TARJA TURUNEN Becomes Only Finnish Solo Artist To Ever Receive Gold Album In Germany

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen was presented with a gold plaque at the Summer Breeze festival in Dinkelsbühl, Germany for sales in excess of 120,000 copies in Germany alone of her debut solo album, "My Winter Storm", making her the first Finnish solo artist ever to achieve such a goal. She joins a selected group of Finnish artists who have also been awarded gold albums in Germany: HIM, APOCALYPTICA, THE RASMUS, SUNRISE AVENUE and NIGHTWISH.

Tarja is the only Finnish artist ever to achieve a gold record in Germany as both a solo artist and as a member of a band (NIGHTWISH).

"My Winter Storm" was released in the U.S. in February 2008. The CD was made available in two exclusive U.S. versions via Fontana: the standard and deluxe editions (the latter featuring extra tracks not released elsewhere, as well visually stimulating bonus DVD content).

"My Winter Storm" was produced by Daniel Presley (FAITH NO MORE, JEWEL, THE BREEDERS), who has been joined in the studio by a truly stellar line-up of musicians: Doug Wimbish on bass (LIVING COLOUR, ANNIE LENNOX, JOE SATRIANI, JEFF BECK, MADONNA, ROLLING STONES), Alex Scholpp on electric guitars (FARMER BOYS) and Earl Harvin on drums (SEAL, PET SHOP BOYS, AIR), a player personally selected by Tarja after she saw him stealing the show at a SEAL concert. Keyboards and programming, meanwhile, were provided by Torsten Stenzel, whose previous credits include NELLY FURTADO, MOBY, TINA TURNER, VANESSA MAE.

Tarja's sophomore solo album, "What Lies Beneath", sold around 1,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 24 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"What Lies Beneath" was released in North America on September 14, 2010 via The End Records.