Ruston Samuel Kelly (born July 31, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter. After signing with the music publisher BMG Nashville in 2013, his song "Nashville Without You" appeared on Tim McGraw's album Two Lanes of Freedom. Following a record deal with Razor & Tie's Washington Square, he released his debut EP, Halloween, produced by Mike Mogis in 2017.
In 2018, Kelly signed with Rounder Records and released his debut studio album, Dying Star, to generally favorable critical reviews.
In 2020, Kelly released Shape & Destroy.
Personal life
Ruston Kelly was born in South Carolina and comes from a musical family. The family moved frequently because of his father's job, and he lived in Wyoming, Ohio for nearly eight years. Kelly began playing music and writing songs when he was a teenager. Kelly attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kelly struggled with drug addiction for years and decided to pursue a life of sobriety following an overdose in December 2015. Regarding his recovery he stated, "I went to rehab once, but it was all I could afford, so it was this kind of rehab in North Carolina."
Kelly met singer Kacey Musgraves after performing at the Bluebird Café in Nashville in March 2016. They married in October 2017 and filed for divorce in July 2020.
Kelly married Tia Cubelic in May 2026.
Discography
Studio albums
- Dying Star (2018)
- Shape & Destroy (2020)
- The Weakness (2023)
- Pale, Through the Window (2025)
EPs
- The Bootleg Sessions (2013)
- Halloween (2017)
- Dirt Emo Vol. 1 (2019)
- Weakness, Etc. (2024)
- Dirt Emo Vol. 2 (2025)
Singles
- "Asshole (Demo)" (2018)
- "Mockingbird" (2018) - No. 25 Adult Alternative Airplay
- "Weeping Willow" (2019)
- "Brave" (2020)
- "O Holy Night" (2022)
- "The Weakness" (2023) - No. 35 Adult Alternative Airplay
Tours
- Headlining
- Dying Star Fall Tour (2018–2019)
- Shape and Destroy Fall Tour (2021)
- The Weakness Tour (2023)
- Too Chill to Kill Tour (2024)
- Opening act
- Port Saint Joe Tour (for Brothers Osborne) (2019)
- The Stick Season Tour (for Noah Kahan) (2023)
Songwriting contributions
| Year | Artist | Album | Title | Co-writers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Tim McGraw | Two Lanes of Freedom | "Nashville Without You" | Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers |
| 2014 | Josh Abbott Band | Tuesday Night EP | "Tuesday Night" | Josh Abbott |
| 2015 | Front Row Seat | "Front Row Seat" | Brian Davis | |
| 2016 | Rob Baird | Wrong Side of the River | "Run of Good Luck" | Rob Baird |
| Hayes Carll | Lovers and Leavers | "Love Is So Easy" | Hayes Carll | |
| 2018 | Lucie Silvas | E.G.O. | "Just for the Record" | Lucie Silvas, Jarrad Kritzstein |
