Clueso

Thomas Hübner, professionally known by his stage name Clueso, is a German singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer. Born on 9 April 1980 in Erfurt, he derived his stage name from Inspector Clouseau in the film series The Pink Panther. His musical style is characterized by a blend of hip hop, pop, and electronic music, alongside elements of reggae.

Clueso began making music in 1995. In 1998, he met his future manager Andreas Welskop, left his hairdressing apprenticeship, and released his debut vinyl project, Clüsolo, on BMG Ufa. He relocated with Welskop to the 10vor10-Studios in Cologne in 1999, signed a label contract with Four Music in 2000, and released his first studio album, Text und Ton, in 2001. During this period, he performed with Curfew at the MTV HipHop Open in Stuttgart and at the Beats for Life event in Cologne.

After returning to Erfurt in 2002, Clueso recorded the Rowdy-Club-Tape 2002. In 2003, he began producing his second album, Gute Musik, which translates to "Good Music." Completed by 2004, the album features guest contributions from Blumentopf, Steer M, Tilmann Jarmer, Delhia, Tim Neuhaus, and Jürgen Kerth. The record contains no English tracks and focuses primarily on singing rather than rapping. In 2005, he represented Thuringia in the Bundesvision Song Contest with the song "Kein Bock zu gehen," placing seventh with 63 points, and partnered with the Start Ab remix contest.

His third album, Weit weg, was released on 19 May 2006. On 3 February 2007, Clueso performed with his band and the STÜBAphilharmonie orchestra at the Fritz-Club in Berlin, using arrangements for over 70 instruments; the show was released on DVD as Clueso Live or Clueso – Weit weg – Live. In mid-2007, he opened for Herbert Grönemeyer's 12-Tour and earned a 1LIVE Krone nomination for Best Live Act. He also released the single "Lala" for the movie Leroy in September 2007.

Clueso represented Thuringia again at the Bundesvision Song Contest in February 2008 with "Keinen Zentimeter," finishing in second place, and released his fourth album, So sehr dabei, on 30 May 2008. In December 2010, he published the book Clueso. Von und über. His fifth album, An und für sich, arrived on 25 March 2011. That year, he collaborated with Udo Lindenberg on the song "Cello" for MTV Unplugged – Live im Hotel Atlantic, which peaked at number 4 on the German single charts.

In 2014, Clueso released Stadtrandlichter, which reached number 1 on the German Top 100 chart. Following its release, he parted ways with his longstanding band and management team. He based his subsequent album, Neuanfang ("New Beginning"), on this separation; released in 2016, it also reached number 1 in Germany.

Following Neuanfang, Clueso began working on Handgepäck I ("Hand Luggage I"), a collection of acoustic songs written and collected over seven years of global travel. Released in 2018, Handgepäck I marked his third consecutive number 1 album on the German charts.