Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead vocalist Tarja Turunen. The lineup grew with drummer Jukka Nevalainen and bassist Sami Vänskä. In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers. Nightwish has been successful in Finland since the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997), and were later recognized internationally through the release of their albums Oceanborn (1998), Wishmaster (2000) and Century Child (2002).
The band released Once in 2004, which sold over one million copies and was the band's breakthrough in the United States. After Turunen's dismissal from the band in 2005, Anette Olzon joined as her replacement and recorded two albums with the band: Dark Passion Play (2007) and Imaginaerum (2011), before leaving in 2012. In 2013, Floor Jansen took over as lead vocalist and became a permanent member of the band alongside Troy Donockley. After the release of Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015), Nevalainen left the band in 2019, and Kai Hahto, who had acted as his replacement since 2014, became the official drummer. Hietala left the band in 2021, and Jukka Koskinen was announced as his replacement in 2022. The band's ninth and tenth studio albums, Human. :II: Nature. and Yesterwynde, were released in 2020 and 2024, respectively. Ahead of the release of Yesterwynde, the band announced they would be going on a touring hiatus.
Nightwish is the third-best-selling musical act in Finland with certified sales of nearly 900,000 copies.IFPI data:
The group has sold more than 10 million records and received over 60 gold and platinum awards. In 2018, Nightwish was inducted into the Finnish Music Hall of Fame, becoming the honorary gallery's 11th member.
History
1996–1998: Formation and Angels Fall First
After playing keyboards in several heavy metal bands in the 1990s, including Darkwoods My Betrothed, Tuomas Holopainen decided to create his own project while sitting around a campfire with friends on 6 July 1996. He immediately had a clear idea of the music: 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 demo included their first song together, "Nightwish" (from which the band derived its name), as well as "The Forever Moments" and an early version of "Etiäinen".
In early 1997, Jukka "Julius" Nevalainen joined the band, and acoustic guitar was replaced with electric guitar. The addition of heavy metal elements to Nightwish's existing experimental music gave the band a different sound, forming the core of the band's distinct style.
The band entered the studio in April 1997 to record seven songs for their second demo, titled Angels Fall First. In May 1997, the demo made its way to the Finnish record label Spinefarm Records, who wanted to release it as the band's debut album. The label offered Nightwish a record deal, and the band returned to the studio to record four more songs to complement the tracks of the demo. The full-length Angels Fall First album was released in November 1997 and reached number 31 on the Finnish album charts, with the single "The Carpenter" reaching number 3 on the Finnish singles chart; "The Carpenter" single was released as a split with fellow Spinefarm artists Children of Bodom and Thy Serpent. The album is also one of the two releases which features Holopainen's vocals, appearing on four of the album's eleven tracks alongside Turunen's.
The band made their live debut in their hometown Kitee at the Huvikeskus on 31 December 1997, in front of 400 people. The band recalled being both nervous and terrified when performing for the first time. Since they were missing a bass player, Samppa Hirvonen joined them as a sessional live member. Marianna Pellinen was also a sessional live member as an additional keyboard player and a backing vocalist for Turunen. There were plans to make Hirvonen a permanent member, but he joined the army as part of Finnish army conscription just as they began recording Oceanborn, so they asked Sami Vänskä to join instead, since Tuomas knew him from the band Nattvindens Gråt. During early 1998, the band performed seven concerts, while Turunen was finishing her schooling, and Nevalainen and Vuorinen were serving their obligatory Finnish military service. They played warm-up shows for bands Babylon Whores, Children of Bodom and Tarot.
1998–2000: International success with Oceanborn and Wishmaster
Nightwish returned to the studio in August 1998 as a five-piece to record a follow-up for Spinefarm Records, which would become their second full-length album, Oceanborn. Adopting a more technical and progressive sound than Angels Fall First, Oceanborn saw the band abandon much of the ambient and folk elements present on their debut release, with the exception of the song "Moondance". In contrast to the female vocals of Turunen, the album also featured guest growling vocals by Tapio Wilska, since Tuomas did not want to sing again.
The AllMusic review said that the album "as a whole works great", with songs that are "very strong". Oceanborn was released on 7 December 1998 in Finland only. It was an instant success, reaching number 5 on the Finnish album charts. The album's first single, "Sacrament of Wilderness", hit number 1 on the Finnish singles charts, where it stayed for several weeks. The album's release was initially limited to Finland, but because of the success of "Sacrament of Wilderness", Spinefarm released Oceanborn internationally in the spring of 1999. In May 1999, Nightwish recorded the song "Sleeping Sun", and 13,000 copies of its single were purchased in pre-release sales in Germany alone. Following the band's first international success, Nightwish was added as the opening band for Rage's 1999 European tour. Both the album Oceanborn and the singles "Sacrament of Wilderness" and "Walking in the Air" were certified gold in Finland in August 1999.
While working in the studio on their third album in early 2000, Nightwish participated in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest national selection with the song "Sleepwalker". Despite winning the public vote in the final, Nightwish eventually finished in third place, with the jury choosing gospel singer Nina Åström to represent Finland.
On 19 May 2000, Nightwish released their third studio album, Wishmaster. It debuted and spent three weeks at number one on the Finnish album charts, selling enough records to be certified gold in Finland. Critical response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic calling the album repetitive, and saying "as a whole album, it can be a little annoying, even frustrating". However, German magazine Rock Hard declared Wishmaster "Album of the Month", despite competing against long-awaited May releases from Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi. Following the release of Wishmaster, Nightwish embarked on their first world tour, playing dates in South America, Mexico and Canada. In the summer, the band returned to Europe for their first headlining European tour with Sinergy and Eternal Tears of Sorrow, appearing at the Wacken Open Air festival and the Biebop Metal Fest.
2001–2003: Arrival of Hietala and symphonic elements with Century Child
In 2001, Nightwish recorded a cover of Gary Moore's "Over the Hills and Far Away" together with two new songs "10th Man Down" and "Away", and a remake of "Astral Romance" (originally from the Angels Fall First album) with Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) singing Tuomas' male vocals part. This new material was released as their first (and until 2009 the only) EP, Over the Hills and Far Away.
The record also included guest performances by Tapio Wilska once again on "10th Man Down". Nightwish's version of "Over the Hills and Far Away" was well received by fans, becoming a frequent part of the band's live performances, but the other songs never broke through and have not been re-released, with the exception of a live performance of "10th Man Down" on the End of Innocence DVD with Marko Hietala. In the same year, they also released (as VHS, DVD and CD) their first live album, From Wishes to Eternity, recorded during a show in Tampere, Finland, on 29 December 2000.
Soon after the release of Over the Hills and Far Away, Nightwish met what has been described as one of hardest points of their career. The issues centered on the bassist, Sami Vänskä, who had started misbehaving towards the band, according to Holopainen, by missing appointments and failing to take concerts as seriously as the other members did. After the band discussed his behavior with Vänskä several times, without getting any change, everyone simply stopped caring and tensions grew.Once Upon a Nightwish: Official Biography 1996–2006 Meanwhile, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen had started complaining about his role in the band, feeling like "a hired gun who would only do what he's asked to". According to their music teacher, Plamen Dimov, he and Holopainen have totally different characters, and thus difficulties were expected to arise. But Vuorinen was told to stay cool and "bite the bullet", and the problem was never addressed again.
Later, Holopainen confessed that, at that time, he seriously started thinking about breaking Nightwish up. After a show in Russia, he sent a text message to fellow musician Tony Kakko of metal band Sonata Arctica, telling him that he did not think he had a band any longer, and asking him what plans he had for next year. After the Over the Hills and Far Away tour in 2001, Holopainen called their labels Drakkar and Spinefarm, unofficially declaring Nightwish was over. He told them he might produce another album, but he would never perform another show with the band. The same message was also written on the band's message board.
Straight after the last show of the tour, Holopainen went on a week-long hiking trip to Lapland with Tony Kakko, where they talked about the band, leading Holopainen to decide that he could not break Nightwish up that easily. When he returned from Lapland he immediately received a phone call from Ewo Pohjola, CEO of Spinefarm, offering to become their manager and help him straighten things up, and Holopainen agreed.
To continue with Nightwish, Holopainen decided some changes were in order. Beside choosing Ewo as their new manager, he also asked Vänskä to leave the band. He would later cite musical differences as another reason for the breakup. Marko Hietala (Tarot) was asked to replace Vänskä, and to effectively leave his current band, Sinergy. In addition to playing bass guitar, Hietala would also perform male vocals. Holopainen has since said publicly that he and Vänskä still keep in touch, contrary to rumours saying that they have not met since. However, they are not interested in making another project together.
In 2002, Nightwish released Century Child, along with the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless the Child". Century Child was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts of most distance between a first place album and the second place. A music video was filmed for "Bless the Child", with a second one filmed for "End of All Hope" later, without any single support. It contains clips from the Finnish movie Kohtalon kirja (English: The Book of Fate).