Tarja Turunen



Tarja Turunen is the former lead singer of the Finnish Symphonic Metal Power Metal band Nightwish. In 2005, the band fired her in an open letter, leading to a public back-and-forth volley between her and the rest of the band. It was later cited that she had missed too many rehearsals and that her husband influenced her behavior.

She would release her first solo album two years after being fired.

Tarja has the unusual distinction of being a female soprano singer for a metal band. Her voice alone led to Nightwish being labeled as "opera metal". "Female-fronted metal" has become a subgenre in part due to the success of Nightwish.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen called her "the voice of Finland". She is well-known across Europe and has a small yet devoted following in North America.

With Nightwish

 * 1996 - Angels Fall First
 * 1998 - Oceanborn
 * 2000 - Wishmaster
 * 2001 - Over The Hills And Far Away (EP)
 * 2002 - Century Child
 * 2004 - Once

Solo

 * 2006 - Henkäys Ikuisuudesta (Only available in Finland)
 * 2007 - My Winter Storm
 * 2010 - What Lies Beneath
 * 2011 - Live At Sibelius Hall (with Harus) -- this is a classical album, not metal.

Tarja shows examples of:

 * Bilingual Bonus:
 * "Montañas De Silencio" is sung in Spanish.
 * Most of Henkäys Ikuisuudesta is sung in Finnish. She sings a gorgeous version of "Ave Maria" on this album in German.
 * Cover Version: "Walking In The Air" in Henkäys Ikuisuudesta, "Poison", in My Winter Storm and "Still Of The Night", as a bonus of What Lies Beneath. She also sung "Signos" in live concerts.
 * Creator Breakdown: Not to the extent of her former bandmate Tuomas Holopainen, but some of her songs count, such as "Enough".
 * Dye Hard: Apparently, she's a natural blonde.
 * Lady in Red: In the "Nemo" video.
 * Lighter and Softer: "Underneath", "I Feel Immortal", and "Calling Grace" from her solo albums. Live At Sibelius Hall has her singing classical music.
 * Something Something Leonard Bernstein: It was nigh-impossible early in her career to figure out what she was singing. She got better about that.
 * Supergroup: So far, you have Mike Terrana, Kiko Loureiro, Max Lilja and Van Canto accompanying her.
 * Take That: Tarja responded to her former band's personal attacks in Dark Passion Play with "Enough".
 * Winter Royal Lady: In the cover art of My Winter Storm.