Har Mar Superstar

Tillmann was born in Marshall, Minnesota, on February 6, 1978, at Weiner Memorial Hospital. In 1987, his family moved to Owatonna, Minnesota. He graduated from the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minnesota. His family is still based in Owatonna, where his mother and father are retired educators.Tillmann is known in the U.S. independent music community as a singer-songwriter. He is best known by his alter ego Har Mar Superstar, a character whose sweaty, energetic live performances were once infamous for often concluding with a perspiring, de-layered Tillmann disrobed down to a pair of briefs. His primary musical genres are contemporary R&B and pop music.

He originally claimed to be Sean Tillmann's twin brother, Harold Martin Tillmann, from which he claimed his name originated. The name actually comes from the Har Mar Mall, a shopping center in Roseville, Minnesota.

After playing in a number of garage bands during high school, Tillmann moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and joined three-piece noise band Calvin Krime as bassist and lead vocalist. Over three and a half years, it recorded two albums and an EP and regularly toured the country. When Calvin Krime disbanded in 1998, Tillmann explored his softer pop side in Sean Na Na. Reflecting on what led to the creation of Har Mar Superstar, Tillmann said, "I kinda always thought that [I was going to do R&B], I just had to figure out how to do it ... I just had to figure out how to make beats and write songs in that style." In 2000, he enlisted the help of several Saint Paul musician friends and the result was the pseudonymously self-titled album "Har Mar Superstar" that appeared on Kill Rock Stars in 2001.

Soon, Tillmann was touring all over the U.S. as Har Mar Superstar. Initially, he appeared onstage in a choir robe and was accompanied solely by pre-recorded beats emanating from his MiniDisc player. After his follow-up album, You Can Feel Me, elevated Har Mar's popularity in the U.S. and put him on the map in the United Kingdom, his stage outfits became more theatrical and several live shows featured female dancers. By the time the third album, The Handler, was released in 2004, Har Mar Superstar regularly toured with a drummer and a bassist to fortify the prerecorded material. Shows ranged from club dates to festival engagements (Reading and Leeds Festivals).

In addition to his own headlining tours, Har Mar opened for Ben Lee, The Strokes, Incubus, Tenacious D and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In 2007, Har Mar supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their tour of Australia and New Zealand. Fabrizio Moretti and Tony Bevilacqua have served as Har Mar's rhythm section, playing drums and bass guitar respectively. Har Mar supported Sia on her 2008 tour with Denver Dalley on bass and Nick Slack on drums. Other bassists have included Jenni Tarma, Jeff Quinn, and John Fields, while Bert Thomas, Jeff Brown and Michael Bland have manned the drum stool.

As well as a solo artist, Har Mar Superstar is a songwriter. He has written songs for artists including The Cheetah Girls, Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Osbourne, and Ben Adams. After "Tall Boy" was rejected by Britney Spears's management, Har Mar recorded the song for his album Dark Touches.

In 2008, Har Mar Superstar was part of the live touring set-up of Neon Neon, the band created by Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys and producer/solo artist Boom Bip. Har Mar sings and plays percussion during live shows and is featured on the recorded version and video of "Trick for Treat", a song on the band's debut album, Stainless Style, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2008. Har Mar also performed backing vocals and appeared in the video for Ben Lee's "Catch My Disease".

Har Mar's fourth studio album, Dark Touches, was released on October 12, 2009, in the U.K. and on October 13 in the U.S. Playing cities throughout the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. in 2009 and 2010, Har Mar's Dark Touches touring band featured Denver Dalley on guitar, Jeff Quinn on bass, and Will Rockwell-Scott on drums.

In February 2011, Har Mar started recording and performing with the soft rock-inspired band Gayngs and experimental rock group Marijuana Deathsquads. Har Mar and Marijuana Deathsquads teamed up for monthlong residencies in Los Angeles at Spaceland, in New York City at Bowery Electric, and in Austin, Texas.

Har Mar and Father John Misty (a.k.a. Josh Tillman) joined forces for a tour in May 2012. While Sean Tillmann and Josh Tillman are not related, the tour was informally called the "Two Tillman(n)s Tour". Har Mar performed material from his upcoming soul album Bye Bye 17, and his band consisted of Macey Taylor on bass, Quinn on guitar, and J. Tillman on drums.

Bye Bye 17 was released on April 23, 2013, on Julian Casablancas's Cult Records. Tillmann toured the new material throughout the U.S. in March, April and May 2013 with Dalley on bass, Quinn on guitar, and Ryan McMahon on drums. In August and September 2013, Har Mar Superstar supported the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on various tour dates. Har Mar and Lizzo toured the U.S. in September and October. A 14-date tour of the U.K. followed in November. At the end of 2014, Har Mar started writing songs for a new album and toured the U.S. with The Pizza Underground.

Collaborating once again with Casablancas, Tillmann released his sixth Har Mar album, Best Summer Ever, on April 15, 2016. Since its inception, Best Summer Ever was imagined as a "Greatest Hits of Har Mar Superstar from 1950–1985", even though Tillmann was born in 1978. Touring the U.S. and Europe in support of the album, Har Mar enlisted six other musicians. Har Mar Superstar's seventh album, Roseville, came together in late 2020 and is the first true collaborative effort of the whole touring band. It was distance recorded by all the members in their home studios and the band's home base, Mid City Studio, in Minneapolis. The band is Nelson Devereaux, Jake Baldwin, Adam Hurlburt, Ethan Elseth, Aaron Baum, and Ryan Mach, and everyone had a hand in co-writing. It has been described as an "existential homecoming" that chronicles Tillmann's return to life as a Minnesotan.