 2004, Cabrera appeared in several episodes of the first season of singer
Ashlee Simpson's reality show, ''
The Ashlee Simpson Show''. Simpson appeared in Cabrera's music video for "On the Way Down".
Cabrera later opened for Simpson's older sister
Jessica's tour.
In 2005, Cabrera hosted the MTV series ''Score'', in which contestants write and perform songs to vie for the heart of a guest on the show.
In 2010, he appeared in several episodes of ''
The Hills'' during its sixth and final season. The episodes chronicled his romance and eventual break-up with
Audrina Patridge. In 2010 he also appeared in the
E! television show, ''
Pretty Wild''.
He has appeared as himself in episodes of the
USA Network
USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
television show, ''
Miz & Mrs''. He also made an appearance in 2019 on ''
The Hills: New Beginnings'', again alongside Patridge.
Personal life
At the end of 2019, Cabrera began dating professional wrestler Alexis Kaufman, better known as
Alexa Bliss
Alexis Cabrera ( Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss.
In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigne ...
. They became engaged on November 14, 2020, and married on April 9, 2022, in
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The popula ...
. On November 27, 2023, they welcomed a daughter, Hendrix Rouge Cabrera.
Philanthropy
Cabrera arranged and hosted the livestream Camp Fire Concert Special benefiting
Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times on July 30, 2020.
Nicholas Petricca,
Joey Fatone,
Jaret Reddick,
Ryan Key,
Secondhand Serenade
Secondhand Serenade is the solo project of American rock musician John Vesely. Vesely has released four studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade. His debut album used multitrack recording to create the sound of a band using techn ...
,
Jay Buchanan,
Fabian Manzano,
Debbie Gibson
Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...
,
Shawn Hook,
Chris August, and
Tyler Ward
Tyler Ray Ward (born March 12, 1984) is an American independent singer, songwriter, and producer. On his YouTube channel, he has over 2 million subscribers with 5+ billion views. Ward also has a strong social media following on sites like Facebo ...
performed songs for the concert in addition to Cabrera himself. Cabrera's wife Alexa Bliss,
Chris Kirkpatrick
Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (born October 17, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, music producer, podcaster, and actor. He founded the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor. The band has sold over 70 million records, becomin ...
,
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, actor, and producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the Bass (voice type), bass singer for the boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of ...
,
Michael Strahan
Michael Anthony Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television host, journalist, and former professional American football, football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Gian ...
, and
The Miz
Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz.
Mizanin first gained fame a ...
also appeared to voice support. The event successfully raised over $30,000.
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Music videos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrera, Ryan
1982 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American people of Colombian descent
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Musicians from Dallas
Singer-songwriters from Texas
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singer-songwriters