TARJA TURUNEN Explains How Her Time With NIGHTWISH Prepared Her For Her Solo Career

In a new interview with Drew of Metal Roos, Tarja Turunen was asked how her time with NIGHTWISH prepared her for her journey as a solo artist. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Of course, having had the knowledge or the experience of traveling and how it's to tour and how it's to deal with all the madness as a musician on the road, of course I have had that experience [with NIGHTWISH]. But I have to say that everything else is very different. Being in a band is one thing."

She continued: "I was a singer in a band, and that's it. I gave my voice, I gave my face and my image. We did beautiful music together, but that's it. As [a solo] artist, I do everything. I mean, I write my songs. That's the first thing. I know that with NIGHTWISH, I didn't write any songs. I did some vocal arrangements and that's it. But the thing is that I had to learn. I had to find my confidence. I had to learn to trust myself and my instincts and all that. I had to find people to work with. Wow. So everything is very different. Very, very different."

In 2019, Turunen dismissed Internet chatter about her possible return to NIGHTWISH after her December 2017 onstage reunion with the band's then-bassist/vocalist Marko "Marco" Hietala during a "Raskasta Joulua" concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

"I know a lot of fans would love to see something happen, but it's a very long distance away," she told Kerrang! magazine. "Personally, I don't see anything happening with me and them, to be perfectly honest. Marco came a little later into the band; he wasn't there since the beginning. He was always a guy I was close to. Me and [NIGHTWISH keyboardist/leader] Tuomas Holopainen, however, haven't seen each other in a long time… but we have been in touch. It's not bad. The past is what it is; we can't change that. We can only change the future."

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

Turunen will release "Dark Christmas", the sequel of her 2017 album "From Spirits And Ghosts (Score For A Dark Christmas)", on November 10. The LP includes enchanting and captivating renditions of well-known Christmas carols, such as WHAM!'s "Last Christmas", Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime", classics such as "Jingle Bells", "Frosty The Snowman" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", as well as Tarja's brand new original song "Dark Christmas". The release is accompanied by 12 music videos — a video for each album song, as well as a full-length music feature film made available with Dolby Atmos immersive audio mix on all supporting platforms.