Famous Finnish Singers

Tarja Turunen is a Finnish singer-songwriter and an exponent of heavy metal. She is credited with co-founding the popular symphonic metal band Nightwish, where she peformed as the lead vocalist. The band's symphonic metal style, which was referred to as opera metal, inspired several other bands and performers.

Ville Valo is a Finnish musician and singer-songwriter. Valo is best known for his association with the gothic rock band HIM, where he performs as the lead vocalist. He is also credited with co-founding the band and has won many awards as part of the band. Ville Valo is also considered a sex symbol by many publications in Finland.

Saara Aalto is a Finnish voice actress, singer, and songwriter. She achieved national prominence in 2012 when she finished second in the popular reality singing competition, The Voice of Finland. She gained international recognition in 2016 when she finished second in The X Factor UK. Saara Aalto represented her country at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Alexi Laiho was a Finnish guitarist, vocalist, and composer. He was the founding member of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom where he performed as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist. He also played the guitar for other popular bands like Sinergy, Kylähullut, and The Local Band. A celebrated guitarist, Laiho is credited with reintroducing flamboyance and melody to metal music.

Sara Maria Forsberg is a Finnish singer, songwriter, and YouTube personality. She trained for a few years in a music academy in Jakobstad and began her career by posting videos on YouTube. In the mid-2010s, she signed to Capitol Records and released her debut single. She currently releases music as an independent artist. 

Michael Monroe is a Finnish multi-instrumentalist and rock musician. He achieved popularity as a member of glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, where he performed as a vocalist. Along with the band, Michael Monroe is credited with influencing many rock'n'roll bands and artists, including Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Slash, and Guns N' Roses. 

Finnish rock singer Lauri Ylönen and the founder of the band The Rasmus was just 5 when he began playing the piano. Apart from his quirky hairstyles, he is also known for wearing crow’s feather in his hair. Also known as Lintu, he has toured all over Europe with The Rasmus.

Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter Marko Hietala, co-founder of heavy metal band Tarot, joined the Finnish symphonic-metal band Nightwish as a vocalist and bassist in 2001. With time he gained international recognition performing with the largely successful band for nearly two decades. He also sang covers of classics as part of the Finnish symphonic-metal cover supergroup Northern Kings.

Emppu Vuorinen is a Finnish guitarist best known for his association with the symphonic metal band Nightwish, which he co-founded alongside Tuomas Holopainen and Tarja Turunen in 1996. Emppu Vuorinen has also played in other popular bands like Brother Firetribe, Almah, and Altaria. 

Raymond Ebanks is a British-born Finnish rapper. He is best known for his association with the popular hip-hop group Bomfunk MC's, where he performed as the frontman. When Bomfunk MC's disbanded in 2005, Raymond Ebanks started focusing on his solo career and continues to produce music.

Mr Lordi is a Finnish musician, special effect make-up artist, painter, songwriter, graphic designer, comic artist, and businessman. Mr Lordi is best known for founding the popular hard rock band Lordi where he performs as the lead vocalist. He has also contributed to the success of other bands like Rotten Sound and Domination Black.

Finnish singer-songwriter Teemu Brunila soared to fame as the lead singer of The Crash. He later formed Fried Publishing, which transformed to Nordic Music Partners. It is believed he is also part of the international electro-pop band Studio Killers, which doesn’t reveal the identities of its members.

Finnish singer-songwriter Marko Saaresto co-wrote Late Goodbye with Olli Tukiainen for the game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneI. Success of the song that became a cult hit led them to form the rock band Poets of the Fall. Since then Saaresto and the band has gained success with singles like Lift and albums like Carnival of Rust.

Finnish-French singer-composer Olivia Merilahti, a student of classical music gradually shifted her artistic direction towards rock music and then jazz and electronic music. She formed the Finnish-French indie pop band The Dø with multi-instrumentalist Dan Levy. First studio album of the band titled A Mouthful topped the French charts becoming the first English-sung pop French record to achieve such feat.   

Finnish musician-composer-vocalist Tony Kakko is the lead singer, main songwriter and creative lead of the Finnish power-metal band Sonata Arctica that has spawned albums like Ecliptica and Silence. He also sings covers of classics as part of the Finnish symphonic-metal cover supergroup Northern Kings. He received the title of Knight of The Order of The Lion of Finland in 2018.

Finnish singer-songwriter, actress, and playwright Paula Vesala formed the pop rock band PMMP with Mira Luoti. Vesala gained fame with success of the band that spawned hit albums like Kovemmat kädet and Leskiäidin tyttäret and singles like Oo siellä jossain mun before being disbanded. She later started her solo career and also composed songs for other popular Finnish artists.  .  

Jyrki 69 is a Finnish singer known for founding the popular rock band The 69 Eyes where he performs as the lead vocalist. His operatic bass-baritone and low vocal tone is reminiscent of singers like Peter Steele and Andrew Eldritch. Also a humanitarian, Jyrki 69 has worked in parts of West Africa and Kenya against social problems like child trafficking. 

Elina Siirala is a Finnish soprano best known as the front woman of the melodic metal band, Angel Nation. She is currently a part of the German symphonic metal band, Leaves' Eyes. Apart from releasing albums and singles, Elina Siirala also performs on stage. She is also known as the second cousin of musician and record producer, Tuomas Holopainen.

Tomi Joutsen is a Finnish musician best known as the frontman of the popular heavy metal band Amorphis. He also performs in several other bands, including Hallatar and Corpse Molester Cult, where he is active as a vocalist and guitarist respectively.

One of the bestselling Finnish music artists of all time, pop-rock sensation Kirka was born into a family of musicians and began learning the accordion at age 5. The 2-time Finnish Emma Award winner had also represented his country at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest.

Tapio Rautavaara was a Finnish singer, actor, and athlete. He is best remembered for winning the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. A former world champion, Rautavaara also won a bronze medal at the 1946 European Championships in Oslo. As a musician, Rautavaara is credited with inspiring other musicians like Ville Valo.  

Finnish-Swedish singer Jari Veikko Sillanpää  rose to prominence winning the Seinajoki Tangomarkkinat tango contest and releasing his debut-album Jari Sillanpää which with over 270,000 copies sold emerged as the best-selling Finnish album of all-time. In the ensuing years Sillanpää spawned several other works and with over 820,000 records sold, he became second best-selling solo-artist and fifth best-selling music-artist in Finland.

Finnish operatic bass-baritone Tom Krause, most notably associated with Mozart roles, had a successful career spanning over 50 roles. He played lead roles appearing at most of the famous opera houses across the globe. He also performed regularly at different festivals and was sought-after for master classes across the globe. He received several accolades including Order of the Finnish Lion.

Pave Maijanen was a Finnish musician best remembered for his association with bands like The Royals, Hurriganes, and Dingo. A multi-talented personality, Maijanen worked as a singer, bass player, songwriter, drummer, guitarist, keyboard player, and producer. Pave Maijanen had a long and successful career before his demise at the age of 70.

Finnish singer-songwriter Jannika B commenced her professional career in music when she participated in the Finnish reality-television singing competition Idols in 2007 and 2008, and thereafter in the Finnish version of X Factor in 2009. She appeared on Finland's Swedish-language radio channel Yle Radio Vega. So far Jannika has spawned singles like Pyynto and albums like Kaikki rohkeus and Siva.