Before the makeup videos, the label calls and the millions of listeners, Ritt Momney was a group of high-school friends in Salt Lake City. Then growing up scattered the group, and Jack Rutter was left figuring out what the name—and the music—could become.
He kept going. We’re very glad he did.
The Salt Lake-raised singer, songwriter and producer built a solo project out of that uncertain space. His eventual breakthrough, a hazy cover of Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On,” traveled around the world. But the part of his story worth loving starts before the internet noticed.
When the band’s paths split
Rutter described the beginning to WQHS Radio in April 2020: friends picking instruments, jamming and gradually deciding to take it seriously. The name came from switching the opening letters of Mitt Romney’s name. The joke stuck; the songwriting grew into something much more personal.
Early releases included “Young Adult” and “Probably!” Then most of his bandmates left on Latter-day Saint missions, while his girlfriend, also part of the group, went to BYU–Hawaii. The drummer remained, Rutter clarified in that interview. The possibility of restarting later hung in the air.
It was a painful change, but he kept teaching himself production and posting music. “Something, in General” gained traction. His 2019 debut, Her and All of My Friends, grew from the loneliness, shifting relationships and religious questions of that period. In his Atwood Magazine interview that year, Rutter described learning to accept an imperfect ending.
There is something especially recognizable about this Utah beginning: friends reaching adulthood together, then suddenly living on different timelines. Rutter found a way to make that feeling into songs other people could inhabit.
A little joy became a very big song
When COVID disrupted a planned tour opening for Dayglow in 2020, Rutter returned to his parents’ home. Another heavy original didn’t feel like what he needed. Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On,” a song associated with childhood and his mother’s listening habits, offered some light.
His version arrived that April. Rather than reproduce Rae’s recording, he filtered its warmth through processed vocals and shimmering electronic textures. Rae’s original song supplied the joyful foundation; Rutter gave it a distinctly homemade, dreamlike setting.
Months later, TikTok users paired the cover with makeup transformations. The sound spread, listeners followed, and record labels came calling. Rutter signed with Disruptor/Columbia Records. The cover reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made the magazine’s 2021 year-end Hot 100 list.
That is an enormous leap for a project that had once been a handful of school friends. It also makes a satisfying kind of sense: a song he reached for because it made him feel better became something strangers reached for, too.
There’s more to love after the viral moment
The cover opened a door into an existing catalog. Her and All of My Friends was already there for listeners willing to follow the thread. His major-label album Sunny Boy followed in 2021, continuing a career built on his own writing as well as the unexpected hit.
By 2026, the story had taken another turn. BASE arrived on February 27, released independently. In an interview with STATIC, Rutter described recording to tape in his backyard studio with bandmates Rick West and Chris Peranich, with Alex Farrar handling the mix. He was making music with other people again, under conditions that felt more settled.
Rutter also spoke about marriage, a home in Salt Lake City, and letting go of expectations about what his music had to sound like. Success had given him possibilities; he was deciding which ones felt worth pursuing.
That’s why we’re rooting for Ritt Momney. We love the big Salt Lake success story, absolutely. We also love the person who kept learning when the original plan dissolved—and kept making new plans after the hit. Put the famous cover on. Then stay for the rest.