Floor Jansen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Floor Jansen
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Jansen live with Nightwish in 2022 at Hellfest
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| Background information | |
| Born | 21 February 1981 |
| Origin | Goirle, North Brabant, Netherlands |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1997–present |
Floor Jansen (born 21 February 1981) is a talented singer from the Netherlands. She is best known as the lead singer of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.
Floor started her music journey at age 16. She was the lead singer for the band After Forever from 1997 until they stopped playing together in 2009. After that, she formed her own band called ReVamp and released two albums with them. In 2012, she joined Nightwish as a touring singer. She became their full-time lead vocalist in 2013. To focus on Nightwish, she later ended ReVamp. In 2018, she also started a hard rock duo called Northward with guitarist Jørn Viggo Lofstad.
Floor often works with composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. She is part of his progressive metal supergroup Star One. She also sang on several albums for his project Ayreon. She has lent her voice to other bands like MaYan and Avalon. Floor's younger sister, Irene Jansen, is also a singer who has worked with Ayreon.
Contents
Floor Jansen's Early Life and Music Career
Starting with After Forever (1997–2009)
Floor Jansen was just sixteen years old when she joined the band Apocalypse in 1997. This band later became known as After Forever. Three years later, in 2000, the band released their first album, Prison of Desire. Floor helped write the band's songs and music. She continued to do this until 2002. After that, she was the main songwriter for the band. Before becoming a full-time musician, she also worked as a singing teacher.
In 2008, After Forever took a break because one of their bandmates, Sander Gommans, was feeling very tired and stressed. The band decided to stop playing together in February 2009. Floor shared on her website that she was writing new music. She was working with Jørn Viggo Lofstad for a new project. However, they did not release music as Northward until ten years later.
Forming ReVamp (2009–2016)
On 17 October 2009, Floor announced that her new band would be called ReVamp. The first ReVamp album was made with help from Joost van den Broek, who was the keyboardist for After Forever. Other musicians also helped write and produce the songs. The final members of ReVamp included Ruben Wijga on keyboards, Jaap Melman on bass, Jord Otto and Arjan Rijnen on guitars, and Matthias Landes on drums.
In August 2011, ReVamp had to cancel a tour. This was because Floor herself was feeling very tired and stressed.
Later in 2011, Floor joined her former bandmate Mark Jansen for a tour in Latin America with his band MaYan. In 2012, she also performed with the band Adrenaline Mob. ReVamp's second album, Wild Card, was released in 2013.
ReVamp announced they were breaking up in September 2016. This was because Floor Jansen could not fully be part of both ReVamp and Nightwish at the same time.
Joining Nightwish (2012–Present)
After Nightwish's previous singer, Anette Olzon, left the band, Floor Jansen stepped in. She became Nightwish's live lead singer for the rest of their Imaginaerum World Tour in 2012. Her first show with the band was in Seattle in October. She later shared that she was nervous about learning the songs quickly.
On 9 October 2013, Nightwish announced that Floor Jansen was now their permanent lead singer. In 2015, Nightwish released their first studio album with Floor as the lead vocalist. This album was called Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Their second album with Floor, Human. :II: Nature., came out on 10 April 2020. The third studio album with Floor as lead vocalist, Yesterwynde, was released on 20 September 2024.
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Floor Jansen's Solo Music (2020–Present)
Floor Jansen performed her first solo concert in January 2020. Some of her tour dates had to be moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These shows finally took place in the summer of 2021. On 2 August 2021, Floor confirmed that she was working on her own solo album.
She released her first solo song, "Fire," on 25 March 2022. Her second solo song, "Storm," came out on 27 May 2022. "Me Without You" was her third solo song, released on 8 September 2022. The fourth solo song, "Invincible," was released on 13 January 2023. Her solo album, called Paragon, was released on 24 March 2023.
Floor also opened for the band Metallica in Amsterdam on 29 April 2023. This happened at the last minute when another band canceled.
Other Music Projects and Collaborations
Floor Jansen has sung on three albums by Dutch composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen for his project Ayreon. She sang backing vocals on one song and played characters on others. She is also a member of Lucassen's heavy metal supergroup Star One. She has been featured on their studio albums Space Metal and Victims of the Modern Age. She also appeared on a live album for Ayreon in 2018.
In 2013, she was announced as the main singer for the second album of former Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki's metal opera project Avalon. The album, Angels of the Apocalypse, was released on 16 May 2014. She has also been a guest singer for the metal band Nightmare.
On 22 February 2018, Northward was introduced. This is a hard rock project by Floor Jansen and Pagan's Mind guitarist Jørn Viggo Lofstad. They started this project in 2007 and wrote an album's worth of music in 2008. However, they were too busy to record it until 2017. The album was released on 19 October 2018. It even features a duet between Floor and her sister Irene.
In 2019, Floor took part in a Dutch TV show called Beste Zangers. In the final episode, she sang "The Phantom of the Opera" with classical singer Henk Poort. This song was released as a single and reached number one on the Dutch charts. This led to Floor having a sold-out solo tour in the Netherlands. She also won the Popprijs 2019, a special Dutch award for artists who have made an important contribution to Dutch pop music.
Floor Jansen's Personal Life
Floor Jansen is a vegetarian. When she was a child, she wanted to be a biologist. It's a fun coincidence that she played a character called "The Biologist" on an Ayreon album. In 2018, a new type of beetle was named Tmesisternus floorjansenae after her. In 2020, a new type of brittle star (a sea creature) was named Ophiomitrella floorae in her honor.
Floor is over six feet (1.83 meters) tall. She has mentioned that she finds it interesting how much people notice her height.
Between 2014 and 2015, Floor lived in Joensuu, Finland.
Floor was previously in a relationship with After Forever guitarist Sander Gommans. On 18 September 2016, it was announced that Floor and her husband, Sabaton drummer Hannes Van Dahl, were expecting their first child. On 15 March 2017, Floor announced that she had given birth to a baby girl. On 20 October 2023, she announced the birth of their second daughter.
On 26 October 2022, Floor shared that she faced a health challenge. She had surgery the next day. Two days later, she confirmed that the surgery went well. On 18 November, Floor announced that she was now cancer free.
Floor Jansen's Singing Style
Floor Jansen has a very wide singing range. She can sing in a classical style, use powerful belting, and even perform raspy vocals like screaming and death growls. She is a soprano singer, which means she can sing very high notes. Her voice can cover more than three octaves.
Floor began studying music at the Dutch Rock Academy in 1999. Three years later, she went to the Conservatorium Tilburg. She studied musical theater and also spent a year studying opera. After After Forever broke up, she started teaching music. She even had her own course called Wanna be a Star?!
She used to play the guitar, piano, and flute. She has completed several years of music studies.
Floor Jansen's Music Albums
Solo Albums
- Paragon (2023)
- Live in Amsterdam (2022)
Albums with After Forever
- Prison of Desire (2000)
- Decipher (2001)
- Invisible Circles (2004)
- Remagine (2005)
- After Forever (2007)
Albums with Nightwish
- Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
- Human. :II: Nature. (2020)
- Yesterwynde (2024)
- Showtime, Storytime (2013) (Live album)
Albums with Northward
- Northward (2018)
Albums with ReVamp
- ReVamp (2010)
- Wild Card (2013)
Albums with Star One
- Space Metal (2002)
- Victims of the Modern Age (2010)
- Revel in Time (2022)
Filmography
- Soaring Highs and Brutal Lows: The Voices of Women in Metal (2015)
See also
In Spanish: Floor Jansen para niños
