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.
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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.
Discography:
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.