Kuumaa

Kuumaa
The band's logo
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Pop
Years active	2016–present
Labels	Universal Music Group
Members	Johannes Brotherus Jonttu Luhtavaara Aarni Soivio Okko Saastamoinen
Past members	Aapo Närhi Antti Heiskala
Website	http://www.kuumaakuumaa.fi

Kuumaa is a Finnish pop band founded in 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. They released their first self-titled album Kuumaa in April 2019^[1] and have since become one of the most popular bands in Finland with close to 150 million streams and three released albums.^[2]

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.^[3]

The band signed a record deal with Universal Music Group based on their first demo in October 2016.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[4] After a total of six single releases between 2017 and 2019, the band's debut album Kuumaa was released on the 26th of 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".

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.^[6]

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.^[7][8]

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.^[9] The single has also crossed three times the platinum certificate limit with over 12 million streams.^[10]

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.^[11] At best, it reached number one on the Official Finnish Charts 9 times.^[12] It also won the Radio Suomirock vote for "Song of the Year" in 2022.^[13] 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.^[14]

On the 11th of January 2023, Kuumaa was announced as one of the seven participants in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023, the Finnish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Their entry "Ylivoimainen" was released on the 18th of January 2023 and is also the last single of the album Hyvikset ja pahikset.^[15] 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).^[16] 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.^[17] "Ylivoimainen" climbed to the top of The Official Finnish Charts in May 2023 and stayed number one for 12 consecutive weeks.^[18] The song has been streamed over 24 million times on Spotify^[19] and it won the "Radio Song of the Year" -award at the yearly RadioGaala event in April 2024.^[20]

Kuumaa won the 2023 Emma Gaala award for "Band of the Year".^[21]

On 30 March 2023, the band released their second studio album Hyvikset ja pahikset.^[22] After its release, the album has gathered over 80 million streams and so crossed 4 times the platinum record limit.^[23] Since the release, the album has reached number one on the Official Finnish Charts 20 times.^[24]

In 2023, Kuumaa played around 120 gigs around Finland.^[25]

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".^[26]

Their third studio album Pisara meressä was released on the 19th of April 2024 ^[27] and upon its release also reached number one of The Official Finnish Charts,^[28] topping the list for four weeks. The album launch event on the 26th of April sold out the Helsinki Ice Hall.^[29]

In the summer 2024, Kuumaa will be performing at some of the biggest music festivals in Finland such as Provinssi, Ruisrock, Ilosaarirock, Qstock, Kesärauha, Himos Juhannus, Tahko Juhannus and Tammerfest. They also have several shows at the Allas Sea Pool in Helsinki.^[30]

The band will head on their first arena tour Maasta kuuhun (Earth to the moon) in November 2024. Performing in seven different major cities in Finland, the band will take on some of the biggest stages in the country such as the Gatorade Center in Turku, Metro Areena in Espoo and Energia Areena in Oulu. The tour will finish on the 22nd of November at the Nokia Arena in Tampere and upon finishing the tour, the band will take a break from performing until summer 2025.^[31]

• Johannes Brotherus – vocals
• Jonttu Luhtavaara – drums
• Aarni Soivio – bass
• Okko Saastamoinen – keyboards (2022–present, live performances)^[32]

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