9/17/2009

Surprise,surprise

NIGHTWISH have announced that a new album is coming out in the first quartal of 2010.WE CAN HARDLY WAIT....
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8/17/2009

Within Temptation


Within Temptation is a Dutch rock band. The band was founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt.[1] Their music is described as symphonic metal,[2] gothic metal[3] and gothic rock,[2][4][5] although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences,[6] and in a later interview with 3VOOR12, Sharon stated that "we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock/metal band ... we are in my opinion no gothic band".[7][8]

Directly after the release of their first album Enter, the band became prominent in the underground scene. However it wasn't until 2001 that they became known to the general public, with the single "Ice Queen" from the album Mother Earth, which reached #2 on the charts.[1] Since then, the band won the Conamus Exportprijs[9] five years in a row. Their next album The Silent Force debuted at #1 on the Dutch charts, as did their latest, The Heart of Everything. In 2008 they released a live DVD/CD, Black Symphony, recorded with the Metropole Orchestra.

The new album, still untitled, is set to be relased in early 2010.

On August 11, 2009 Within Temptation announced that they would be releasing a new live album consisting of acoustic sets from their theatre tour, entitled An Acoustic Night At The Theatre. [10]


[edit] Awards

2002

  • Silver Harp
  • TMF Award Holland - Most Promising Act
  • TMF Award Belgium - Best Rock (International)

2003

  • Edison - Best Live DVD: Mother Earth Tour
  • Conamus Export Award 2003

2004

  • Conamus Export Award 2004

2005

  • Edison Award - Best Band
  • TMF Awards Holland - Best Rock National
  • Popprijs 2005
  • Conamus Export Prize 2005
  • World Music Award - Best-selling Dutch Artist

2006

  • 3 FM Award - Best Rock Artist
  • Golden God (Best Video: Angels)
  • Buma Culture Export Prize 2006

2007

2009

  • Golden Harp [32]
  • 3FM Award - Best Live Act

Gold plates

  • Gold Single for Ice Queen
  • Mother Earth (2001)
  • The Silent Force (December 12, 2004, Netherlands)
  • The Silent Force (Finland, 2005)
  • The Heart Of Everything (Russia)
  • Black Symphony (The Netherlands)

Platinum plates



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Let`s Talk about TAROT!!!



Tarot is a heavy metal band from Finland. They are most famous for the song “Wings of Darkness” from the 1986 album Spell of Iron. While having enjoyed a broad underground popularity in Finland, the band has never been very famous elsewhere until gaining new success in the recent years when their singer and bassist Marco Hietala joined Nightwish in 2002.

Tarot was originally formed by the Hietala brothers in the early 80's. Back then the band’s name was called “Purgatory”. As Purgatory reached the point when they got the record deal, the label wanted them to change their name. Since then the band has been known as Tarot. The line-up settled in to the form of Marco Hietala (bass/vocals), Zachary Hietala (guitars), Mako H (guitars) and Pecu Cinnari (drums).

The "Wings of Darkness" single saw the daylight in 1986 and during that same year they released their first full length album, Spell of Iron. The next year they released Rose on the Grave. In 1988 the second Tarot album, Follow Me Into Madness, was released.

After the second album there was a hiatus in the band. During this “vacation” the line-up changed a little bit and a keyboardist was added to the band as Janne Tolsa joined Tarot, who replaced the second guitarist Mako H. After five years of silence the third album, To Live Forever, was finished in 1993. Tarot got good publicity in Japan so their first live album was released in 1994 only in Japan. The gig was recorded at Tavastia Club, Helsinki. Fortunately some of the songs from the live album were released during the next year on a limited edition bonus CD with the next studio album, Stigmata.

Again there was a hiatus and For the Glory of Nothing came out in 1998. Shining Black, a Tarot compilation album, came out in Japan the same year. After this they returned into silence, which was broken with an occasional gig. While Tarot was inactive, Marco was played in Conquest and Sinergy. He also did some gigs with other members of Conquest as a cover group “Metal Gods”. Marco also joined Nightwish in 2002 and along that, some more attention came also towards Tarot. Janne Tolsa played the keyboards for Virtuocity’s Secret Visions album as Marco sang a few songs for it. At the end of summer 2002 Tarot did a special 80’s gig in Kuopio, playing material only from the first two albums.

During the year 2003 the Shining Black compilation was released again in the rest of the world. Tarot signed a new record deal with Spinefarm Records and the new studio album Suffer Our Pleasures was released. While the album did well in Finland, it received poor distribution in other countries.

[edit] 2003–2006

During these years Marco kept busy with his other band Nightwish by recording and touring around the world. Janne did an album with Eternal Tears of Sorrow and a lot of gigs with industrial metal band Turmion Kätilöt.

Early spring 2006 the late record company Bluelight Records released a collection of the band’s first six albums with a large amount of bonus material, un-released demos, live and special versions of the songs and some covers. Some of the albums were also remixed.

The fans had been expected the re-releases for years and the collection was so successful that in May 2006 when Tarot released the new single "You", it made number one on the Finnish charts for the first time in the history of the band

In the same time the band formalized their backing vocalist Tommi “Tuple” Salmela as a true band member, after being with the band more than ten years.

Tarot changed record labels again and now they work in Finland with KingFoo Entertainment. In Europe Tarot is working with Nuclear Blast.

During the summer of 2006 the band toured various clubs and festivals. In the mean time Tarot also composed, demoed and recorded new material.

The album Crows Fly Black was released in 2006. On June 11th, 2008, Tarot released their first live DVD, Undead Indeed. The DVD also had a live album counterpart. They plan to do a short tour in support of Undead Indeed, starting January 30th, 2009.


Current Members


Studio
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Tarja Turunen in Zagreb




The ex-singer of the popular finnish metal band Nightwish,Tarja Turunen will be visiting Zagreb on 6th of October this year.Don´t miss this event and reserve your place on Amazon.com
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8/15/2009

nightwisheverdream.blogspot.com online again


nightwish ever dream is online again.
the autor is sorry because ha didn`t have the time to update this blog in this period : 01.04.`09 - 15.07.´09
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4/08/2009

Nightwish and Apocalyptica at Hartwall Arena

02.04.2009 - Nightwish and Apocalyptica at Hartwall Arena

The brightest stars of Finnish metal, NIGHTWISH will play a special home coming show at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on September 19. which marks the end of NIGHTWISH’s colossal Dark Passion Play –world tour. NIGHTWISH are supported by their fellow Finns, APOCALYPTICA. NIGHTWISH’s previous show at the Hartwall Arena in October 2005 was recorded and released as the highly successful END OF AN ERA –dvd.

CONCERT:
Saturday 19.9.2009 at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki.
No age limit.

TICKETS:
Pre-sale at www.lippupalvelu.fi, ticket price starting at 46,50 euros. Tickets at the box office on show day 48 euros (if still available).

Pre-sale starts on Monday 6.4. at www.lippupalvelu.fi.

ORGANIZER:
Finnish Metal Events Oy

PRESS ACCREDITATION:
Spinefarm Recods - Tuula Salminen, tuulas(at)spinefarm.fi

PRESS CONTACTS:
NIGHTWISH – Spinefarm / Tuula Salminen, +358 9 454 27140, tuulas(at)spinefarm.fi
APOCALYPTICA – Tara Kojonen, +358 50 467 3269, tara.kojonen(at)welho.com

» www.apocalyptica.com
» www.finnishmetalevents.fi
» www.lippupalvelu.fi
» www.hartwall-areena.com
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3/14/2009

March The 13th



On the day of March the 13th,1997,Tuomas has finished writing the song "Angels Fall First".It was a new begining.The begining of Nightwish and the begining of a new era for finish metal music.
It`s been 12 years since then,and Nightwish is still here,making people happy.Their music has tended our ears for all those years,and I hope it will last much,much loger...

(the picture is made by the autor of this blog and it is just a photoshop(c) project,not a real life conversion)

Starting today, and for a very limited time only, you have the chance to watch the entire "Made in Hong Kong (and in various other places...)" documentary exclusively on Nightwish's MySpace page. Get some snacks and follow the link below!

» Watch the documentary

Nightwish!

Rock Sound is giving you the opportunity to ask a question to Anette, Tuomas and Marco. Click the flyer to find out how!
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2/05/2009

FAQ

Where does the name 'Nightwish' come from?

Tuomas - "This is a cliché, but I love the night and its magic and I love to wander around at nightime and let my thoughts fly. Often I dream and send wishes to the stars...Originally it was the title of one from our very first demo, which included 3 acoustic songs ("Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen"), and because of that, our demo was called "Nightwish-demo". I liked the name and thought that this name describes what our music is all about so that is why it also became the band's name"

Who are the members of Nightwish?

Anette Olzon - Vocals
Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards, synths
Erno ‘Emppu' Vuorinen - Guitar
Jukka Nevalainen - Drums
Marco Hietala - Bass

Previous Members:
Sami Vänskä – Bass (1998 – 2002)
Tarja Turunen - Vocals(1996-2005)



Why is Emppu's name often listed as Erno?

Erno was actually his birth name. However, he has said that as this name can be very hard to pronounce for Finnish people, he was given the nickname ‘Emppu' which has stuck to this day.

Why did Sami leave the band?

Sami (Vänskä) was the bassist for Nightwish from 1998 to early 2002, at which point Marco (Hietala) joined. There were personal reasons which only the band knows, but we know that Tuomas and Sami had problems agreeing on things. Tuomas speaks about this on the ‘End of Innocence' DVD.

Who plays bass on Angels Fall First?

On many of the songs on Angels Fall First, there is no bass. However, where there is, Emppu plays bass aswell as guitar.

Have Nightwish ever broken up?

Technically, no, although they nearly did when Sami left the band. It is said that Tuomas had had enough by then and told the members to call it off, that Nightwish was coming to an end. He took some time off, walking the hills and hiking. However, after a year, the band regrouped with new bassist Marco Hietala. Since then, the band has been stronger than ever.

What equipment do the band members use?

Emppu - ESP Guitars.

Jukka - Tama Starclassic drums, Paiste cymbals, Pro Mark sticks and Remo drumheads. Full details of Jukka's drum setup can be found here.

Marco - Warwick Infinity bass, Kramer Forum 1 bass, Warwick Pro-tube IX amp.

Tarja - Not known.

Tuomas - Korg Triton Classic, Korg N354, Korg Karma.



Why is Tarja the 'face' of the band, if Tuomas writes the songs?

Each band has a 'face', someone who immediately comes to mind when a band is mentioned. Tarja is the singer of the band, and is at the front of the stage for the majority of the time during performances; when you listen to a piece of music, usually the vocals are one of the first things you pay most attention to (if the music has vocals).

Tarja has a strong voice that demands attention in the songs; Tuomas has the power to write the words she sings albeit he is still the keyboard player. Also, with Tarja being the only female of the band, she is often singled out; even more so for being one of few females in a male-lead 'metal' world.

What other projects do members of Nightwish work on?

Tarja has done vocals for Beto Vazquez Infinity, on their album 'Infinity', she has also been a part of Noche Escandinavia, an opera that has taken place in Chile and Argentina since June 2002.

Emppu has written music for a track on Beto Vazquez Infinity - Infinity. Until recently, he also played guitar for Altaria.

Tuomas plays keyboards for For My Pain, although has said he will not join the band for any live shows. In 2002 he also played keyboards at several live shows in Finland for Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus. You can also hear Tuomas playing keyboards on the debut Sethian album

Jukka plays drums for Sethian.

Marco still sings and plays bass in his original band, Tarot. He has also sung backing vocals for Altaria and played bass in Sinergy.

Are any Nightwish members married?

Tarja is married to Argentinian entrepreneur Marcelo Cabuli. They became engaged at the end of 2002 and were married in the summer of 2003.

Jukka is in a long term relationship with his girlfriend, Satu. In March 2003 they had a baby together, a girl named Luna.

Marco is married with children

Tuomas is believed to have a girlfriend, although he prefers to keep this information private.

There is currently no information about Emppu.

What kind of music do Nightwish play?

Everyone has a different opinion as to what genre of music Nightwish play. However, in an interview, Tuomas Holopainen once described their music as "Melodic heavy metal with a female voice".

What are the meanings behind Nightwish's songs?

All songs (music and lyrics), aside from the covers, are written by Tuomas and many of them have very personal meanings for him. No one will ever know the full meanings of all the songs, apart from Tuomas. Some songs are more 'obvious' than others, but each person has their own interpretation of each song and they are entitled to that. Tuomas may have reasons for not saying the meanings of his songs, and he of course, has the right to that.

You can however read Tuomas' notes on the meanings behind the songs on ‘Wishmaster' on this page of the official website.

Tuomas and Tarja also spoke about the meanings behind the songs on ‘Century Child' in a German goth magazine. You can read the transcription (in English) at on the Nightwish Fansite.

The Russian fansite (in English) also provides some explanations as to the meanings of many Nightwish songs.


What are Nightwish's influences?

Tuomas once said that he was highly inspired by metal bands such as Stratovarius. He has also been inspired by fantasy, especially Lord Of The Rings and the Dragonlance series. Disney is also a big part of Tuomas's life.

Who sings the male vocal parts for Nightwish?

From Century Child onwards (including ‘Once') the male vocal duties in Nightwish have been handled by Marco Hietala, the bands bassist. A number of different vocalists have featured on earlier recordings however. The following is a list of all Nightwish tracks featuring male vocals and who performs them.

Angels Fall First – 1997
Beauty And The Beast - Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish)
The Carpenter - Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish)
Astral Romance - Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish)

Oceanborn – 1998
Devil And The Deep Dark Ocean - Wilska (Sethian, Finntroll)
The Pharaoh Sails To Orion - Wilska (Sethian, Finntroll)

Wishmaster – 2000
The Kinslayer - Ike Vil (from 'Babylon Whores' – appearing thanks to Necropolis Records)
Dead Boy's Poem - Sam Hardwick

Over The Hills And Far Away - 2001
Over The Hills And Far Away - Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica)
10th Man Down - Wilska (Sethian, Finntroll)
Astral Romance (Remake 2001) - Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica)

Century Child – 2002
Bless the Child - Sam Hardwick
Beauty of the Beast – Sam Hardwick

All other male vocals on Century Child by Marco Hietala.

You may also see Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) performing Beauty and the Beast with Nightwish on the ‘From Wishes to Eternity' DVD. On this DVD and at most Nightwish shows, Wilska performs on the live version of ‘Pharaoh Sails to Orion'.


Why does each album sound so different?

Every band progresses through different sounds, as do songwriters. Experimenting with different effects and sounds, trying new things with the instruments. If you listen to each album in order they were made, you can hear how Nightwish have progressed through, from having some acoustic tracks on 'Angels Fall First' to having heavier tracks as on 'Oceanborn' and 'Century Child'.

Why don't Nightwish play "Ocean Soul" live?

Nightwish have agreed as a band never to play this song live because this song is very personal to Tuomas and he would prefer not to play it live.

Have Nightwish ever made a soundtrack or had songs used on a soundtrack?

'End Of All Hope' and 'Slaying The Dreamer' are used in a Finnish movie called 'Kohtalon Kirja' (The Book Of Fate).

How many Nightwish videos have been made?

Videos have been made for:

- The Carpenter
- Sacrament of Wilderness
- Sleeping Sun
- Over The Hills And Far Away
- Bless The Child
- End Of All Hope
- Nemo
- Wish I Had An Angel

You can see all pre-Once videos split between the two DVDs ('From Wishes to Eternity' and 'End Of Innocence') and on the Drakkar version of 'Over The Hills And Far Away'.

Which album should I buy first?

Any Nightwish album can be bought first, but it has been recommended on the official message board to buy them in chronological order, that way you can listen to the progression the band have made over the years. Many fans also recommend ‘Wishmaster' as a good starting point.


Will Nightwish ever play in my country?

It's always best to check out the tour page on the Official Nightwish Homepage, or the tours section of our site. If it's not there, then Nightwish aren't coming at this time.

Where can I buy official Nightwish merchandise?

Official merchandise for the band is available from the Nightwish Shop. All merchandise sold here is official and goes directly towards supporting the band. You can also visit our merchandise page for a list and further details of online stores stocking Nightwish merchandise.

Where can I find the fonts used for the Nightwish logo and Once logo and tracklist?

The font used for the Nightwish logo is Shelley Volante Script. The font used on Once and also Nemo is Tension. In order to use either font, you must first purchase a license. You can do this by visiting the links provided, the fonts are priced at $25.99 and $29 respectively.
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The Crew

The Band - The Crew




Ewo Pohjola
Manager
NW Bartender		Toni Peiju
NW Agent
Business Manager
Accounts		Kimmo Ahola
Sound engineer


Markku Aalto
Pyrotechnician		Tero Kinnunen
Bass Tech
Backgrounds		Andy Toiviainen
Guitar Tech


"Ulsch" Weitz
Drum Tech		Jarmo Lautamäki
Webmaster
Programmer (shops)		Christian Lessner
Webmaster


Benedikt Deicke
Programmer
Administrator		Jessica Lehto
Swedish translations		Estevão Camargo
Portuguese translations
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The Band - Biography(The history of Nightwish)

1996

The idea of Nightwish was "born" in July 1996 at midnight when Tuomas was spending a night with his friends around a campfire. The first three songs, which were acoustic mood music, were recorded between October and December 1996. At that time, the band had three members: Tuomas, Tarja and Emppu.

1997

The band wanted to see what the music would sound like if drums were added (Jukka joined the band). Also at this time, the acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric. After a couple of weeks of training, the band went to the studio this was in April 1997. At that time seven songs were recorded. These songs can be found on the limited edition of the album Angels Fall First.
In May 1997, Nightwish signed a recording contract with Spinefarm for two records. That August, the band went to the studio and recorded four new songs. Before the release of Angels Fall First, a single called The Carpenter was released, and made it to number eight on the official singles chart in Finland. Angels Fall First was released in early November and went number 31 on the official album chart in Finland. Nightwish played their first gig in Kitee on the 31st December 1997. After that Nightwish played only seven gigs in the following winter because Jukka and Emppu were in the army and Tarja was busy with her studies. Nightwish and at this time, Spinefarm extended the contract to include three records instead of two.

1998

In April 1998, they started filming the first video, The Carpenter. It was ready in early May and was first played on Jyrki. In late May, Tuomas and Tarja interviewed on that show. In the following summer, the bassist Sami Vänskä joined the band.
During the summer, songs for the new record were rehearsed and the band went to the studio in early August; the recordings were finished in late October. On November 13th, Nightwish played a gig in Kitee during which, a video for Sacrament of Wilderness was filmed. That song's single was released on November 26th and the new record called Oceanborn was released on December 7th.
Everybody was surprised by the success of Oceanborn. It went up to fifth place on the official Finnish album chart and the single Sacrament of Wilderness was the number one on the singles chart for weeks.

1999

In winter 1999, Nightwish played a lot of gigs all around the country for three months which included a gig on the Lista chart show program. In spring Oceanborn was first released outside of Finland. In May, the band started to play gigs again and toured the country for two and a half months, playing in almost all of the big rock festivals. At the same time the single Sleeping Sun was recorded, which was written for the eclipse in Germany. In August, the single was released in Germany and it also included the songs Walking in the Air, Swanheart, and Angels Fall First. In Germany alone the single sold 15,000 copies in just one month. In August, Nightwish learned that Oceanborn and Sacrament of Wilderness had sold gold. At the same time it was confirmed that Nightwish would be touring Europe for 26 gigs with the German band Rage.

2000

In early 2000 the band entered the studio again for the recording of their third album. A welcome interruption came to the repetitive studio work when they took part in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Sleepwalker. Nightwish cleared the first round of the qualification, but the final position was second despite an overwhelming win in the public televoting.
The new album, Wishmaster, was released in May and the Wishmaster Tour started from Kitee, the home town of the band. After the show, the band received gold discs for the album Oceanborn and the singles Sacrament of Wilderness, Walking in the Air, and Sleeping Sun. Wishmaster went straight to number 1 on the Finnish album charts and stayed in that position for three weeks, during that time, it also reached the gold disc mark. Wishmaster was approved by both the fans and the media and it was named the album of the month by the German magazine Rock Hard in their issue 6/2000, past the long-awaited new releases by Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
Wishmaster also debuted in the National German Charts at No. 21 and No. 66 in France! The "Wishmaster World Tour", which started from Kitee, continued first to the big festivals in Finland and then to South America in July 2000. The three-week tour in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences so far. This was followed by successful shows at Wacken Open Air, Biebop Metal Fest and the first headliner European tour with Sinergy and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow. In November, Nightwish also played two shows in Montreal, Canada.
The next project of Nightwish included the making of a full-length concert DVD & VHS with a limited live album (only for Finland). The concert was performed in Tampere on the 29th of December 2000. The material was released in April 2001 in Finland and worldwide during the summer of 2001. At the end of the show, Nightwish were given platinum discs for "Wishmaster" and gold discs for the single "Deep Silent Complete".

2001

In March 2001 Nightwish entered the studio again to record their version of Gary Moore's classic Over The Hills And Far Away, with 2 new songs and a remake of Angels Fall First's "Astral Romance". The Finnish release for this EP was in June 2001. The German version of "Over The Hills And Far Away" (released by Drakkar) includes 6 live tracks in addition to the 4 unreleased songs. Nightwish has also extended the record deal with Spinefarm Records with one full-length album, which was set to be released in Summer 2002.
The video for the track "Over the Hills and Far Away", which had rapidly sold platinum in Finland as a mini-CD, was shot in August 2001 in Finland. The tour in Finland the same year ended in Nivala, and the band was close to disbanding. Tuomas went hiking and gathering his thoughts in Lappland; some changes had to be done in order for Nightwish to be able to continue. According to his own words, Tuomas wanted to end the band due to prolonged disagreements within the band. Luckily, that didn't happen. But something happened, a lot in fact. Sami Vänskä, who had been with them since Oceanborn, had to leave. Marco Hietala, known from Tarot and Sinergy, promised to step in as a replacement for the next album and tour. King Foo Entertainment became their new booking agency, and long-time friend and colleague, Ewo Rytkönen, was to become their manager. To celebrate the "new beginning", the first official shop for fan-products, Nightwish-Shop, was opened on the band's homepage on November 24th 2001, a month before Christmas. The recording of the next album Century Child started in January 2002.

2002

The beginning of 2002 brought Nightwish good news, in comparison to previous rough times. As a band and as individual musicians they were voted to the top on many domestic and foreign magazines reader's polls. The fans had not abandoned them after the changes, on the contrary. Ever Dream, the first single from the forthcoming album, went gold in Finland within 2 days. At the same time Nightwish announced they would take a break as soon as the "Century Child World Tour 2002" would be over, Tarja would finish her educations in Germany during the break. That announcement brought up all kinds of speculations among fans. Sami leaving the previous Fall, now a break that would last a year...
Century Child came out in May 2002 and made a sales record, selling gold in Finland within 2 hours! Within two weeks it sold platinum (30,000 copies) and continued selling rapidly. At the same time Nightwish held the top-position in both singles-and album charts, for their first time ever. Foreign countries responded, too: in Germany, Century Child went straight to number 5 and in Austria, number 15, those two being the band's highest positions abroad so far. In July, Nightwish toured successfully in South America, where nearly all gigs sold out. In Brazil, the first edition of Century Child was sold out in one day, and the successful European tour that year didn't go unnoticed by booking agencies. Many European gigs were broadcasted live on the internet, needless to say the connections were often jammed. At its most, nearly 10,000 fans were trying to follow the live feed. Having sold an astonishing 59,000 copies in Finland, Century Child was the country's 2nd best selling album in 2002. The first visit to Sweden took place on 16th November 2002, in Fryshuset, Stockholm. The break started in late 2002, and sure enough there was no rest for the guys. Jukka played with Sethian and Bitch Driven, Tuomas with Sethian, For My Pain..., and Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Emppu played with Altaria, and Marco with Tarot. All in all the break wasn't to last nearly a year, back on the road...

2003

The beginning of 2003 saw more good results in reader's polls of various magazines, and a studio was booked in order to start recording the next album, planned to be released the next year. Happenings also at the home-front: Jukka and his girlfriend Satu had a daughter, Luna, on March 11, 2003. Nightwish received their first double-platinum award for Century Child, having sold 60,000. The band performed mostly abroad in 2003, the only gig in Finland was at RMJ 2003 on June 20th. The second visit to Sweden took place at the sold out "Gates of Metal"-festival in Hultsfred. During 2003, the forthcoming DVD-documentary End of Innocence was being put together, and it's release was postponed a few times due to huge amount of material.
In May 2003, Tarja Turunen announced that she had secretly gotten married a few months earlier, and would be moving back to Finland. The DVD "End of Innocence" was finally released on October 6th 2003, and at that point, Nightwish had already started recording the next album. Their fifth album "Once" would be the most important release in the history of Nightwish. Meanwhile, Finland's President, Tarja Halonen, had also taken note of Nightwish's achievements and invited Tarja Turunen and her husband Marcelo Cabuli to the annual independence-day party held at the presidential residence. Tarja's dress was voted as the most beautiful dress that evening.
Before the Christmas of 2003 Nightwish auctioned their "Century Child World Tour"-backdrop, and donated all the money to charity. The outcome was 1,750 EUR, and was given to Parikanniemi's Children's home in Ristiina on December 2003. The funds were handed out by Tarja Turunen, Michael "Big Tini" Leipold from Germany became the new proud owner of the backdrop.


2004

The year 2004 was eagerly expected by both the fans and the band. Exhausting studio-sessions took their toll both physically and mentally. The actual recording took place at the Phoenix-studios in London, the same studio and with the same orchestra (The Academy of St. Martins in the Field) that Howard Shore used for writing the score for "The Lord of the Rings"-trilogy. Orchestral-and choral arrangements were written by Pip Williams, who has produced "Status Quo"and "riah Heep" Big time, great expectations!
Nemo was the first single released off the forthcoming album, and a big-budget video was made. The director was Antti Jokinen, who had previously worked with Shania Twain and Eminem.
With the new album, Nightwish had some changes with the recording contract, and the new material was released by Nuclear Blast. Good old Spinefarm Records would still handle the distribution in Finland. Nuclear Blast spent a considerable amount of money marketing Once, especially in Germany. Pictures of Nightwish and Once were splattered all over the television-channels, subways, buses and streets, and the press wasn't forgotten either. Every German will know Nightwish by now.
Once went gold in Finland on its day of release, as did the single "Nemo". Nightwish started a world Tour of 150 concerts in all continents, the tour lasted until the end of 2005. This tour was be the biggest in the history of Nightwish so far. The album "Once" sold gold in Finland immediately on its release day, as did the single "Nemo". In May 2004, Nightwish started the Once World Tour. The Once World Tour lasted until the end of October 2005. There were about 130 gigs all over the world, including new countries such as Japan, Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, Denmark, and Greece. The tour was the biggest in Nightwish's history. From month to month the venues grew bigger and the news told about success.
The second single, Wish I Had An Angel, was released in Autumn 2004. The song's video was directed by Uwe Boll, director of the movie "Alone In The Dark", in which the song was also played. The second single was again a great success and boosted the sales of the Once album.
In August, Nightwish finally made it to the USA! The tour was very successful and they planned to come back for a bigger tour in 2005. After the tours in Europe and South America in the Autumn of 2004, and some separate gigs in December, the band had some time off in January 2005.

2005

In February 2005, Nightwish won five awards in Emma-Gala (Finnish Grammy). Among the others they won awards for "The Band of the Year" and "The Best Selling Album of the Year". Tuomas and Marco flew from European tour to Helsinki to receive the awards. The last show in the European tour was so far the biggest gig of their own, in Stuttgart there were 10,001 people watching the show!
In March, Nightwish performed the first time in Japan and Australia; in April and May, they had to have a break because of Tarja's other interests, but at the end of May the band started the tour again by playing with Iron Maiden in Poland and with Mötley Crüe in Norway.
In July, the 3rd single, a new version of Sleeping Sun, was released since the record label had decided to use it to promote the forthcoming collection Highest Hopes. The new version of the video for "Sleeping Sun" was directed by Joern Heitmann and shot in August 2005 in Prague. During the Autumn 2005, Nightwish played several shows and performed in the legendary Hammersmith Apollo Venue for sold out seats. After a short festival tour in South America (in October), the Once World Tour was coming to an end. The final concert was played on 21 October for 11,500 people in Hartwall-Arena in Helsinki. The concert was also recorded to be released as an End of an Era live DVD.
After the last concert, Tuomas, Emppu, Marco and Jukka fired Tarja Turunen, and her manager Marcelo Cabuli. The reason for this was because during the Once Tour their attitude and actions had turned out to be against almost all that Nightwish represents. As one may guess, the news of the firing was followed by an incredible sensation and hullabaloo. Once the nearly ridiculous fuss was finally starting to calm down in the end of 2005, Nightwish was able to look to the future and wait for an adequate singer to be found.
By the end of 2005, "Once" has sold approx. 1,000 000 copies worldwide as well, it has sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, and gold in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, and Austria. The "Highest Hopes" collection has sold double platinum in Finland and gold in Norway by the end of the year 2005.

2006

The year 2006 began with good news for Nightwish: Their "Highest Hopes" Best-Of compilation had not only crossed the Finnish Double Platinum mark of 60,000 sold copies, it was also Finland's best-selling album of 2005, having sold more than 65,000 times. With the media frenzy finally slowing down, the band members found time to concentrate on the important things again. Tuomas had already written the majority of the new songs, Emppu recorded some new tunes with the Finnish hard rock band Brother Firetribe, Marco returned to the Tarot camp to record the eagerly awaited album "Crows Fly Black" and Jukka had his own business projects going on.

In March, Nightwish brought home two prizes from the Emma Gaala. The band was awarded an Emma as "Best Finnish Artist 2005" and one for "Most Sold Album 2005". In the same month, the band officially started to look for a new vocalist through an open call for auditions on their website. In April, the Finnish music video awards, the Muuvi, brought more happy news to Nightwish. The jury awarded the band a Silver Muuvi for their "Sleeping Sun" video, shot in 2005. The video also made it to the second place in the public voting. May finally brought two long-expected releases. The Nightwish book, written by Mape Ollila, was released in Finland. Shortly after, Nightwish's second full-length live DVD "End Of An Era" was released and reached gold status in Finland after just one day. It was later certified gold in Germany and France as well. In the following weeks, the band retreated to their summer camp to rehearse the new songs and have a good summer. Meanwhile, the media kept themselves busy with unending speculations about the new singer.

In September, Nightwish went to the studio to begin recording the next album.

2007

The auditions for the position as new lead singer ended in mid-January. All in all, the band had received and listened to more than 2,000 demos from singers from all over the world. Exciting news that was followed by the announcement of the first new live shows, scheduled to happen in the USA and Canada in October and November.

On May 24th, all speculating and waiting was put to an end when Nightwish introduced their new lead singer, Anette Olzon. Within minutes, the news was all over websites and news stations around the world. One day later, the first single "Eva" was released as an internet-only single. The single's entire revenue was donated to a children's charity.

In June, the band went to Los Angeles to shoot two videos for their upcoming singles "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful". Both were directed by the renown Finnish director Antti Jokinen, who had already worked with Nightwish for their "Nemo" video. "Amaranth" was released in August and sold gold in just two days in Finland. It made good charts positions all across Europe and went straight to the top of the single charts in Finland, Hungary and Spain.

The new album "Dark Passion Play" was released in late September and had a very successful start all across the world. It was awarded double platinum in Finland after just two days and received four more gold awards so far. The album entered the charts at the top position in several countries. The world tour is booked, first shows already sold out, the new era has begun...























































































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