Surprisingly, the dads, who are all in their early 30s, stumbled into being a viral singing sensation—none of them have had any professional training. The talented men all have regular jobs, and singing is their shared passion.
The group consists of brothers Tomas and Peter Vidmark, Michael Åberg, Sebastian Åkesson, and Adam Stenlund. The image of the young fathers spending time with their children has become synonymous with the group’s viral music videos.
Fans regularly compliment the men on the familial harmony shown in their videos—their kids, who love to be serenaded, are regularly seen sitting silently in their Dad’s laps, mesmerized by their melodious voices.
“It’s so unreal,” Tomas told The Epoch Times. “Actually, we cannot believe it, and especially that so many Americans are following us. That’s our biggest following. I think more than 30 percent of our followers are from the United States. We are just very grateful.”
Dad Harmony went on tour for the first time last Christmas and will start their second tour in October, this time in Europe.
“A lot of people are asking for us to come to the USA, and we hope that we can come soon,” Tomas said.
The Backstory
The story behind their accidental rise to fame is just as amazing as their musical talents.All the members grew up in Skellefteå, a small town in northern Sweden, and got together for Peter’s bachelor party in June 2022.
On a whim, they decided to sing “Wellerman” together. Wanting to capture the moment forever, they decided to record it. Tomas said that, at first, he didn’t intend to publish their video on TikTok.
“I had like seven followers and wasn’t a frequent user of that application,” Tomas said. “But I recorded it in TikTok, and afterwards, when I was about to send it to my friend, I realized that I couldn’t download the video unless I published it.”
Without thinking much of it, he hit publish and sent the link to his friend. The next morning, Tomas saw “loads of comments and likes.” When he met with Peter and the group at breakfast, he said, “Guys, I think we’re viral now, so we need to move to LA ...”
He was joking at first, still struggling to grasp that their video had reached over 40,000 people. Things continued to spiral, though, and when their video hit 22 million views, the idea of forming a musical group became a bit more real.
“We thought, ‘We need to continue doing this,’” Tomas said.
From then on, they regularly recorded together and shared their music on Tomas’s social media page, and their videos continued to inspire and impress.
With their rising popularity, the top morning show in Sweden came calling, inviting them to make a public appearance. At this point, they decided they needed a “real name” for their musical group.
Initially, they all associated beer with their first video, “Wellerman,” and tried to lean into that with their next video. They quickly realized they couldn’t do that for all their videos, so they continued to search for a name.
Listen to “Amazing Grace” by Dad Harmony:
Family Time
The inclusion of their children in their videos is a big part of what has made their internet following so loyal.After finding their identity as a group and building a strong sense of community, their continued success comes from their consistency. They all still live in their small Swedish hometown and get together every Sunday to record three songs.
These moments, Tomas noted, have brought their families together. Special memories have been created during these musical meetups at home; and when they go on tour, their partners and children come along.
When asked about their success and their artistic motivation, Tomas said, “... We are just like regular people, but we are very, very glad that we can affect people.”
Their everyday videos, showing them with their families, have certainly endeared them to many across the internet, but of course, their passion for singing and their soul-stirring voices are the main reason for their faithful following. Their fans often praise the healing quality of their voices and how relatable the men are.
