Pete Parkkonen
Finnish singer (born 1990)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pete Eemeli Parkkonen (born 8 February 1990) is a Finnish singer. He took part in the Finnish Idol competition in its fourth season, then launched a solo career, releasing the albums The First Album in 2009 that topped the Finnish Albums Chart followed by I'm an Accident in 2010. He is set to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 alongside violinist Linda Lampenius with the song "Liekinheitin".
8 February 1990
- Rock
- pop
Pete Parkkonen | |
|---|---|
| |
| Background information | |
| Born | Pete Eemeli Parkkonen 8 February 1990 Pihtipudas, Finland |
| Genres |
|
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels |
|
Career
- In Idol
Parkkonen auditioned with "Mies jolle ei koskaan tapahdu mitään", a song by J. Karjalainen. During the competition, he interpreted various songs, most notably "Queen City" and "I Kissed a Girl". In the semi-finals, he sang songs from Foo Fighters, Danko Jones and Eppu Normaali making it to the Final 3. The season finals were held on 9 November 2009 with Parkkonen considered the favourite to win. However, he was unexpectedly eliminated in the Final 3 phase finishing third. The grand finale was held on 14 December with Koop Arponen winning the title and Anna Puustjärvi as runner-up.
- After Idol
After Idol, Parkkonen received a recording contract from Sony BMG and was the first season 4 contestants to release an album. Appropriately titled The First Album, he debuted at number 1 in its first week of release. The album went on to sell just over 24,000 copies and was accredited a gold award. Parkkonen's second studio album, I'm an Accident was released on 18 February 2010, but failed to gain the same commercial success peaking at number 21.
He is preparing a third album in 2014 in Finnish language. Preliminary single releases from the prospective album include "Mitä minä sanoin" and "Mun".
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu
Parkkonen won UMK 2026 with violinist Linda Lampenius with the song "Liekinheitin", which received a record breaking 570 points and will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
- In popular culture
Parkkonen has also taken part in a number of reality television shows including season 2 of Livenä vieraissa (2009) where he sang "Womanizer" from Britney Spears and "Girl In A Uniform" his single. He also took part in Kuorosota, the Finnish version of Clash of the Choirs and broadcast on Nelonen station, coming second and donating 20,000 Euros to charity.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIN [1] | |||
| First Album |
|
1 | |
| I'm an Accident |
|
21 | |
| Pete Parkkonen | 20 | ||
| Pete |
|
8 |
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIN [1] | |||||||||||
| "Girl in a Uniform" | 2009 | 5 | First Album | ||||||||
| "The Final Day" | —[A] | ||||||||||
| "I'm an Accident" | 2010 | — | I'm an Accident | ||||||||
| "Mitä minä sanoin" | 2013 | —[B] | Pete Parkkonen | ||||||||
| "Mun" | 2014 | —[C] | |||||||||
| "Maailma mua vastaan" | 2015 | —[D] | Non-album single | ||||||||
| "Mitä mä teen" (featuring JVG) |
2016 | 3 | Pete | ||||||||
| "Kohta sataa" | —[E] | ||||||||||
| "Ei nyt" | 2017 | —[F] | |||||||||
| "Myyty" | 2018 | 14 | |||||||||
| "Kävi niin kävi näin" (featuring Etta) |
— | ||||||||||
| "Mä haluun sut tänään" | 16 | ||||||||||
| "Voimaa ja valoa" | 2020 | —[G] | Non-album singles | ||||||||
| "Portaat" | — | ||||||||||
| "Täysikuu" | 2021 | — | |||||||||
| "Oon tässä" | 2022 | — | |||||||||
| "Joulurauhaa" | —[H] | ||||||||||
| "Liekinheitin" (with Linda Lampenius) |
2026 | 1 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIN [1] | |||
| "Sekopää" (Aste featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2011 | —[I] | Sirkus palaa |
| "Tuulisii" (JVG featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2015 | 3 | 247365 |
| "Me ollaan ne, Pt. 2" (Cheek featuring Nikke Ankara, Elastinen, JVG, Kube, and Pete Parkkonen) |
2016 | 1 | Timantit on ikuisia |
| "Doupein" (Bang for the Buck featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
15 | Luokkakokous 2 – Polttarit | |
| "Lujaa" (Tippa-T featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
20 | Non-album single | |
| "Itketään ja nauretaan" (PapiPike featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2019 | — | Afrogold |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIN Digital [1] | |||
| "Endless Love Song" | 2009 | 21 | First Album |
Other appearances
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIN [1] | |||
| "Hyvää yötä ja huomenta" (with the Idols 2008 cast) |
2009 | 7 | Tähtiluokka |
| "Come Alive" | — | ||
| "I Gotta Feeling" (with Aste, Emma Salokoski, Meiju Suvas, Olli Herman, and Suvi Teräsniska) |
2010 | — | Kuorosota 3 |
| "Kuuma kesä" | — | ||
| "Pläski" | — | ||
| "Mikä Boogie" (with Emma Salokoski, Meiju Suvas, Olli Herman, and Suvi Teräsniska) |
— | ||
| "Etenee" (JVG featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2014 | 11 | Voitolla yöhön |
| "Se ei oo niin" (JVG featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2017 | —[J] | Popkorni |
| "Femme Fatale" (Lukas Leon featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2018 | — | Simba |
| "Huoli pois" (JVG featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
2019 | 14 | Rata/Raitti |
| "Uuden edessä" (with various artists) |
2020 | 10 | Non-album single |
| "Let It Be" | 2021 | — | Laulu Rakkaudelle: Secret Song Suomi (Season 1) |
| "Per Vers, taiteilija" | 2022 | — | Vain elämää (Season 13) |
| "Syntisten pöytä" | — | ||
| "Pilven pääl" | — | ||
| "Kevät ja minä" | — | ||
| "Loppuun asti" (with Club for Five and Rajaton) |
— | ||
| "Lost Boy" | — | ||
| "Pure mua" | —[K] | ||
| "Tääl on niin kuuma" (with Meiju Suvas featuring Pete Parkkonen) |
— | ||
| "Tytär" (with Ujuni Ahmed, Ani, Anna Puu, and Vilma Alina) |
2024 | — | Non-album single |
| "Sillat" (with JVG) |
2025 | 2 | Unitas Sigma |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Personal life
Parkkonen was born into a musical family,[18] and his brother Ville Eetvartti is also a singer.[19] His paternal grandfather was Pierre Rassin, a black French musician from Martinique, who met Parkkonen's paternal grandmother in Äänekoski in 1953 when he worked for the traveling carnival Suomen Tivoli.[20] Parkkonen has spoken openly about the childhood bullying he had experienced because of his dark skin color that he inherited from his father, Kari.[21][22][23]
Parkkonen has a son (born in 2015) with singer Johanna von Hertzen, a second cousin of the Von Hertzen Brothers.[24][25] Parkkonen has stated that his statement in an interview that he easily falls in love with people regardless of gender was incorrectly interpreted as him being bisexual. He clarified that he did not mean love in a sexual attraction sense.[26]
