Jakob Hellman (born 20 October 1965) is a Swedish pop singer. His debut album, ...och stora havet, released in 1989, was his only release for 32 years. He released his second album, Äntligen borta, on 8 January 2021. He is still a well-known figure in Swedish music. Background The son of two teachers, Jakob Hellman grew up in rural north Sweden, just south of the polar circle. In school, he was in the same class as Zemya Hamilton, later to be known as the lead singer of house music act Clubland. In the lyrics of his first single, Hellman states that he was "born between the mirror and the grammophone" ("född mellan spegeln och grammofon"), attesting to his early pop star ambitions. At a young age, he played in a local band, Ampere, with his friends Anders Viklund, Ulf Johansson and Tommy Johansson. In a 2006 interview, the members recalled singing through a megaphone at the start, since they did not have a proper microphone. At the start, the only song they could play was "Smoke on the Water". Later, "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "The House of the Rising Sun" were added to the repertoire. Jakob Hellman's family later moved to Falun, where he played with a band named Fortune. In the mid-1980s, Jakob Hellman moved to Stockholm. Since the 1990s, Hellman resided in Malmö in Southwestern Sweden until he moved to Mallorca when his wife, a priest in the Church of Sweden, took on a position in the local church. He became a father for the first time in 2009. In July 2014, he married Karolina Svensson and went on a summer tour of Sweden. The recording of ...och stora havet Without previous experience of the music business, Jakob Hellman sent his demo to ten different record companies in December 1987. Magnus Nygren, at the time A&R at the Swedish division of EMI Music, took interest and arranged a meeting. Much to his own surprise, Hellman soon had a record contract in his hand. Recordings started in the EMI studio in the Stockholm suburb of Skärmarbrink in 1988. Hellman also spent some time touring, opening for the rock band Wilmer X. Session musicians included Per Hägglund from Imperiet (keyboards), Eddie Sjöberg, ex-member of Reeperbahn (guitar), Werner Modiggård from Eldkvarn (drums), and Wilmer X member Mats Bengtsson (piano). Titiyo provided backing vocals for the song "Avundsjuk på dej". In