Samu Aleksi Haber (born 2 April 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, television music competition judge and entrepreneur. He was the lead vocalist and frontman of pop-rock band Sunrise Avenue. In 2022, the band went on an indefinite hiatus, allowing Haber to focus on his solo career.

Early life

Haber's father's family is from Germany, but his family has always lived in Finland. He has one sister, Sanna (born 23 January 1978) and one brother, Santtu (born 29 January 1989).

Career

Haber established the band Sunrise in 1992 with his friend Jan Hohenthal. Hohenthal left the band in 2002 as he wanted to focus on his solo career. In 2002, Haber changed the band name to Sunrise Avenue. Between 2002 and 2005, Haber visited 102 record companies and agents trying to find a label for Sunrise Avenue's music. The first album was made with financial help from Haber's friend Mikko Virtala, who sold his house to pay the studio costs. Haber's band Sunrise Avenue released five studio albums, the first three selling more than 2,000,000 copies and 2,000,000 singles worldwide. Haber was Sunrise Avenue's main songwriter and he wrote all the band's songs either alone or with a producer and co-writer. The band's last international hit "

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

" was written by Haber alone. Haber is working as co-manager for new Finnish bands and artists together with the CoMusic Management. Haber owned studio Sonic Kitchen with producers Jukka Backlund and Aku Sinivalo from 2007 to 2010. Haber was a coach on the German talent competition ''

The Voice of Germany ''The Voice of Germany'' is a German reality television, reality talent show created by John de Mol, based on the concept ''The Voice of Holland'' and its The Voice (franchise), international series. It began airing on ProSieben and Sat.1 on 24 ...

'' in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2024. In 2020, Haber teamed up with Rea Garvey for a duo coaching team. The winners of the 2017, 2020, and 2024 seasons were members of his team, making him the winning coach for his latter three seasons. Haber presented Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023, Finland's national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

Solo career

Samu Haber's first single "Enkelten kaupunki" (in English "City of Angels") was released in 2020. Haber has also written solo songs including: "Täältä tullaan" (2021), "Sä" (2022) and "Sata vuotta sitten" (2022). Haber's solo album ''Pelastetaan maailma'' was released in 2022. As a solo artist, Haber visited the Finnish television program ''

Vain elämää is the Finnish version of '' The Best Singers'' series broadcast on Finnish Nelonen commercial television channel fashioned on the successful Dutch series ''De beste zangers van Nederland''. Each day, one artist would be chosen, and the remaini ...

'' season 6 (2017) and season 10 (2019). Some of the songs featured in ''Vain elämää'' Haber performed with original lyrics and other songs Haber wrote to a new and updated form. He also made singles out of those songs. Updated songs (single release): 2017 (''Vain elämää'', season 6): "Hiljaisuus" orig.

Irina Irina or Iryna (Cyrillic: Ирина, Ірина) is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and a ...

, "Joutsenlaulu" orig.

Yö Yö () is a Finland, Finnish rock music, rock band, formed in 1981 in Pori. The band has had many line-up changes during their history, and almost 20 different musicians play or have played with the band. Yö's first line-up included singer O ...

, "Onnellinen", orig. Robin Packalen (prev. Robin), "Perjantai 13." orig.

Nikke Ankara Niiles Hiirola, professionally known as Nikke Ankara, is a Finnish rapper. His first single "Perjantai 13.", produced by Henri "MGI" Lanz, was released in May 2014 through Universal Music Finland. He also appears as a featured guest on fellow rap ...

, "Satuprinsessa" orig. Tiktak, "Kerran" orig. Laura Voutilainen. 2019 (''Vain elämää'', season 10): "Ikuinen vappu" orig. JVG, "Hanuri" orig.

Antti Tuisku Antti Tuisku (born 27 February 1984) is a retired Finnish pop singer. He finished third in the 2003 '' Idols'' talent show, the Finnish version of '' Pop Idol''. Tuisku has sold over 300,000 records during his career in Finland. In 2016, Tuisku ...

, "Vanha sydän" orig. Erin, "Teguila" orig. Vesala, "Tuulettaa" orig.

Elastinen Kimmo Ilpo Juhani Laiho (born 1981), better known by his stage name Elastinen (''elastic'' in Finnish), is a Finnish rapper and also one of the founders and CEO of independent Finnish rap label Rähinä Records. Together with his colleague Iso ...

, "Hyvä ihminen" orig. Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus.

Personal life

Haber is an ice hockey fanatic and his favourite team is Helsingfors IFK. Haber played ice hockey in until the age of 14 as defence-man attending tournaments also in Canada and the United States. Haber's other hobbies are kettle bell training and jogging. Haber's military status is Finnish Navy Sergeant.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

Samu Haber

Sunrise Avenue webpage

Comusic Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haber, Samu Living people 21st-century Finnish male singers Finnish male songwriters Finnish people of German descent Finnish television presenters 1976 births 20th-century Finnish male singers Singers from Helsinki