Tarja Turunen

Tarja took every opportunity to demonstrate her talent at school. She attended a music high school and began studying music in Luopio, Finland, after graduating. In 1996, she was asked by her former schoolmate Tuomas Holopainen if she would like to take part in his music project. Tarja agreed. Together with guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and drummer Jukka Nevalainen, the metal band Nightwish was formed.

Due to Tarja's classical vocal training, she always sings her songs in a classical style. The band members quickly realized that Tarja's voice had a distinctive timbre and was sometimes too powerful and dramatic for acoustic music. So they decided to adapt their music to the voice and became known for epic song creations. The combination of heavy guitars and Tarja's classical, operatic vocals thrilled the fans. Nightwish became the epitome of symphonic metal. In 1997, the band made it into the top 40 of the Finnish charts and celebrated their first breakthrough with “Angels Fall First”.

In the past, there have been repeated changes to the band's line-up. Bassist Sami Vänskä left Nightwish in 2001. Another disruptive factor, at least according to the band, was Tarja's husband and manager Marcelo Cabuli. The relationship, especially with Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen, deteriorated noticeably. A legendary letter in October 2005 finally ended Tarja's collaboration with Nightwish. All band members signed the public letter, in which Tarja was accused of diva airs and lack of commitment to the band. Tarja herself, however, claimed that the accusations were made up out of thin air.

Anette Olzon followed in 2007 as Tarja's replacement in Nightwish. Her departure from the band in 2012 was also less than glorious. The current front woman, Floor Jansen, has been a permanent member of the band since 2013. Tarja maintained and still maintains a friendly relationship with both of her successors in Nightwish.

Tarja launched an extremely successful solo career in 2007 with her debut album “My Winter Storm”.

At the end of 2018, Tarja suffered a stroke following a US tour. She was completely cured - but the doctors were unable to find out the cause of the stroke. “I was very lucky,” Tarja said in an interview.