He rose to fame in 2012 after winning the ninth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of the Idol franchise.

[3] Hänni decided to part ways with DSDS management and collaborated with Swiss DJ Christopher S on his third album, Dance Until We Die (2014).

In 2012, Hänni applied in the ninth season of the RTL singing talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German adaption of the Idol franchise.

[7] Hänni's debut album My Name Is Luca, chiefly produced Deutschland sucht den Superstar judge Dieter Bohlen, was released on 18 May 2012.

[8] By August 2012, My Name Is Luca had been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in Austria and Switzerland and spawned a second single, "I Will Die for You".

[8] In June 2012, Swiss trading company Migros engaged Hänni for its men's underwear brand Nick Tyler as a testimonial.

[9] In August 2012, he opened the auditions to tenth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar in his native city Bern, for which he was seen in an advertising campaign since July 2012.

Taking his work further into the dance pop genre, it was released on Future Soundz, a division of K-tel International under exclusive license from Hänni's own Luca Music, following his departure from Universal.

Promotion on the album was discontinued in August 2014 following a fall out between Hänni and Christopher S, regarding the share-out of Dance Until We Die's and merchandising profits.

[14] In close cooperation with the DKMS, a German charity that works in the areas of blood cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which he supports, Hänni wrote and released the song "Only One You" in November 2014.

[15] The same month, he collaborated with a variety of Swiss musicians, including Noëmi Nadelmann, Pepe Lienhard, Francine Jordi, Sebalter and Melanie Oesch, on Migros's charity Christmas song "Ensemble" which supports the needy in Switzerland.

[17] From mid-January to February 2015 Hänni relocated to Los Angeles where he recorded his fourth studio album When We Wake Up along with Swiss music producer Fabian Egger.

In fall 2016, Hänni launched his own fashion label SVSL and had a minor role as a voice actor in the German version of the American animated musical film Sing.

[21] In December 2018, he released the single "Bei mir" which he promoted with a dancing performance at the Helene Fischer Show the same month.

[23] This marked Switzerland's highest result since Annie Cotton's "Moi, tout simplement" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993.