Tarja Turunen is a Finnish opera and rock singer. The artist achieved recognition as the vocalist of the cult band Nightwish. Her operatic soprano set the group apart from the rest of the teams.
Childhood and youth Tarja Turunen
The singer's date of birth is August 17, 1977. Her childhood years were spent in the small but colorful village of Puhos. Tarja was brought up in an ordinary family. Her mother held a position in the city administration, and the head of the family realized himself as a carpenter. In addition to the daughter, the parents raised two sons.
Already at the age of three, she performed in front of a large audience. Her first performance was in a church. Tarja delighted the parishioners with a performance of the Lutheran hymn Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her in Finnish arrangement. After that, she began to sing in the church choir, and at the age of six, the talented girl sat down at the piano.
The girl participated in almost all school activities. Most of all she liked to sing. Teachers as one insisted that she had a unique voice.
At school, Tarja was a black sheep. She was frankly disliked by her classmates. They envied her voice and "poisoned" the girl. In her youth, she was very shy. The girl had practically no friends. The circle of her company consisted of only two boys.
Despite the biased attitude of classmates, Tarja's talent grew stronger. The teacher could not get enough of the achievement of the student. Turunen from the sheet could perform the most complex pieces of music. As a teenager, she soloed at a church concert. Remarkably, thousands of people attended.
After receiving a matriculation certificate, Turunen went to study at a music school. After receiving her diploma, she went to Kuopio. There she continued her studies at the Sibelius Academy.
The creative path of Tarja Turunen
In 1996, she joined the Nightwish group. During the creation of the demo album, it became clear to the musicians that the strong vocals of the girl are dramatic for the acoustic format of the team.
In the end, the band members agreed that they should "bend" to Tarja's vocals. The guys started working in the metal genre. A year later, the band's discography was replenished with the disc Angels Fall First. The team literally fell in popularity. Turunen even had to drop out of school, as she could not attend an educational institution due to her busy schedule.
At the end of the 90s, the premiere of the second studio album took place, which was called Oceanborn. The main highlight of the LP, of course, was Turunen's vocals. Tarja at that time combined work in a team with opera singing.
With the advent of the new century, she began to study at the German Higher School of Music Karlsruhe. She was offended that some critics did not consider Turunen's singing in the team to be serious work.
Premiere of the singer's debut single
In 2002, the premiere of the fourth studio album took place. We are talking about the album Century Child. The collection received the so-called platinum status. During this period of time, Tarja had the most busy schedule - she recorded new tracks, starred in videos, toured and studied at the Higher School of Music. In 2004, the artist's debut solo single premiered. It was named Yhden enkelin unelma.
Around the same time, there was a serious discord in the team. Fans have speculated that the first major changes will occur in the group. In 2004, the singer announced to the musicians her intention to leave the band. Tarja went to meet the guys and agreed to record another studio album and skate a big tour.
In October, the band's musicians confirmed that Tarja has not been a member of the band since that time. The artists also said that the singer had too much "appetite" and she asked for a large fee for her presence in the group. The performer herself noted that she wanted to grow and develop as a solo singer.
Fans were sure that Tarja would plunge headlong into the field of classical vocals. When the singer got in touch with the "fans", she noted that she was not yet ready to devote herself only to operatic vocals. The girl explained that this occupation requires full dedication from the singer.
Then Tarja went on a tour of several European cities. In the summer she performed at the Savonlinna festival. And in 2006, to the delight of fans, the presentation of the singer's debut disc took place. The collection was called Henkäys Ikuisuudesta. Longplay was incredibly warmly received by fans and experts. It eventually achieved platinum status.
On the wave of popularity, she began recording the second studio album. It was called My Winter Storm. The fans saw the third album only three years later. At this time, Tarja tours a lot.
Concert activity of Tarja Turunen
In addition to recording studio albums, she appeared at many concerts. Fans could hear the girl's voice not only at solo concerts, but also at various festivals. In 2011, at the Rock over the Volga festival, she appeared on the same stage with Kipelov, performing the track "I'm Here."
In 2013, fans were surprised by Tarja's collaboration with Sharon den Adel. The singers presented the single and the music video Paradise (What About Us?) to the fans.
Three years later, the singer's discography was replenished with the LP The Shadow Self. 2017 did not remain without musical novelties either. This year the premiere of the collection From Spirits And Ghosts took place.
Details of the artist's personal life
She realized herself not only as a singer. Tarja is a happy wife and mother. In 2002, she married Marcelo Cabuli. After 10 years, the couple had a common daughter.
Interesting facts about the singer
- Full name sounds like Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Kabuli.
- As part of Nightwish, Tarja took part in the Eurovision selection round with the song Sleepwalker.
- She has two higher educations and she speaks five languages.
- She is afraid of losing her voice and spiders.
- Her height is 164 centimeters.
Tarja Turunen: our days
In 2018, the premiere of a live LP took place. The record was called Act II. At the same time, there were rumors between the fans that the singer was preparing a new studio album for them.
In 2019, the singles Dead Promises, Railroads and Tears In Rain premiered. Then Tarja presented the LP In the Raw. The compilation was widely acclaimed by both heavy metal fans and music critics in general. Popular musicians took part in the recording of the disc. In support of the album, she went on tour.
