TARJA TURUNEN On Living Through The Pandemic: 'The Beginning Was Tough'

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen, who has just released her first book, "Singing In My Blood", spoke to Talk Radio Europe about how she has dealt with the fact that she has been unable to perform live for nearly two years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "The beginning was tough, I have to say," she said. "I got a hit — mental hit — [and] also a physical hit by not knowing what's there, how long we need to wait, what is this about. But then when I found out that there is no need for me to really fight against the universe — I mean, I'm just one single person and I need to find the inspiration again and I need to find my muse. And I found it. And this project with the book came, actually, in a perfect time because it gave me a chance to really think about my life, what I have been going through in my life, and it was healing — seriously, it was a healing process. Then I found out that, okay, I can touch my piano and start writing new songs. And then, little by little, everything started to get back to normal, sort of — without shows, all right, without being a performing artist but an artist anyway."

"Singing In My Blood" was made available via Rocket 88. Written and compiled over the past year of lockdown, Tarja has searched through scores of photos and memories to create a big, deluxe book about her life in music. There are contributions from friends and colleagues who've played a part in her music on stage, in the studio and at home, alongside lots of previously unseen intimate photos from childhood to the present day.

Tarja said: "Singing is in my blood. Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed performing … but not being able to be on stage in 2020, I spent a lot of time looking through photo albums, seeing all those happy scenes of childhood, growing up and making music, getting to know my fans and travel the world recording and performing, having fun; those memories fill this book.

"In 'Singing In My Blood', I tell my story about making music and share lots of personal photos. It's a big, 200-plus-page hardback filled with photographs that comes in two, deluxe versions."

For more information about "Singing In My Blood", visit tarjabook.com.

The 44-year-old Finnish-born singer, who currently lives in Spain (after previously residing in both Finland and Argentina),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."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas 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.