I guess he was cool in Europe but he definitely blew up in America with “kiss from a rose” and the “Fly like an eagle” cover. Those songs were everywhere, being played in the movie theater lobbies, the Batman ride at six flags, sporting events, radio, commercials, etc.
He was basically the man for a hot second, even if it’s likely due to a huge promotional push to sell the movie soundtracks, toys, and tickets.
It pretty much worked. If I think of anything batman, I mentally hear “kiss from a rose”. “Fly like an eagle, I think of space jam. We can forget that we may be pretty well insulated from pop culture outside of our borders. I think Seal is or was pretty iconic worldwide. If he wasn’t he wouldn’t have been dating Heidi Klum.