Ross Ryan is an Australian singer and songwriter.
Ryan was born on 13 December 1950, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His family moved to Mount Manypeaks near Albany, Western Australia in 1959 where they settled on a sheep farm. By the age of 13 he was writing songs and learning guitar. Whilt in high school he took the lead in the musical The Music Man, produced a radio program, High School Half Hour, for the local station 6VA and played in a number of local bands including The Sett and Saffron.
After school Ryan moved to Perth, undertook an electronics course and worked as an audio operator at a TV station, STW 9. Whilst there he used the station's facilities to record his debut album, Home Movies, which was self-funded on the RR label. In 1972 Ross Ryan issued a split single with his track, "Sounds of Peppermint", as the A side, and The Troupadores' "Keep on Truckin'" on the back. In April it reached the Top 100 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart
Ryan signed with EMI Records and commenced his next album, A Poem You Can Keep, with Peter Dawkins producing, which was released in March 1973. At the end of that year he toured the US playing the club circuit and campuses whilst playing clubs and pubs in Australia as well as playing supports to international touring acts. In September 1973 a new single, "I Am Pegasus", was released and became his highest-charting hit, which reached No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart. The parent album, My Name Means Horse, was released in February 1974, it is Ryan's most successful album, which reached No. 3 on the Australian Albums chart and was certified triple gold.
In 1975 he performed in television "supergroup" (for Flashez TV Australia), The Lemmings, for their first and only appearance with Mark Holden, Mike Meade, and Paul Sullivan and Ryan was active performing on television and in festivals around Australia.
His popularity waned in the late 1970s but he continued songwriting and released independent singles as well as moving into music production and web design.