Photo credit: Jack Newhouse
‘A Soulful Farewell To Hollywood And A Return Home’ – Out This Friday, February 13th.
Acclaimed Irish singer-songwriter RuthAnne releases her new single ‘Queen of LA’, alongside its official music video, on February 13th, 2026. Taken from her new album The Moment, which was released late last year. The track is a deeply personal goodbye letter to Los Angeles and a heartfelt return to her Irish roots.
Blending singer-songwriter intimacy, folk textures, acoustic country-pop warmth, and soulful storytelling, ‘Queen of LA’ captures RuthAnne at her most honest and reflective. The song looks back on her years spent in Los Angeles chasing the promise of Hollywood, while ultimately finding peace, purpose, and creative freedom away from the industry’s glare.
Lyrically, ‘Queen of LA’ explores themes of ambition, disillusionment, mental health, and identity, offering an unfiltered perspective on fame, money, power, and the often toxic realities of the music industry. A stripped-back acoustic arrangement allows RuthAnne’s emotive vocal performance and storytelling to take centre stage.
Released alongside the single, the official music video was shot by UK videographer and longtime collaborator Jack Newhouse in RuthAnne’s hometown, capturing her walking through Howth, Sutton, and Clontarf in the rain. Deeply proud of her Irish identity, the video acts as a visual representation of her roots, grounding the song’s emotional journey in the landscapes and places that shaped her, and reinforcing the theme of coming home — both physically and creatively.
Speaking about the track, RuthAnne said, “It’s a very autobiographical song accepting that whilst I never made it in Hollywood, I am happy with where my life is now. Of course, I have those ‘what if’ thoughts, but ultimately I had to leave LA for the good of my mental health and my artistry.
The song explores some of the toxic experiences I went through there — the themes of fame, money, power, and the corrupt, boys’ club side of the industry — and why leaving led me to writing my own music, meeting my husband, and having my children. It’s also a celebration of the women who did stick it out and made it. I’m incredibly proud of any woman surviving and thriving in this industry because I know how long, winding, and fecked up that road can be.”
As an independent artist, RuthAnne has amassed over 200 million Spotify streams, placing her among the most-streamed Irish female artists currently, right alongside contemporaries such as CMAT and Orla Gartland. She has built a deeply loyal and rapidly growing fanbase of over 250,000 followers across social platforms, driven in large part by her evergreen song ‘The Vow’, which has become a global staple for weddings and engagements.
Her own music has achieved an extraordinary 890 million views on TikTok, with 440,000 organic videos using her songs to soundtrack life’s biggest moments — a testament to the emotional resonance and global reach of her voice, artistry and songs which continue to go viral year after year.
RuthAnne has supported and shared stages with legendary artists including Alanis Morissette, Hozier, Niall Horan, Il Divo, and X Ambassadors, while also performing her own headline shows across the UK and Ireland.
Alongside her solo career, RuthAnne is one of the most successful Irish songwriters of her generation, with over 12 billion streams on songs she has written for some of the world’s biggest artists. With several multi platinum global hits under her belt. She is a two-time Grammy nominee, Brit Award nominee, a member of the Spotify Billions Club and the prestigious recording academy.
Beyond music releases, RuthAnne authored the book ‘It’s Not Just a Song‘, published by Faber, which has been nominated for Best Music Education Book at this year’s UK Music & Drama Education Awards. She is also the founder and producer of Irish Women in Harmony, recently performing with the collective at the Hot Press History in the Making show at Dublin’s 3Arena, as well as on the main stage at Electric Picnic.
With ‘Queen of LA’, RuthAnne delivers a powerful statement of self-worth, reflection, and creative rebirth — a song for anyone who has chased a dream, questioned its cost, and ultimately chosen themselves.
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