The Rubyz

History

The Rubyz was founded in Nashville, Tennessee in October 2006 as a trio. According to vocalist Alexis Slifer, the group name dervies from the Bible verse Proverbs 3:15, which reads, "Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." The group originally consisted of Marissa Milele (born February 23, 1995), Alexis Slifer (born September 3, 1993), and Cammie Hall (born December 21, 1990). Although all the girls were still in school, the group's career launched quickly as iShine Records signed The Rubyz in 2007. Soon after, The Rubyz began touring with iShine artists, such as Mission Six, before becoming cast members of iShine KNECT, a tween music show on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

On April 1, 2008, The Rubyz released their debut album. The 10-track project was self-titled and contained 8 original tracks in addition to 2 covers: We Got the Beat by The Go-Go's and Umbrella by Rihanna. The cover tracks were introduced to the album by its executive producer and approved and performed by The Rubyz. The album was received with extremely mixed reviews as some reviewers rewarded the album with high ratings, while others publicly hated the album awarding it with one-star ratings. The self-titled album was the last project released on Advocate Records. Even their music video, "Thirteen", was released.

In 2009, the group's youngest member, Marissa Milele, then 14, left the group to focus on her first year of high school. Milele was not replaced and the group became a duo. Continuing with their music, the group's sophomore project, titled Sound Off, was released on iShine Records on October 27, 2009. Unlike their previous album, Sound Off followed the iShine album format, consisting of 5 original tracks followed by the sing-along versions of those tracks. Similar to the debut album, however, Sound Off received mixed reviews, though this album attracted slightly more positive reviews.

After Sound Off was released, Cammie Hall left the group to pursue an education in graphic design. Caitlin Wright (known as "DJ Sparkles") and Olivia Heusmann replaced Hall and Milele, but Wright soon departed, leaving Olivia Heusmann as the only replacement for Cammie Hall. The Rubyz is still featured on iShine KNECT as a duo.

On April 26, 2011, iShine Records announced the release of the third studio album by The Rubyz. According to Jesus Freak Hideout, the album was released as an "MVP format," which includes a DVD, ten new songs, ten music videos, ten song explanations, inspiring interviews, multimedia content, and an episode of iShine KNECT which features The Rubyz. The music portion of the 10-track album includes five original songs as well as five covers of popular songs in the Christian music industry.

In early 2014, Alexis Slifer and Olivia Huesmann left the group when three new girls had auditioned to be in the group: Tanner Davis, Jessica Coffey and Addy Schneider.

Current members

Former members

In popular media

The Rubyz has been featured and placed in regular rotation on Radio Disney, beginning with their debut album. Additionally, the group's debut album peaked at No. 26 on the Christian Albums chart published by Billboard.