Stacey Ryan has spent the past few years reshaping the edges of pop-soul, weaving her jazz training into a catalogue that first took shape online and has since grown far beyond it. She broke through in 2022 with “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk,” the collaboration with Zai1k that became one of TikTok’s biggest trends of the year. “Fall in Love Alone” followed, turning into a major hit across Southeast Asia (reaching No.1 in Indonesia, charting in the Top 5 across the region, and crossing half a billion global streams) while Ryan built an audience that now spans more than two million combined followers and over 1.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
A classically trained jazz pianist who also plays guitar, bass, ukulele, and trumpet, Ryan has leaned into that musical grounding as her work has evolved. Her debut EP, I Don’t Know What Love Is (2023), signalled a shift toward more nuanced songwriting, drawing attention for its melodic unpredictability and understated emotional clarity. Live, she spent 2023 and 2024 on the road across the US, Europe, and Asia, performing at festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival, and MAD Cool.
Ryan released her debut album, Blessing in Disguise, in August 2025, an unguarded collection of songs shaped around the “painful lessons” that ultimately defined her early twenties. The album marked a period where she also began foregrounding her French-Canadian identity, experimenting more openly with bilingual writing and performance. She followed the release with her first North American headline tour in September and October 2025, closing out the year with a clearer sense of artistic direction and a growing international fanbase.
What’s the story behind Blessing In Disguise? If you want to introduce someone to listen to one track from Blessing In Disguise which should it be and why?
The story behind blessing in disguise was kind of built as we were completing the album. I went in just writing music that felt super honest to me and when I sat back and looked at all the songs, there was this common thread that tied them all together. They were all painful lessons I had to learn to grow as a person. And now, I know they were blessings in disguise because I came out stronger on the other side!
How do you keep consistency on socials without feeling like you’re performing for the algorithm?
The most important thing is loving and relating to every piece of content you make. As soon as that passion and creativity starts to get replaced with “I need to post this to go viral” it’s really hard to leave that mindset. But there also needs to be a balance.
What’s your go-to way of connecting with people in the industry without it feeling transactional?
I really have found myself in a group of people, who I met through industry or network events, that have become really important friends of mine and that almost takes the “work” element right out of it. Music is such a personal business that human connection goes hand in hand with it and that makes it feel less transactional for sure.
What’s your favourite/least favourite thing about making music?
My favourite thing is how much smaller it seems to make the world. You know people through social media and word of mouth and then meet them out at an event or show and connect and become friends and collaborators. My least favourite part is probably that it is so competitive and, especially with social media, everyone now gets a shot to get seen and discovered, which in itself is a good thing. Just so many of us out here.
What’s a mistake you wish more emerging artists would avoid early on?
Thinking your initial viral moment or success will carry you through your whole career.
It is the best jumping point and will give you so many amazing connections but the hard work and consistency has to stay to be able to continue it and become a true artist.
What are you listening to right now?
I’m obsessed with Olivia Dean’s album The Art of Loving. It captures so perfectly what it’s like to live and love in your twenties and she just words feelings so perfectly.