Their repertoire ranges from Michael Jackson to the Beatles, including Christmas songs. Five thirty-something fathers from the town of Skellefteå in northern Sweden are becoming an Internet sensation with their a cappella covers of pop hits. “Typically Swedish” singing dads who film themselves at home, looking after their children.
Currently touring for the first time across the country, the group “Dad Harmony” has tens of millions of views on social networks.
“It has a calming effect on our children”
“It all started on the day of my bachelor party, summer 2022,” explains Peter Widmark, a 33-year-old salesman. “We were singing, as we often do, and my brother posted the video on TikTok where he has seven followers. » The next morning when they woke up, the five singers discovered that the post had been viewed 40,000 times! A figure that will jump to 20 million across the planet in just a few weeks.
The “quintet” then got into the game and decided to regularly post videos from their kitchens or on their sofas, often with their toddlers on their knees. “It has a calming effect on them when we sing,” says Peter. “We are typical Swedish dads,” notes his brother Tomas, another member of the group. “For us, it’s not so special to have the children with us. Here, almost all men take paternity leave, so we’re used to it. »
A tour of the United States?
Since the end of November and for a month, the group has traveled across Sweden every weekend to meet its audience, the five dads continuing to work during the week and be with their families. They each have two children.
Will success make them lose their sense of reality? “You won’t see us throwing TVs out of the hotel window,” promises Sebastian Åkesson, one of the singers. Without having delusions of grandeur, the members of “Dad Harmony” do not refrain from seeing the future in a big way. So they are considering dates in the United States and Asia. And dream of one day performing with… Elton John.