Ville Valo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ville Valo
Valo performing with Agents in 2019
Born	(1976-11-22) 22 November 1976 (age 48) Helsinki, Finland
Other names	Balo the Singing Janitor Bil Bao Lux Airam Rambo Rimbaud VV
Occupation	Singer songwriter musician producer
Relatives	Jesse Valo (brother)
Musical career
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1991–present
Labels	BMG Sire Razor & Tie Double Cross Universal Music Group Spinefarm
Signature

Ville Hermanni Valo (born November 22, 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer of the gothic rock band HIM.

Valo was born and grew up in Helsinki, Finland. His mother was Hungarian and his father was Finnish. He started his music journey playing bass and drums in different bands. In 1991, he helped start HIM. He became their lead singer and main songwriter. HIM grew to be one of the most successful Finnish bands ever. They were also the first Finnish band to get a gold record in the United States.

Besides HIM, Valo has worked with many other bands and artists. These include Agents, The 69 Eyes, and Apocalyptica. In 2020, Valo started a solo music career. He uses the name VV. His first solo album, Neon Noir, came out in 2023.

Valo also created the heartagram. This is HIM's special symbol. It became very popular even outside of the band's fans.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Ville Hermanni Valo was born in Helsinki, Finland, on November 22, 1976. He has a younger brother named Jesse Valo. Jesse also started a music career before becoming a professional kickboxer.

Valo's first music memories are from his father. His dad often listened to Finnish folk artists like Tuomari Nurmio and Tapio Rautavaara while driving his taxi. When Valo was eight, he bought the album Animalize by Kiss. This made him very interested in music.

After second grade, Valo joined a music class. He started playing bass guitar, inspired by Gene Simmons from Kiss. In third grade, Valo became friends with Mikko "Mige" Paananen. Mige also played bass. Valo joined his first band, B.L.O.O.D., around fourth or fifth grade. They played one show for Valo's class. Later, he joined the Eloveena Boys. They played songs by U2 and Dire Straits at school dances. Valo wrote his first song while in this band.

In seventh grade, Valo met guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström. They soon joined a band called Aurora, where Valo played drums. Valo played bass and drums in other bands too. He also went to the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory. After middle school, Valo left school to focus on music. He did not have to do Finland's national military service because he has asthma.

Music Career

HIM Band History

Valo performing at Ilosaarirock in 2007

In 1991, Valo and Mikko "Mige" Paananen started a band called His Infernal Majesty. The band broke up in 1993. It was reformed in 1995 by Valo and Mikko "Linde" Lindström. Mige rejoined them, and they added keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana "Pätkä" Rantala. The band was then called HIM.

HIM released their first album, Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666, in 1997. In 2000, with new members Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen on drums and Juska Salminen on keyboards, HIM released Razorblade Romance. This album became number one in Finland, Austria, and Germany. After changing keyboardists to Janne "Burton" Puurtinen, the band released Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001) and Love Metal (2003). These albums made HIM even more successful in Europe. They also helped HIM tour in the United Kingdom and the United States for the first time.

In 2005, HIM released Dark Light. This was their most successful album. It made HIM the first Finnish band to get a gold record in the United States. After Dark Light, they released Venus Doom in 2007. This album reached their highest chart position in the United States. It also got HIM their only Grammy nomination.

After their 2010 album Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, HIM took a break. Their drummer, Gas Lipstick, had to take time off for health reasons. The band got back together and released Tears on Tape in 2013. Gas Lipstick left the band in 2015 and was replaced by Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger. The band started working on a new album, but they felt they had nothing more to create together.

On March 5, 2017, HIM announced they would break up after a farewell tour. HIM played their last show on New Year's Eve 2017. This was part of their yearly Helldone Festival.

Other Projects and Solo Work

Valo at the 2010 Soundwave Festival

Ville Valo has worked with many other artists. He has sung on songs for bands like The 69 Eyes, Apocalyptica, and Cradle of Filth. Valo was also part of Daniel Lioneye. This was a side project with other HIM members. Valo played drums on their 2001 album The King of Rock 'n Roll.

In 1999, Valo sang on a TV show called Laulava sydän. He performed three songs with the Finnish group Agents. In 2004, Apocalyptica released "Bittersweet". This song featured Valo and Lauri Ylönen from The Rasmus. The song was number one in Finland.

In 2007, Valo and German actress-singer Natalia Avelon recorded a cover of "Summer Wine". This song was for the film Eight Miles High. It became number one in Finland and Greece. It also reached number two in Germany and Switzerland. The song later became platinum in Finland and Germany.

In 2014, Valo performed his first solo live show. He used the name Rambo Rimbaud. In 2016, Valo released a cover of "Olet mun kaikuluotain". This was a Finnish version of John Denver's "Annie's Song". The song reached number one on the Finnish Digital Song Sales Chart. Its music video won Video of the Year at the 2016 Emma Gala. In 2017, Valo created music for the virtual reality video game Downward Spiral: Prologue. He also scored the 2018 sequel Downward Spiral: Horus Station.

In August 2018, Valo worked with Agents again. They recorded songs by the late Finnish singer-songwriter Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. Valo had been a fan of Somerjoki and Agents since he was a child. Their album, Ville Valo & Agents, came out on February 15, 2019. It was number one on the Finnish Albums Chart. It went gold in less than a week. They then toured Finland. Valo and Agents ended their work together after the tour.

On March 20, 2020, Valo released a surprise EP called Gothica Fennica Vol. 1. He used the name VV for this project. In April 2022, Valo released "Loveletting". This was the first song from his first solo album, Neon Noir. The album came out on January 13, 2023. It was number one in Finland and number four in Germany. It also won an Emma Award in the rock category. Valo started a world tour in January 2023 to support the album. In September, Valo toured North America with Black Veil Brides. They also covered "Temple of Love" by The Sisters of Mercy. The Neon Noir tour ended in London on May 10, 2024.

Other Work

Valo has appeared in TV shows and movies. In 1998, he had a small part in the short film Asphalto. In 2008, Valo was the voice of Moto Moto in the Finnish version of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Valo has also been in projects by Bam Margera, like Jackass Number Two and Viva La Bam.

In 2005, Valo designed special Coca-Cola Light cans. The money from these sales went to the Red Cross. In 2020, Valo became the new face of Presidentti coffee by Paulig.

Personal Life

Valo lives in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006, Valo bought an old tower house built in the 1800s. He lived there until 2015.

Valo has been a vegetarian since he was a teenager. In 2017, he said his diet was "almost vegan".

In 2004, Valo was invited to the Presidential Independence Day reception in Finland. He could not go because he had a fever. He attended the event later in 2006.

Artistry and Influences

As a songwriter, many of Valo's songs are about love. He believes that relationships are the most important topic for a song. Valo also gets ideas from books. He might get excited by a single idea or sentence from a book. Valo's song lyrics are often described as having "blood-dripping hearts and gothic melodrama".

Valo and HIM called their music "love metal". This idea was to mix softer, sadder music with heavier sounds. He has called HIM's music "sentimental, hard-hitting rock". Valo's music influences include Black Sabbath, Type O Negative, Neil Young, The Sisters of Mercy, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. Some of his non-music influences include writers like Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.

Many people say HIM's success came from Valo's songwriting, his public image, and his charm. He has a baritone voice. In 2014, VVN Music found that Valo had one of the highest vocal ranges in popular music. In 2006, he was ranked number 80 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Loudwire ranked Valo as the 14th greatest metal frontman of the 21st century. They said his voice is beautiful and his charm is almost hypnotic.

On his twentieth birthday, Valo created the heartagram. This became the symbol for HIM. It combines a heart and a pentagram. It means to show the mix of "soft and hard, male and female, yin and yang". In music, the heart shows HIM's softer side, and the pentagram shows the heavier parts of their sound. Valo has called the heartagram his greatest creation. He noted in 2013 that many people have heartagram tattoos, even if they don't know it's related to the band. During his solo career, Valo uses a version of the heartagram with two extra lines that form the letters VV.

Discography

HIM

• Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 (1997)
• Razorblade Romance (2000)
• Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001)
• Love Metal (2003)
• Dark Light (2005)
• Venus Doom (2007)
• Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice (2010)
• Tears on Tape (2013)

Daniel Lioneye

• The King of Rock 'n Roll (2001)

Ville Valo & Agents

• Ville Valo & Agents (2019)

VV

• Neon Noir (2023)

Awards

Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards

BMI Awards

Emma Gala

Eläköön SuomiRock! Gala

See also

In Spanish: Ville Valo para niños