Har Mar Superstar

American singer, songwriter, and actor Sean Tillmann performs under multiple aliases, among them Har Mar Superstar, Sean Na Na, Calvin Krime, and Heart Bones. Har Mar stands out as an R&B, contemporary pop, and retro-soul vocalist whose exuberant, perspiration-soaked shows match his occasional theatrical excess with genuine ability. Since his introduction in 2000 he has appeared alongside the Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sia, Lizzo, and the Afghan Whigs while releasing a series of favorably received singles, EPs, and albums such as The Handler (2004), Bye Bye 17 (2013), and Roseville (2021).

Tillmann first recorded with the St. Paul group Calvin Krime during the late ’90s; his initial Har Mar Superstar album arrived in 2000 on Kill Rock Stars. Although still laced with irony, the 2002 successor You Can Feel Me emerged as a more cohesive, polished, and rhythmically potent statement that compelled listeners to acknowledge Tillmann’s stature as a top-tier soul singer beyond his flamboyant image and costume choices. Rolling Stone accordingly named Har Mar Superstar among its “new faces” of 2002. Warner Bros. ended its association with the project in 2003, yet Tillmann resurfaced the next year on the imprint Record Collection with The Handler.

Following a five-year hiatus, Har Mar issued the disco-leaning Dark Touches in 2009, then shifted toward classic soul and R&B on his fifth album, Bye Bye 17, in 2013. The subsequent year he joined actor and singer Macaulay Culkin in the parodic covers outfit the Pizza Underground. In 2016 he unveiled his sixth Har Mar Superstar full-length, Best Summer Ever, which he presented as a fictitious anthology spanning “1950 to 1985” and featured a version of Julian Casablancas’ “Youth Without Love”; the set appeared on Casablancas’ Cult Records label. He returned in 2021 fronting a seven-piece ensemble with Roseville, an homage to his St. Paul origins.