Sebastian Erl, known as Buddy, was born in East Berlin in 1977 and grew up in Bernau near Berlin. After training as a gas and water fitter, he worked for a time as a stage and set builder and nurse. He got into music by chance: he helped friends in the recording studio until a loose song idea was born. Buddy experienced his breakthrough with Ab in den Süden - first released in 2001 as a promo single before it was officially released in 2003. In Austria, the single climbed to number 1, in Germany to number 2 in the charts; it went gold in Germany and double platinum in Austria. The variants Ab in den Norden and Ab auf die Piste build on this success, the latter single reaching number 56 in Germany. The single "Mama Mallorca" followed in 2005, reaching number 95 in Germany. In the same year, the song "Wir sind Papst" ("We are Pope") was created together with Urbi & Orbi, which reached number 57 in Germany. In 2010, "Sommer lass mich nicht allein" (feat. Meri) is released and reaches number 69. After a long break, the singer returns in 2021 with producers such as Marcus Becker (known for "Das rote Pferd") and a new single entitled "Wellerman-Song". A year later, the updated version Ab auf die Piste 2022 is released. In 2025, Buddy releases the song "Kiste Bier auf Malle".
