Member in bands
TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN IS CURRENT MEMBER IN
| Name | Instrument | Member from |
|---|---|---|
| Nightwish | Keyboards | 1996 - |
| For My Pain | Keyboards | 1999 - |
TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN IS FORMER MEMBER IN
| Name | Instrument | Member from |
|---|---|---|
| Nattvindens Gråt | Keyboards | - |
| Sethian | Keyboards | - |
| Timo Rautiainen And Trio Niskalaukaus | Keyboards | 2002 - |
| Darkwoods My Betrothed | Keyboards | - |
Biography
Holopainen started to study in a musical college majoring in clarinet and minoring in piano. He played in several bands, including recording keyboards for three albums with the black metal band Darkwoods My Betrothed, before coming up with the idea of a band of his own, where he would write all the music. That was the birth of Nightwish in July of 1996, around a camp fire. He then asked Emppu Vuorinen and Tarja Turunen to join what then was but an acoustic project. After hearing Tarja's strong lyrical voice, Tuomas decided to turn Nightwish into a metal act.
Nightwish's first release, Angels Fall First, came in 1997, but it was in 1998, after the release of Oceanborn, that Holopainen's compositional skills reached full acclaim worldwide. Another four releases followed; Wishmaster (2000), Over the Hills and Far Away (EP) (2001), Century Child (2002) and Once (2004). In the last two, Holopainen took Nightwish to a whole new level by collaborating with symphonic orchestras from Finland and the United Kingdom.
The next Nightwish release is set for August 2007 with a lead-in single, Eva, slated for May 2007, though without the vocals of Tarja, who was asked to leave the band in October 2005. No new singer has been announced so far, in spite of what some magazines have published.
Holopainen is a fan of Disney charcters and animation, as he stated in various interviews and on the "For my pain..." website, and enjoys visiting Disney parks in Florida. The album Wishmaster contains many Disney references. Tuomas also enjoys Lord of the Rings, with the song Wishmaster containing many references to characters and places in Lord of the Rings and related books by Tolkien.
