Sebastian Hämer

Blue-eyed soul singer Sebastian Hämer rose to widespread recognition only once his recordings had already secured strong chart traction. A deliberate promotional tactic meant that his breakthrough single, "Sommer Unseres Lebens," initially appeared under the enigmatic alias "Fliegende Mann," also rendered as "Flying Man." Born March 17, 1979, in Rostock, Hämer initially chased a path in extreme sports until a snowboarding accident in 2000 curtailed those ambitions. He subsequently became a member of the R&B collective Turn Up, and after launching a solo trajectory he took part in the ZDF reality competition Die Deutsche Stimme 2003. Partnering with producers Moses Pelham and Martin Hass, he commenced work on his first solo album, yet to build anticipation the team released the lead single "Sommer Unseres Lebens" as an anonymous white-label pressing under the name "Der Fliegende Mann," disclosing Hämer’s identity solely after the track entered the German Top Ten. The full-length project, likewise titled Der Fliegende Mann, arrived before the close of that same year.