Ren was born on 29 March 1990, in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, and was raised in Dwyran,[1][2] on the island of Anglesey.
[4] He taught himself to play guitar by slowing down tracks by Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante,[5]: 20:11 and was influenced by a variety of the musicians his parents listened to.
Artists like Shy FX, Mickey Finn & Aphrodite, early Eminem, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Marley.
[8][9]: 00:15 Whilst living in Bath in England, Ren started a band called Trick The Fox.
He started feeling dissociated, experienced physical pain, and became so weak and tired that Ren was unable to hide what was going on.
[14] Currently his writing is influenced by the stories of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin McDonagh.
[4] In addition to his solo career, Ren was a member of The Big Push, a Brighton-based busking band.
Glenn Chambers was the drummer and Ren, Romain Axisa, Gorran Kendall were the front men.
[15] The Big Push played their last gig and broke up in 2022 due in part to Ren's health issues.
[19][5]: 38:08 Ren dedicated the album and the title track to one of his best friends, Joe Hughes, who died by suicide in 2010.
[24][25] His openness and honesty about his struggles with his mental and physical health is what has drawn people worldwide to his music.
[28] Sick Boi went on to secure number one by almost 6,000 units,[29] surpassing artists like Drake and Troye Sivan on his way to the top.
[35][24] The next six songs Ren released, "Sick Boi", "Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve Retake)", "Illest of Our Time", "Animal Flow", and "Suicide" also appeared in the United Kingdom's Trending Music Video Chart on YouTube.
[22] It also won Best Music Video, Best Director, and Best Concept, and was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Narrative at the LMVAs 2024 competition.
[39] "Money Game part 3" was written, composed, arranged, and performed by Ren and the video,[22][23] a one-shot,[40] was produced by Connor Hunnisett, Samuel Perry-Falvey & Amy Ellery.
[42] Ren appeared centre stage[43] at the 2024 Secret Garden Party with a two-part, two-hour show called "Asylum".
Produced and created by Ren Gill & Secret Garden Party, his first solo show in five years[44][45] included collaborations with Chinchilla, Eden Nash and Romain Axisa, theatrical performances, and live strings.
[43][45] Ren was chosen to perform live at the 2024 Sky Arts Awards[46] along with The Darkness, Slash and Brian Johnson, The Three Sopranos, The Kanneh-Masons and Aleighcia Scott.
His fans helped him raise the money in recognition of the RNLI's great work in saving peoples lives and the effort they put in trying to find his friend Joe Hughes, who jumped from the Menai Suspension Bridge in 2010.
[3][10][60] Ren went to Brussels to have testing done by a specialist in chronic fatigue syndrome in October 2015[61] and was ultimately diagnosed with Lyme disease.
[20][62] Ren finished and released the Freckled Angels album in an effort to help raise money for treatment.
He said his health had rapidly declined over the past few weeks and he would be returning to Canada for further treatment at the end of October.
[74] Since becoming sick, Ren has said that his life's work has been closely related to looking for better ways to deal with mental health issues.