Kuumaa

Kuumaa is a Finnish pop band founded in 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. They released their first self-titled album ''Kuumaa'' in April 2019 and have since become one of the most popular bands in Finland with close to 150 million streams and three released albums.

The band consists of singer Johannes Brotherus, drummer Jonttu Luhtavaara, bassist Aarni Soivio and keyboardist Okko Saastamoinen (live performances).

The band's most streamed songs are "Tulipalo" and "Ylivoimainen", which have both gathered over 24 million streams each and so streamed six times platinum.

Career

Career beginnings and ''Kuumaa'' (2016–2019)

The band signed a record deal with Universal Music Group based on their first demo in October 2016. Kuumaa was also signed to perform at the 2017 Provinssirock music festival before even releasing any music. At the time of the performance, the band had released their first single "Uppoon suhun", which was released in May 2017. The band released the song "Hulluista runoista" as their second single in July 2017. The demo version of this song had led to their record deal. After a total of six single releases between 2017 and 2019, the band's debut album ''Kuumaa'' was released on 26 April 2019. The album has since received the gold record certificate and the most listened song of the album is "Siks kai mä con sun".

Single releases, UMK and ''Hyvikset ja pahikset'' (2020–2023)

After their debut album, Kuumaa released several singles such as "Kolme toivetta" and "Tarkotin sua" between 2020 and 2021. The production style of the single releases varied, and for example the single "Rakastaja" caused discussion inside the group as to whether it fit the bands catalogue. The song was still released, and created new visibility to the group on TikTok.

At the time of the single release of "Älä sano sitä vielä" in 2020, the band made an unofficial world record of continuously playing a single song. The band performed the single for six hours at Mutterigalleria in Helsinki.

At the end of 2021, the first single of the upcoming album ''Hyvikset ja pahikset'' was released. The single, "Oo vielä sekunnin mun" was added to YleX and Radio Suomipop playlists and won the NRJ ''Hitti vai huti (Hit or miss)'' voting a historical 12 times in a row. The single has also crossed three times the platinum certificate limit with over 12 million streams.

In the summer of 2022, the second single of the new album "Tulipalo" was released. It is the band's most streamed song with over 24 million streams. At best, it reached number one on the Official Finnish Charts 9 times. It also won the Radio Suomirock vote for "Song of the Year" in 2022. The band released another single "Edelleen sua" in October 2022. The release wasn't as popular as its predecessor, but still has close to 7 million streams.

On 11 January 2023, Kuumaa was announced as one of the seven participants in , the Finnish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Their entry "" was released on 18 January 2023 and is also the last single of the album ''Hyvikset ja pahikset''. In the UMK final, they finished in fifth place with a total of 107 points (63 points from the televote and 44 points from the juries). Despite the outcome of the competition, the song and participation to the contest greatly boosted the popularity of the band, especially in the "municipalities" according to the lead singer Johannes Brotherus. "Ylivoimainen" climbed to the top of The Official Finnish Charts in May 2023 and stayed number one for 12 consecutive weeks. The song has been streamed over 24 million times on Spotify and it won the "Radio Song of the Year" -award at the yearly RadioGaala event in April 2024.

Kuumaa won the 2023 Emma Gaala award for "Band of the Year".

On 30 March 2023, the band released their second studio album ''Hyvikset ja pahikset''. After its release, the album has gathered over 80 million streams and so crossed 4 times the platinum record limit. Since the release, the album has reached number one on the Official Finnish Charts 20 times.

In 2023, Kuumaa played around 120 gigs around Finland.

''Pisara meressä'' and arena tours (2024–present)

Kuumaa won the "Band of the Year" award for the second consecutive year at the 2024 Emma Gaala awards. The ''Hyvikset ja pahikset'' album released the previous year also won three awards: "Album of the Year", "Pop of the Year" and "Best Seller of the Year".

Their third studio album ''Pisara meressä'' was released on 19 April 2024 and upon its release also reached number one of The Official Finnish Charts, topping the list for four weeks. The album launch event on 26 April sold out the Helsinki Ice Hall.

In the summer 2024, Kuumaa performed at several music festivals in Finland such as Provinssi, Ruisrock, Ilosaarirock, Qstock, Kesärauha, Himos Juhannus, Tahko Juhannus and Tammerfest.

The band started their first arena tour ''Maasta kuuhun'' in November 2024, finishing on 22 November at the Nokia Arena in Tampere. Following the tour, the band intends to take a break from performing until summer 2025.

Members

Current members

* Johannes Brotherus – vocals
* Jonttu Luhtavaara – drums
* Aarni Soivio – bass
* Okko Saastamoinen – keyboards (2022–present, live performances)

Past members

* Aapo Närhi – guitar (2016–2021)
* Antti Heiskala – keyboards (2016–2022)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Other charted songs

References

{{Authority control

2016 establishments in Finland
Finnish musical groups
Finnish pop music groups
Musical groups established in 2016
Musical groups from Helsinki