All About Harry Styles’ Goddaughter Ruby Winston

Harry Styles featured his goddaughter Ruby Winston at the start of his hit track “As It Was”

Photo:Anthony Pham via Getty

Harry Styles’ goddaughter Ruby Winston is barely in elementary school, but she’s already got a hit single under her belt.

The “Watermelon Sugar” singer featured his friend, Ben Winston’s, daughter on his hit track, “As It Was,” in 2022. The now-7-year-old is the voice behind the opening words, “Come on Harry, we want to say goodnight to you!”

“She used to try and call me before bedtime every night so one time I don’t know, it didn’t ring or something, and she sent me that and I dug it out at some point while we were in the studio and put it in front of the song for some reason. I just fell in love with it and it stuck,” Styles told Capital FM in April 2022.

The fame even went a little to Ruby’s head, he joked. “She was asking for a big fee,” Styles said.

Ruby is the elder daughter of Winston, the executive producer of shows from The Late Late Show with James Corden to the Grammy Awards and Hulu’s The Kardashians. He and Styles met in the mid-2010s and have been close friends for years, so much so that Winston and his wife Meredith named Styles as Ruby’s godfather.

From being featured on his track to her family, here’s everything to know about Harry Styles’ goddaughter, Ruby Winston.

She was born in 2016

Ben Winston and Ruby Winston in 2020.Ben Winston Instagram

Ruby was born on Dec. 5, 2016, to Winston and Meredith. The producer announced her birth on Instagram with a simple black-and-white photo of him cuddling with newborn Ruby.

“Hey Ruby,” he wrote in the caption.

Her father and Styles are good friends

James Longman, Josie Cliff, Louis Waymouth, James Corden, Ben Winston in 2019.Terence Patrick/CBS/Getty

Styles and Winston first became friends over a decade ago during Styles’ One Direction days. Winston worked on a few 1D videos and also produced their documentary film, This is Us, and the pair have been pals ever since.

“Traveling and working with those 5 brilliant boys was such an amazing privilege. Loved every minute of that life changing time,” Winston wrote in an Instagram caption to commemorate the band’s 10th anniversary.

Styles even lived in Winston’s attic in suburban London for over a year, per Rolling Stone.

“That period of time, he was living with us in the most mundane suburban situation. No one ever found out, really,” Winston said of their living arrangement. “Even when we went out for a meal, it’s such a sweet family neighborhood, no one dreamed it was actually him. But he made our house a home. And when he moved out, we were gutted.”

She’s featured on “As It Was”

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Ruby’s most notable contribution to Styles’ discography is her adorable intro for “As It Was,” Styles’ big hit off his third album, Harry’s House. The song opens with a child’s voice saying, “Come on Harry, we want to say goodnight to you!”

Styles has told the story a few times, saying that the voice memo organically made its way onto the song.

“She had a streak of calling me every night,” the musician told Heart Radio in April 2022 of what was going on behind the scenes of the now-famous snippet. “I missed it one night and she wanted to let me know that she was quite angry with me.”

Her dad later revealed in a January 2023 interview with Entertainment Weekly that the voice recording happened in a rather private location.

“I find it very moving whenever I hear that record — and the fact that it’s the biggest record of last year, the No. 1 streamed record ­— and it’s my little girl sitting on the toilet because that’s where she was when she recorded it,” he said.

Her dad did not let her perform with Styles at the Grammy Awards

Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty

Given that her dad is the executive producer of the music awards ceremony, some thought Ruby might make a cameo with her godfather to perform her now-iconic lines at the 2023 Grammy Awards. However, Winston quickly shut that idea down.

“What I can tell you is that if Ruby Winston is asked to perform, she 100 percent will. However, I will never allow that to happen,” Winston told EW before the show. “As much as she would love it, it’s never going to happen.”

Though she may not understand how famous the song is now, Ruby’s dad said he’s looking forward to the day when she will fully comprehend she was featured on a hit song at just 5 years old.

“It’s a really lovely thing that will always be a lovely thing for her,” he said. “And I don’t think she really understands it yet, but one day when she’s 25, she’ll realize that’s the coolest thing ever.”

She is a big sister

Ruby became a big sister on Oct. 10, 2019, when Grace was born, Winston announced on Instagram.

“Spending my birthday with the greatest gift I’ve ever got,” Winston wrote alongside a photo of him with both of his daughters. “Grace Winston was born on Thursday. I think she’s pretty great. I’m outnumbered by 3 incredible women.”