Change Edition – Who Is Girl In Red?

Marie Ulven Ringheim, professionally known as Girl In Red, is a Norwegian singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and indie-pop artist based in Oslo, Norway. 

Marie was born on February 19, 1999, in Horten, Norway. She grew up in that small town with her sisters and her parents. In an interview with Triple j, she describes how she was a misfit, and that others didn’t understand her. She always felt out of place and isolated, and how she created her own world with music to be happy. 

She was introduced to guitar and songwriting at the age of fourteen. Marie received a guitar for Christmas in 2012 from her grandfather, who played guitar and piano. She didn’t have an interest in learning how to play until 2013. She started writing songs and playing more guitar; she became passionate about it over time. 

She taught herself piano, guitar, and music production, and planned to study music. She received a microphone from her father in 2015 and started recording music with it. She began releasing songs under the name Lydia X. Marie released her first track on SoundCloud when she was fifteen years old, titled “Storm.”

Marie changed her stage name to Girl In Red in 2016 and published her debut single, “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” on SoundCloud in November that same year. Her 2018 singles, “Summer Depression,” and “Girls” gained lots of people’s attention. She won her first award when she was presented with “Norwegian Newcomer of the Year,” at the 2018 GAFFA Awards.

She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2020 Norwegian Grammy Awards. In January 2021, her singles “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” (2017) and “We Fell in Love in October” (2018) were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In April 2021, Girl in Red released her first album, if i could make it go quiet. It debuted in the Top Ten in Norway, the U.K., and Australia. 

Girl in Red’s music is described as “self-produced, honest and arresting lo-fi anthems of teenage anxiety, everyday depression, queerness, lust, heartache and confusion,” and as Ones to Watch states, “Her music speaks to the heartbreaking and euphoric nature of young queer love, fleeting feelings of isolation, and the overall inner turmoil of growing up and attempting to figure out life.”

Girl in Red is a relatable queer icon for teenagers all over the world. She has, “a dedicated young fanbase hanging on to her shameless message of fun, progress, and acceptance.” In an interview with NME she states, “When I was ‘a kid’, which wasn’t that long ago, I didn’t really have any queer icons to look up to…We need more queer representation in music and art…I have a bunch of queer kids following me because they see themselves in me and the lyrics, because they need that direct ability to relate to something.”

Today, Girl in Red lives in Oslo, Norway. She has released nothing since her last album, if i could make it go quiet in April 2021.  She is going on tour in spring 2022 and continues writing new music.