Nightwish

F

ormed in 1996 by Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards/song writing), Emppu Vuorinen (guitars), and former lead singer Tarja Turunen (vocals), Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic progressive metal band from Kitee.

The source of what would become Nightwish would be Tuomas Holopainen who, after playing keyboards in several heavy metal bands in the 1990s, including Darkwoods My Betrothed, decided to create his own project while sitting around a campfire with friends on July 6, 1996. He had a clear idea of the music he wanted: experimental acoustic music he had written himself during his time in the Finnish Army, similar to the music usually played around campfires, but with a distinct sound and atmosphere and played on his keyboards. He soon invited friend and schoolmate Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen to play acoustic guitars, and the classical vocalist Tarja Turunen, who had shared the same music teacher, Plamen Dimov, a few years earlier. The three musicians recorded their self-titled acoustic demo in late 1996. The name "Nightwish" was derived from their first song together.

The group then picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, followed by bassist Sami Vänskä who arrived after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen and guest singers. Although Nightwish have been prominent in their home country since that debut, they did not achieve wider success until the release of the follow-up albums, Oceanborn (1998), the Sleeping Sun (4 Ballads of the Eclipse) EP (1999) and Wishmaster (2000) EPs, as well as Wishmaster (2000; full album) featuring the aforementioned Sami Vänskä, and Century Child (2002) with Marco Hietala (Delain) assuming bass and vocals on selected tracks.

It would be with the release of Once (2004) when the band sold more than one million copies and was their breakthrough into the US. Their biggest US hit single, Wish I Had an Angel from the album, received MTV airplay and was included on three US film soundtracks. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for Once, as well as a re-recording of the single for Sleeping Sun for the compilation album, Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish (2005), before Turunen's dismissal in October 2005. In May 2007, Nightwish announced Anette Olzon as Turunen's replacement. That September, the band released their sixth album, Dark Passion Play (2007), which in turn sold nearly two million copies. The album's lead single, Amaranth, became one of Nightwish's most successful in Europe; their seventh studio album, Imaginaerum, would arrive in November 2011.

Nightwish then parted ways with Olzon in October 2012 and finished the subsequent with Floor Jansen, who later became a permanent member alongside longtime session uilleann pipes player Troy Donockley in October 2013. In the meantime, Imaginaerum - The Score (2012) would arrive.

2015 would see the release of Endless Forms Most Beautiful. In July 2019, Nevalainen who had been inactive since 2014 due to severe insomnia issues, announced that he would not be returning to the band, with Kai Hahto, who had acted as his replacement since 2014, being promoted as the official drummer. After twenty years of performing with the band, bassist Marko Hietala parted ways with the band in January 2021, with Jukka Koskinen announced soon after as his replacement in August 2022. The Human. :||: Nature (2020) and Yesterwynde (2022) releases would reflect these changes.

Nightwish is the third-best-selling band and musical entity in Finland with certified sales of nearly 900,000 certified copies. The group is also the most successful Finnish band worldwide, selling more than 10 million records.