Singing Swedish dads go viral - B1


The singing dads - 20th December 2023

TikTok has made a group of five dads in Sweden famous. The fathers have gained over 20 million followers on their TikTok account for their a cappella singing. It all started in a bathtub at Peter Widmark's bachelor party.

Peter Widmark: "Well, this story all started at my bachelor party where we hang out and we were singing as we usually do when we hang out with each other… yeah in a bathtub."

Peter's brother made a video of them, which he posted on TikTok. A day later, they'd gone viral, with 40,000 followers, and a million after just a week. The men are in their 30s with two kids each. Fathers in Sweden get time off work, which gives the dads time to get together and sing.

Peter Widmark: "When we hang out, the kids can hang out with each other. And as many people see in the videos, the, the, we have a- it's a soothing thing when we are singing."

The new TikTok celebrities have started performing live shows across Sweden as 'Dad Harmony'. But they aren't living a rock and roll life on tour. They return home during the week, to work and be with their families.

Sebastian Åkesson, Peter Widmark and Michael Aberg: "No televisions flying from the hotel rooms! We have a quite boring tour life. Shovelling snow! It came two metres of snow this week, so I think that's all the things that we have done during the evenings."

Emma Solinen's a fan. She enjoys how ordinary the dads are.

Emma Solinen: "We Swedes like it in that way! I mean we are humble and like normal people, and we like normal people."

Dad Harmony now has an international following on TikTok. And they're thinking of doing a world tour. But will they have to do this during school holidays?

Sebastian Åkesson: "Hopefully we'll get to some countries in Europe, maybe the States and somewhere in Asia, but time will tell. We don't know at the moment."