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Tarja - Biography


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2004-

Biography

In December 2005, Turunen performed several Christmas concerts in Finland, Germany, Spain and Romania. 2006 was not a break year for Turunen, who recorded a Christmas album and vocals for her brother Timo Turunen's debut album. She also made an appearance at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

On September 17, Turunen's solo dates were announced across Europe in Berlin, London, Moscow, Budapest, Athens, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and Zurich.

In October 2007 a street team endorsed by Universal Music and Spinefarm UK was launched for Turunen through UK-based company Worst Decision. The team's aim is to help promote Turunen's upcoming single, album and tour with the help of dedicated fans, the most dedicated of which will be eligible to receive free gifts for their work. While aimed mainly at the UK market, it was hoped that members from all over the world would join to help spread the word about Turunen throughout the UK, Europe and around the world.

Turunen's first independent album, My Winter Storm, was released in November 2007 and achieved gold status in Finland on its day of release. The album took the number 1 spot on the Finnish charts, went platinum in Finland and Russia. My Winter Storm has also achieved gold in Hungary and in the Czech Republic. Turunen also sings on the track "In The Picture" on Nuclear Blast Allstars' album Into The Light, 2007.

In late 2007 Turunen was nominated for two awards, an Echo as best newcomer and an Emma for best Finnish artist. She was also confirmed to headline day one of the 2008 Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze, Belgium. On May 9, 2008, Turunen embarked on a long European tour to promote My Winter Storm, Storm Tour. She chose to open the tour by performing at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, Germany. Turunen has also told fans via her My Winter Storm blog that she is relocating to Antigua to work with the same producer as before, and that she has many ideas for her third album, currently in progress.

In July 2008, she announced two tracks in the My Winter Storm blog: "The Crying Moon" for the new album, and "Enough", for one special edition of My Winter Storm. In August 2008 she played "Enough" in her Storm Tour, in South America 2008. On September 10, 2008, a Spinefarm UK representative announced that they would be releasing an EP for Turunen on December 1 which would include new material. In December 2008 The Seer EP was released in the U.K. and the new extended edition of My Winter Storm released on January 2, 2009.

On November 18 the Finnish charity Christmas album "Maailman kauneimmat joululaulut" was released, containing three songs featuring Turunen's vocals. In December 2009 she recorded her part of the duet with Klaus Meine which is part of the final Scorpions album Sting in the Tail. The song is called "The Good Die Young".

Turunen recorded her second album, What Lies Beneath, between 2009 and 2010 and it was released on September 1, 2010. The first single, "Falling Awake", was released on the 19th of July. The second single, "I Feel Immortal", was released on August 27, 2010, and a music video for it has already been uploaded to YouTube. Another single, "Until My Last Breath", was released on the 30th of August with an accompanying video released on September 24, 2010.

Turunen began recording her third album, Colours in the Dark, from late 2012 to the beginning of 2013. The song "Never Enough", which had been previously played on her What Lies Beneath tour, was released on May 31, 2013 as a lyrical video-teaser song. The first single, "Victim of Ritual", was released on July 12, 2013. The music video for it was released on July 10th, 2013. The second single, "500 Letters", was released on November 1, 2013 as digital download only. The music video for it was officially released on October 31, 2013.

Later this year, in September, it was revealed that Turunen would appear as a guest vocalist on the title track and video of Within Temptation's EP "Paradise", released on September 27, 2013. The song was a huge success, gaining over 100 million views on YouTube and over 20 million streams on Spotify.

In May 2014, the DVD "Beauty and the Beat" was launched, containing live concert experiences from three shows held during the Beauty and the Beat World Tour. This DVD presents Turunen's live singing, accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, choir, and the drumming talents of Mike Terrana. The repertoire includes notable compositions such as Antonín Dvořák's "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," alongside a rare live rendition of "Swanheart" from Nightwish's 1998 album "Oceanborn". Additionally, in July of the same year, the EP "Left in the Dark" was released, featuring alternative versions of tracks from Tarja's album "Colours in the Dark," as well as a studio recording of the song "Into the Sun."

On June 3rd, Turunen released the album "The Brightest Void". It is a prequel-album to her album "The Shadow Self". This album came to Tarja as an idea for a big surprise and gift to her fans containing material recorded but not being included on the main album. On 14 April 2016, earMUSIC released a trailer for a music video of the song "No Bitter End". The full video was released on April 20, 2016. The single "An Empty Dream" was released on June 23, 2017, more than a year after the release of "The Brightest Void".

On August 5th, 2016, Turunen released the album "The Shadow Self". The first and second singles "Innocence" and "No Bitter End" were both released on August 5, 2016. The third single "Demons in You", a duet with Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Gluz, was released on October 8th, 2016. Turunen said that the title of The Shadow Self was inspired by Scottish singer Annie Lennox: "I came across an Annie Lennox interview some time ago on the internet, and I was reading about her speaking about 'the shadow self,' about a darker side of us all. Everybody has a darker side, and we should probably just appreciate that it exists, but especially we artists. We get a lot of inspiration from our darker side". The Shadow Self was influenced by the Yin-Yang concept. The Brightest Void represents the light and The Shadow Self represents the darkness.

On August 30th, 2019, Tarja released the album In the Raw. For this album Tarja Turunen joined forces with other vocalists such as Björn Strid, Tommy Karevik, and Cristina Scabbia, thus including in the album vocal collaborations with them. The first single, "Dead Promises", was released on May 3rd 2019, followed by "Railroads" on June 21st 2019, "Tears in Rain" on August 9th 2019, and "You and I" on December 13th 2019. On September 12, 2019, Turunen started the "Raw Tour" to promote the "In the Raw" album.

On December 2nd, 2022, Tarja released her first compilation album, "Best of: Living the Dream" in multiple formats to celebrate her 15-year solo career. She later announced the beginning of the 2023 Living the Dream Tour in support of the compilation album. The single "Eye of the Storm", a scrapped song from Colours in the Dark, was released on October 21st, 2022.

On June 14, 2023, Tarja unveiled her forthcoming live album, "Rocking Heels: Live at Metal Church" which was released on August 11, 2023. This album marks the first installment in her live series titled "Rocking Heels.". The recording captures the private performance that inaugurated the Wacken Open Air festival in 2016. "Rocking Heels: Live at Metal Church" is a versatile collection featuring live renditions of various metal classics, including notable covers of Linkin Park's "Numb", Metallica's "The Unforgiven.", as well as her own music and a Nightwish cover of "Sleeping Sun".

On 23 June 2023, Tarja and EDM producer Torsten Stenzel released their self-titled debut studio album under the name of Outlanders.

(Source: Wikipedia)