Released his first jazz album "The Jazz Album: Watch What Happens", collaborating with artists such as Till Brönner or Alan Broadbent (2006).
Resides in Berlin with his wife Claudia and her daughter.
Winner of five Grammy Awards for "Best Classical Vocal Performance" (2000, 2004, 2006) and "Best Choral Performance" (2008).
After his mother took the drug thalidomide against her morning sickness during pregnancy, he was born with birth defects, so he has phocomelia of the upper extremities with very short or absent long bones.
As he was denied admission to the music conservatory in Hanover due to his physical inability to play the piano, he studied voice privately.