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Ville Valo
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Ville Hermanni Valo (pronunciation (help·info)) (born November 22, 1976) is the vocalist, songwriter and frontman of the Finnish alternative rock band HIM. They have released five full length albums, and as of 2006, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Side Projects
- 3 The Birth of HIM
- 4 HIM Discography
- 5 Current Life
- 6 Trivia
- 7 References
- 8 External links
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Early life
Valo was born at 2:28 a.m. to a Finnish father named Kari and a mother of Hungarian descent named Anita in a small suburb of Helsinki called Vallila. As a child, Ville was influenced by his music-loving parents, who exposed him to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara and Rauli Badding Somerjoki, while an older cousin introduced him to the heavier sounds of bands like KISS, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Valo's first musical step was as a three year old bongo drummer. At age nine, Valo attended the Pop and Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki, where he studied several different musical genres. His father eventually opened an adult shop. During his late teens Valo spent a period working in the shop before launching his career in music. His interests gradually expanded to include reggae, early blues and country-oriented material such as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Neil Young. From a young age, Valo's enthusiasm for music also took a more active form of expression, and he participated in a large number of different Helsinki-based bands: B.L.O.O.D. (1986-89), Eloveena Boys (1987-88), Kemoterapia (1989-97) and numerous other, more obscure projects.
Side Projects
Apart from working with HIM, and side-project Daniel Lioneye, Valo has kept busy in the music world, collaborating with many artists over the years. He contributed guest vocals for The 69 Eyes, on
Apocalyptica's album
Apocalyptica for the song "Bittersweet" (with
The Rasmus' singer
Lauri Ylönen), on
The Bloodhound Gang's
Hefty Fine for the song "Something Diabolical", and on
Cradle of Filth's
Thornography for the song "The Byronic Man". In 2007 he duetted with Polish German actress
Natalia Avelon for a cover of
Nancy Sinatra and
Lee Hazlewood's song "Summer Wine", part of the
Das Wilde Leben soundtrack. A video featuring both was recorded as well.
Below is a list of Valo's side projects and collaborations.
The Birth of HIM
See HIM
HIM Discography
-
Current Life
After a bleak 2005, during which friends got ill or died, he purchased a historic tower in 2006 in
Helsinki's Munkkiniemi district. After purchasing the four-story tower, he reportedly enlisted local friends to move his belongings there while he was on tour, and finally returned to spend some time in his new home in late 2006 before retreating to a cabin in
Lapland. His sojourn into the northern part of Finland served as his first vacation in a decade, and he also spent some time working on material for a new
HIM album. After experiencing the local bars in Lapland (and writing a few songs), he returned for the annual Helldone Festival at Helsinki's Tavastia club. Early 2007 found Ville focusing on his songwriting both home and abroad visiting friends, preparing for the impending HIM album, due out in July of 2007. A few tour dates for the band were also made public including the "Give It a Name" festival (April 27-29), Miljoona Rock (July 13), and Ilosaarirock (July 14). To date, no public listing has been made for HIM's participation in Turku's annual Ruisrock festival in July.
Trivia
- Bam Margera's character in the 2003 movie Haggard is named after Ville Valo.[1]
- He makes a very small appearance in Jackass: Number Two.[1]
- He can also be seen in clips of episodes from Viva La Bam while they were in Finland.
- He has a number of tattoos, including a pair of Edgar Allan Poe's eyes on his shoulder blades.[2]
- He learned to walk with the help of the family dog Sami, and when the dog died, not only was he extremely upset, he also apparently developed his allergies to animals and asthma at the same time.[3]
- He smokes about 60 cigarettes a day (around 21,900 a year) to give his voice a gruff, husky edge.[4]
- Valo is an avid reader and has indicated that he draws a large influence for his music from the books that he has read. Among his favorite authors he includes Finnish writer, Timo K. Mukka, and American writers Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Bukowski.
References
- ^ a b http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1204517
- ^ http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo/celeb-valo.htm
- ^ http://www.tv.com/ville-valo/person/245549/trivia.html
- ^ http://www.tobacco.org/news/238830.html
