Ville Valo
Encyclopedia
Ville Hermanni Valo is a Finnish
singer, songwriter
and frontman of the Finnish
rock
band HIM. He has received the "Golden God" award in 2004 by the heavy metal
magazine Metal Hammer
. Valo has a baritone
vocal range. Valo was ranked number 80 in Hit Parader
s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Ville Valo was voted the hottest dude in rock 2011 by readers of Revolver Magazine. Valo was said to be "flattered"!
district of Helsinki
. His father, Kari, is Finnish and his mother, Anita, is of Hungarian descent. Soon after his birth, the family moved to the riverside community of Oulunkylä
where they lived throughout his teenage years. In 1984 his younger brother and only sibling Jesse
was born. In his late teens, he worked at his father's sex shop
and later moved out on his own when he was 18.
As a child, Valo was exposed to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara
and Rauli Badding Somerjoki. In various interviews he has listed as his favourite artists and influences bands like:Iron Maiden, Tapio Rautavaara, King Diamond, Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki, Elvis Presley, Neil Young, Black Sabbath, The Stooges, and Type O Negative.
. Valo was also the drummer for the Daniel Lioneye project which featured HIM's guitarist Linde Lindström on vocals/lead guitar and Migé Amour on bass. The newest album from HIM, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice
was released on February 9, 2010. He currently lives in Helsinki
. HIM released the re-mixed version of Screamworks: Love and Theory and Practice(SWRMXS) in December 2010.
Ville Valo will return to the studio with his fellow band mates of HIM possibly in Autumn 2011, to record a new album. The title of the album is yet unknown but is said to be released at some point in 2012.
, Jackass
and Viva La Bam
star Bam Margera
, who shares many of Valo's tattoos. Ville can be seen in the movie Jackass Number Two and the movie Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% Is Santa?, which includes the whole band playing "Dead Lover's Lane". Valo can also be seen in a couple of episodes of Viva La Bam
(season 1: episode 5, season 3: episode 4, season 4: episode 1, season 5: episode 8). He is also in CKY 3. Valo also portrayed Jim Morrison
in the 69 Eyes
music video "Wasting The Dawn".
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and frontman of the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band HIM. He has received the "Golden God" award in 2004 by the heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
magazine Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
. Valo has a baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
vocal range. Valo was ranked number 80 in Hit Parader
Hit Parader
Hit Parader is an American music magazine focusing on the genres of hard rock, pop, and heavy metal.The magazine was originally started as a pop song lyric magazine by Charlton Publications in 1942. Charlton sold off the magazine before the company went under in 1991...
s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Ville Valo was voted the hottest dude in rock 2011 by readers of Revolver Magazine. Valo was said to be "flattered"!
Early life
Ville Hermanni Valo was born in the VallilaVallila
Vallila is a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland.Vallila is a central-northern district, bordered by Pasila to the west and Kallio to the south. Like Kallio, Vallila is mostly residential and has a reputation of a working-class district...
district of Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. His father, Kari, is Finnish and his mother, Anita, is of Hungarian descent. Soon after his birth, the family moved to the riverside community of Oulunkylä
Oulunkylä
Oulunkylä is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city.It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent municipality, it was made part of Helsinki in 1946. A rink used for speed skating and bandy is...
where they lived throughout his teenage years. In 1984 his younger brother and only sibling Jesse
Jesse Valo
Jesse Valo is a professional Muay Thai kickboxer from Helsinki in Finland. He is the younger brother of singer Ville Valo, front man of the Finnish band HIM.Jesse is the former bassist for Iconcrash- Medals in Thai boxing :...
was born. In his late teens, he worked at his father's sex shop
Sex shop
A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...
and later moved out on his own when he was 18.
As a child, Valo was exposed to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara
Tapio Rautavaara
Kaj Tapio Rautavaara was a Finnish athlete, singer and movie actor.-Early life:...
and Rauli Badding Somerjoki. In various interviews he has listed as his favourite artists and influences bands like:Iron Maiden, Tapio Rautavaara, King Diamond, Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki, Elvis Presley, Neil Young, Black Sabbath, The Stooges, and Type O Negative.
Current
Valo is frontman of the Finnish rock band HIM, who have released seven studio albums and four compilation albums. They became the first and only Finnish rock band to achieve a gold record (more than 500,000 copies) in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Valo was also the drummer for the Daniel Lioneye project which featured HIM's guitarist Linde Lindström on vocals/lead guitar and Migé Amour on bass. The newest album from HIM, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish rock band HIM, released on February 8, 2010 in the United Kingdom and France. It was later released in the United States on February 9, Japan on February 10, and Germany on February 12. The first single...
was released on February 9, 2010. He currently lives in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. HIM released the re-mixed version of Screamworks: Love and Theory and Practice(SWRMXS) in December 2010.
Ville Valo will return to the studio with his fellow band mates of HIM possibly in Autumn 2011, to record a new album. The title of the album is yet unknown but is said to be released at some point in 2012.
Films and TV
Ville is close friends with CKYCKY (band)
CKY is an American alternative metal band that formed in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1998. Centred around core members Deron Miller , Chad I Ginsburg and Jess Margera , the band shares its name with a skateboarding and stunt video series produced by Bam Margera, brother of drummer Jess...
, Jackass
Jackass (TV series)
jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
and Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show was a spin-off from MTV's Jackass, in which Margera and most of the main cast had appeared...
star Bam Margera
Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera is an American professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, actor and daredevil. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew...
, who shares many of Valo's tattoos. Ville can be seen in the movie Jackass Number Two and the movie Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% Is Santa?, which includes the whole band playing "Dead Lover's Lane". Valo can also be seen in a couple of episodes of Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show was a spin-off from MTV's Jackass, in which Margera and most of the main cast had appeared...
(season 1: episode 5, season 3: episode 4, season 4: episode 1, season 5: episode 8). He is also in CKY 3. Valo also portrayed Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
in the 69 Eyes
The 69 Eyes
The 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
music video "Wasting The Dawn".
HIM and other side projects
- Main articles: HIM (Finnish band) and HIM discographyHIM discographyThe following is a discography listing of all of HIM's released singles, studio albums, compilation albums, EPs, box sets, demos and videography.-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Live albums:-Extended plays:- Singles :-Music videos:Notes...
- Skreppers(1995)
- ApocalypticaApocalypticaApocalyptica is a band from Helsinki, Finland, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Sirén...
(1996) - The 69 EyesThe 69 EyesThe 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
(1997) - TehosekoitinTehosekoitinTehosekoitin was a Finnish rock band formed in 1991. The band made music with traditional rock 'n roll attitude. Besides pure rock 'n roll, they also made some songs which were more like jazz, blues or tender ballads than actual rock. Tehosekoitin was really popular in Finland...
(1999) - The 69 Eyes(1999)
- Neljä RuusuaNeljä RuusuaNeljä Ruusua is a Finnish rock group formed in the city of Joensuu in 1982. The group consists of guitarist-singer Ilkka Alanko, guitarist Petteri Koistinen, bass guitarist Jari Laakkonen and drummer Kari Kämäräinen. Their style of music was influenced by punk in their earlier years, but changed...
& HIM (1999) - Agents- Paratiisi, Jykevää On Rakkaus, Ikkunaprinsessa, Valo Yössä (Tuomari Nurmio Cover) (1999)
- Tributti Tuomari Nurmio: Ville Valo & Others (2000)
- The 69 EyesThe 69 EyesThe 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
(2000) - Musta ParaatiMusta ParaatiMusta Paraati were a Finnish gothic rock band. Despite the fact that the band was alive only for a couple of years, their lineup changed many times.-Members:Last lineup:*Epe *Sande *Jesu...
, Ville Valo, Gas Lipstick & Others (2001) - Daniel Lioneye And The Rollers/Daniel Lioneye And The Blues Explosion (2001)
- The 69 EyesThe 69 EyesThe 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
& Thulsa Doom (2001) - Five Fifteen- The Prostitute & Season Of The Witch (2001)
- The 69 EyesThe 69 EyesThe 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
(2002) - The Skreppers, Ville Valo, Migé Amour & Lily Lazer (2002)
- The MissionThe Mission- Film and theater :* The Mission , 1986 film by Roland Joffé* The Mission , a.k.a. Cheung fo, by Johnnie To* The Mission , 1980 German play by former East German playwright Heiner Müller, also known as The Task- Music :* The Mission , the original score album of the 1986 film by Ennio Morricone*...
(2002) - Lowemotor Corporation- Love Me (2003/2004)
- The Skreppers(2004)
- The 69 EyesThe 69 EyesThe 69 Eyes are a multi-platinum selling Finnish gothic rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe,...
- Beneath the Blue (2004) - ApocalypticaApocalypticaApocalyptica is a band from Helsinki, Finland, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Sirén...
& Lauri Ylönen - BittersweetBittersweet-Biology:*A vine in the nightshade family, Solanum dulcamara*Some species of vines in the genus Celastrus, including American bittersweet and Oriental bittersweet -Biology:*A vine in the nightshade family, Solanum dulcamara*Some species of vines in the genus Celastrus, including American...
(2004) (FIN: #1, D: #6) - Two Witches- Dracula Rising (2005)
- Bloodhound GangBloodhound GangBloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American comedy band, although it began as a rap group and gradually changed its genre throughout the years...
- SometHIng Diabolical (2005) - Isabelle's Gift - If I Die Tonight (2006)
- Cradle of FilthCradle of FilthCradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
- The Byronic Man (2006) - Daniel CavanaghDaniel CavanaghDaniel Cavanagh is an English guitarist and singer who formed the British band Anathema in 1990 with his brother Vincent Cavanagh...
- Inner silence(Acoustic)(2006) - Ville Valo & Tommi Viksten - Kun Minä Kotoani Läksin (2006)
- Kari TapioKari TapioKari Tapani Jalkanen , better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. He was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades, selling over 826,000 certified records during his career and posthumously.Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland...
- Täällä Pohjantähden Alla (2006) - Ville Valo & Natalia AvelonNatalia AvelonNatalia Avelon is a Polish-German actress and singer.-Early life:Natalia Avelon was born Natalia Siwek on 29 March 1980 in Wrocław, Poland...
- Summer WineSummer Wine"Summer Wine" is a song written by Lee Hazlewood. It was originally sung by Suzi Jane Hokom and Lee Hazlewood in 1966, but it was made famous by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood in 1967. This version was originally released as the B-side of "Sugar Town" the previous year, before featuring on the...
(2007) (FIN: #1, D: #2, AU: #4, CH: #2, GR: #1) - Ville Valo & Mariam "Manna Lindström" Jäntti - Just for Tonight (2007)
- Dani Filth - Untitled (Tribute to Black Sabbath) (2010)
- AnathemaAnathema (band)Anathema are an English band from Liverpool primarily known for their ever evolving sound. Beginning as pioneers of the death/doom metal sub-genre, their later albums have been associated with genres such as alternative rock, progressive rock, art rock, new prog, and post-rock.-History:Anathema...
- Angels Walk Among Us (2010)
External links
- Official website of HIM
- Italian HIM website of HIM
- Ville Valo at Notable Names Database
- Ville Valo at Internet Movie Database
- Ville Valo interview on SuicideGirls 2007
- German HIM Fanclub