There I Ruined It


There I Ruined It is an ongoing music project created by Dustin Ballard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the project, Ballard aims to ruin songs by making covers of them in styles very different to those of the originals. There I Ruined It distributes these covers via social media, such as TikTok, YouTube and Reddit. Since the project's beginning, Ballard has made covers of various artists, including Taylor Swift, Eminem, Radiohead and Metallica.
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Background and history

There I Ruined It is a musical project "with the simple goal of ruining as many beloved songs as possible before it's banned from the Internet". It was created by Dustin Ballard, a Texan musician, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first cover he created for the project was "Shallow – Polka Edition", which is a remix of "Shallow" from A Star is Born in polka style. Most of the covers created for the project are genre-swapping remixes, although Ballard has also created song mashups. Ballard operates various accounts on social media which he uses to upload creations for There I Ruined It.
To create one of his covers, Ballard first uses MIDI-controlled VST instruments to make a cover of the song. He then dictates the song's lyrics to set down their rhythm, before recording vocals. To finish a cover, Ballard then edits the song's music video to better fit the genre of the cover.
Ballard’s covers and mashups have received recognition from popular artists such as Snoop Dogg, Charlie Puth, Paul Reubens, Jack Black, Michael Bublé, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Scott Bradlee, Avenged Sevenfold, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Questlove, and Ed Sheeran.
On 28 November 2023, Ballard announced via YouTube that all videos on the channel had been made private for 90 days due to receiving two copyright strikes from the Universal Music Group.
In August 2024, one on his works was used a demonstration in a House Judiciary Committee hearing by Darrell Issa.

Reception

Although the project's overall aim is to ruin songs, the covers released have had mixed reviews. Tim Marcin of Mashable called the covers "straight-up terrible re-imaginings of good songs" and "hilariously bad". However, Fraser Lewry of Metal Hammer commented that some covers are better than the original song, saying that "some have benefited from There I Ruined It's fiendish musical butchery".
Graeme Boone, who is professor of musicology at Ohio State University, has commented on the covers created by Ballard. Boone stated that Ballard's covers are successful due to playing on a vulnerable point in the human psyche. According to Boone, by targeting this vulnerability, the cover "can get inside you" in the same way as an earworm.

Live Band

In 2024, Ballard launched There I Ruined It - Live, featuring 8 musicians performing songs from the channel. The band is based in Dallas, Texas.

Discography