Nightwish

Few Finnish acts have travelled as far from a campfire as Nightwish. Hailing from Kitee, the band grew out of a 1996 idea by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, who had imagined an acoustic project before guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and former lead vocalist Tarja Turunen joined him. Heavy metal elements arrived in 1997, and the pairing of classical female vocals with keyboards and electric guitars became the core of their symphonic metal identity.

Their debut album, Angels Fall First, was released in November 1997 and reached number 31 on the Finnish album chart, while its single 'The Carpenter' climbed to number 3 on the Finnish singles chart. Wider recognition followed with Oceanborn (1998), Wishmaster (2000), Century Child (2002) and Once (2004). After Turunen's dismissal in 2005, Anette Olzon recorded Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum before leaving in 2012, and Floor Jansen took over in 2013. Endless Forms Most Beautiful appeared in 2015, and Human. :II: Nature. and Yesterwynde followed in 2020 and 2024, the latter ahead of a touring hiatus. The group is Finland's third-best-selling act, with nearly 900,000 certified sales, and entered the Finnish Music Hall of Fame in 2018.