Otto Wichers, known professionally as Lucky Fonz III, was born in 1981 in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He is a Dutch singer-songwriter and writer who began his music career while studying at the University of Amsterdam. His first album, Lucky Fonz III, was released in 2005. The following year, he won the Grote Prijs van Nederland (Grand Prize of the Netherlands) in the singer-songwriter category, which brought him significant media attention. In 2007, Lucky Fonz III released his second album, Life Is Short. He performed monthly live shows on VARA's talk show De Wereld Draait Door (The World Keeps Turning) in 2008 and embarked on his first US tour in 2009, including a performance at SxSW. His single "Ik heb een meisje" ("I Have a Girl") entered the Dutch charts in May 2010, preceding the release of his album Hoe je honing maakt (How to Make Money).
