Ville Hermanni Valo (pronunciation (help·info)) (born November 22, 1976) is the vocalist, songwriter and frontman of the Finnish rock band HIM. They have released five full length albums, and as of 2006, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
Valo was born to a Finnish father named Kari and a mother of Hungarian descent named Anita in a small suburb of Helsinki called Vallila. As a child, Ville was influenced by his music-loving parents, who exposed him to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara and Rauli Badding Somerjoki, while an older cousin introduced him to the heavier sounds of bands like KISS, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Valo's first musical step was as a three year old bongo drummer. He learned to walk with the help of the family dog Sami, and when the dog died, not only was he extremely upset, he also apparently developed his allergies to animals and asthma at the same time.At age nine, Valo attended the Pop and Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki, where he studied several different musical genres. His father eventually opened a sex shop where Valo often worked before launching his career in music. Valo's father's sex shop is still in business today and doing well, according to interviews with Valo. His interests gradually expanded to include reggae, early blues and country-oriented material such as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Neil Young. From a young age, Valo's enthusiasm for music also took a more active form of expression, and he participated in a large number of different Helsinki-based bands: B.L.O.O.D. (1986-89), Eloveena Boys (1987-88), Kemoterapia (1989-97) and numerous other, more obscure projects.
Main article: HIM (band)
Apart from working with HIM, and side-project Daniel Lioneye, Valo has kept busy in the music world, collaborating with many artists over the years. He contributed guest vocals for The 69 Eyes, on Apocalyptica's album Apocalyptica for the song "Bittersweet" (with The Rasmus' singer Lauri Ylönen), on The Bloodhound Gang's Hefty Fine for the song "Something Diabolical", and on Cradle of Filth's Thornography for the song "The Byronic Man". In 2007 he duetted with Polish German actress Natalia Avelon for a cover of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's song "Summer Wine", part of the Das Wilde Leben soundtrack. A video featuring both was recorded as well.
Below is a list of Valo's side projects and collaborations.
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