Tarja Turunen, the ex-vocalist of Nightwish, is without a doubt one of the brightest rock divas in Europe. The nickname "Finnish nightingale" has long been stuck behind her. Tarja's fabulous operatic voice with a range of three octaves can hardly leave anyone indifferent.
Early years and participation in the Nichtwish group
The famous singer Tarja Turunen was born on August 17, 1977 in Finland, in the town of Kitee, into a working family far from the world of music. Already at the age of three, Tarja began to sing with the church choir, and at the age of six she began to learn the basics of playing the piano.
When Tarja was eighteen, she was admitted to the Sibelius Academy of Music, which is located in the village of Kuopio. A year later, in 1996, Tarja's classmate Tuomas Holopainen invited her to become a vocalist in his metal band Nightwish. The singer accepted this tempting offer.
In their home country, Nightwish was noticed after the debut demo album. However, international recognition came to the guys only after the release of the records Oceanborn (1998) and Wishmaster (2000). Interestingly, Tarja and Nightwish could participate in the Eurovision Song Contest from their country in 2000. But although the group was in the lead in the audience voting, the professional jury made its choice in favor of the singer Nina Ostrom.
In general, the vocal parts of Turunen sound on six Nightwish discs, as part of this group, the singer has traveled literally the whole planet.
Solo career
In October 2005, immediately after the tour ended in Helsinki, the rest of the Nightwish members informed Tarja in writing that she had been fired from the band. The vocalist was accused of a changed attitude to work and too high financial claims. Tuomas Holopainen, the de facto leader of Nightwish, said that recently the singer has practically not taken a serious part in the work of the band.
But this did not mark the end of Tarja's career, she continued to do what she loved. In December 2005, the singer gave a series of concerts in her homeland, in Finland, as well as in Romania and Spain. Her first solo album Henkäys ikuisuudesta was released in 2006. At this time, there are already seven such albums, the last of them - From Spirits And Ghosts (this is the so-called Christmas album, the theme of Christmas is one of the main ones in Tarja's work) became available to fans at the end of 2017.
Tarja has repeatedly visited Russia with her solo performances. So, for example, in 2011 she appeared on the stage of the Samara music festival "Rock over the Volga", where, among other things, she performed with Valery Kipelov his composition "I am here".
Personal life
Tarja Turunen met her future husband, Argentine businessman Marcelo Kabuli, in Chile, where Nightwish arrived in the summer of 2000 as part of their South American tour in support of the Wishmaster record. It was Kabuli who promoted the work of the Finnish metal band in Latin America. In the tense atmosphere of the concerts between Tarja and Marcelo, a love affair broke out and began to develop rapidly. The Argentinian was able to like the singer almost immediately.
Over time, Kabuli became her personal manager and always accompanied Tarja on long tours. And in 2003 Tarja officially became the wife of Marcelo, this marriage has been going on for more than fifteen years.
In the fall of 2012, a message appeared that Tarja had a daughter, Naomi. And for many it came as a surprise - the singer did not advertise her pregnancy. The birth of her daughter was not a reason to end her career: Tarja, as before, records songs and performs a lot.
