Quick Facts
Cancer
Biography
Stef Caers (Dutch pronunciation: [stɛf ˈkaːrs]; born 5 July 1980), known professionally as Gustaph (stylised as GVSTΛPH), is a Belgian singer-songwriter, producer and vocal coach. He represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom with the song "Because of You" and finished 7th place.
Biography
Caers was born on 5 July 1980 in Leuven, Flemish Brabant. He started his musical career while studying at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, initially using the stage name Steffen. In 2000, he scored a hit with his debut single "Gonna Lose You", which reached number 22 on the Flemish singles chart. He subsequently released a second single, titled "Sweetest Thing".
Following these releases, Caers began focusing more on songwriting and producing. He also became active as a backing vocalist, providing backing vocals for, among others, Lady Linn and Willy Sommers. In the early 2010s, he joined the band Hercules and Love Affair as one of the lead vocalists.
Caers performed as a backing vocalist for Sennek at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and for Hooverphonic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. In addition to his career as a singer, he works as a vocal coach, and as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent.
In November 2022, Caers was announced as one of seven participants in Eurosong 2023, the Belgian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. His entry "Because of You" won the final on 14 January 2023 and represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, finishing 7th place.
Personal life
Caers is gay, and came out at the age of 14. He chose his stage name based on his father's godfather's name, Gustav.
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL(FL) | AUSDigital | LTU | SWE | UK | ||||||||||
| "Gonna Lose You" | 2000 | 22 | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||||||
| "Sweetest Thing" | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Same Thing" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Jaded" | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Second Coming" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Call" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Because of You" | 2023 | 2 | 40 | 15 | 82 | 63 | ||||||||
| "The Nail" | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| BEL(FL) | |||
| "Running" | 2014 | — | Non-album single |