Lordi

Lordi biography

Lordi is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume-designer, Mr. Lordi. The band is known for wearing monster masks and using pyrotechnics during concerts. They rose to domestic success with their 2002 single, "Would You Love a Monsterman?".

Lordi made history in 2006 by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, becoming the first Finnish performer to win the contest. Lordi was featured on the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen when the band's frontman, Mr. Lordi, presented the award for rock. They were also the closing act, playing their single "Hard Rock Hallelujah". They also performed on Britain's Making Your Mind Up for the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi performed on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007 and later that year toured with Type O Negative and Twin Method until Halloween night.

Formation (1996-2002)

Lordi was formed in 1996 after Tomi Putaansuu (Mr. Lordi), Jussi Sydänmaa (Amen) and Sami Keinänen (G-stealer) met in Stockholm, where they had gone to see Kiss perform. Though Mr. Lordi already had the idea in 1992. Inspired by Kiss, their vision was to perform with spectacular pyrotechnics and monster masks. In 1997 Erna Siikavirta (Enary) joined the band on keyboard.

In 1999, the group recorded their first album, Bend Over And Pray The Lord. Tiainen, the owner of their record company, had originally planned to publish the album; however, the company did not have sufficient resources to market it. Tiainen recommended Lordi to the record label Kimmo Hirvonen's Records, owned by Anaconda. The album was never released because Anaconda Records went bankrupt shortly before the planned release date. The band never performed with the original line-up, though they had been promised a record release gig in 1999. During the same year G-Stealer left the band because of work commitments and was replaced by Sami Wolking (Magnum), whom Mr. Lordi had met via Kiss Army Finland. In 2000, drummer Sampsa Astala (Kita) joined Lordi-the band had originally planned to use MIDI drum tracks in place of a real drummer.

Get Heavy (2002-2003)

After several failed attempts at obtaining a recording contract, Lordi signed a record deal with Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) Finland in 2002. In July, the band released their first single, "Would You Love A Monsterman?", which rose to number one and spawned a music video. During the summer the band went under the auspices of producer TT Oksala's Finnvox Studios to record their first album, though debut recording ran into several problems.

In autumn 2002, bassist Magnum left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by Niko Hurme (Kalma). Though Lordi's debut album had already been recorded when Kalma joined, he appeared in the album art and the composition of the accounts. Their debut album Get Heavy was released in November, with a cover design loosely based on Kiss's Love Gun album. The original first sketch of the cover was based on Kiss's Destroyer album. The album won the 2003 Emma award for best domestic hard rock or heavy metal album, and Get Heavy has sold more than 67,000 copies. It was certified platinum in Finland in 2003 and multi-platinum in 2006.

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.