Lauren Maria "Ren" Harvieu (born 3 September 1990) is an English singer and songwriter from Broughton,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

Early life and education

Harvieu was introduced to music by her mother. While in sixth form college, she performed in musical theatre and entered several talent competitions before uploading some of her own recordings to MySpace.

Career

Harvieu was discovered on

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

by a local music manager after uploading demo tracks. After being introduced to record producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, Duffy) she began working on

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

and was signed to

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

aged 18. Harvieu started recording an album in May 2011, but before it could be released, she broke her back in what she describes as a 'freak accident', "I heard it snap. I couldn't feel my feet," the singer recalled. After a 14-hour operation, Harvieu spent months recovering at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. On 5 December 2011, the BBC announced that Harvieu had been nominated for their BBC Sound of 2012 poll. After releasing the singles "Through the Night" and "Open Up Your Arms", her first album '' Through the Night'' was released on Island Records on 14 May 2012, entering the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

at No 5. In 2014, Harvieu was featured on "Sweet Malaise", the B-side to "In My Time of Dust", from

Ed Harcourt Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released ten studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, '' Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Pr ...

's mini-album '' Time of Dust''. "Love is a Melody", a song written by Ed Harcourt and Jimmy Hogarth for Harvieu's debut album, was also covered on ''Time of Dust''. Harvieu began working on her second album in 2013. The album, titled ''Revel in the Drama'', was released in April 2020.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvieu, Ren 1990 births Living people English women pop singers People from Broughton, Greater Manchester 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers