Tony Kakko
Tony Kakko |
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Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko (born May 16, 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is mainly known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative force in the band Sonata Arctica since 1996.[1]
Biography
Kakko was born in Kemi, Finland and joined Sonata Arctica in 1996, after studying keyboards for two years and singing informally in local festivals. He assumed both the keyboards and the vocals, but after the release of the band's first album, decided to concentrate on singing with the joining of Mikko Härkin. The bands Queen, Stratovarius, Children of Bodom and Nightwish are amongst his biggest musical influences. Kakko also states the season of winter as one of his influences. His singing style is clean and generally high-pitched, he sings in the tenors range, but has begun to scream on later releases with Sonata, especially The Days of Grays, but also some screams in the background on Unia.
Tony appeared as a guest male vocalist in Nightwish's 2001 remake of their song "Astral Romance", which appeared on the EP Over the Hills and Far Away. He also sang backing vocals on the song "Over the Hills and Far Away" and sang a duet with Tarja Turunen on the live version of "Beauty and the Beast." Tony appears on stage with Tarja performing "Beauty and the Beast," on Nightwish's live DVD From Wishes to Eternity.
Tony also performed guest vocals in the song "Wasted Time" from Heavenly's album Virus and did backing vocals for Before the Bleeding Sun, the fifth album of the Finnish band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. More recently, he has been involved with a project Northern Kings, in which he, along with Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto (Charon), Marco Hietala (Tarot, Nightwish) and Jarkko Ahola (Teräsbetoni) sings covers of classics from decades past.
Discography
Sonata Arctica
- Friend 'till the End (Demo) - 1996
- Agre Pamppers (Demo) - 1996
- PeaceMaker (Demo) - 1997
- FullMoon (Demo) - 1999
- Ecliptica - 1999
- Silence - 2001
- Orientation (EP) - 2001
- Wolf & Raven (Single) - 2001
- Last Drop Falls (Single) - 2001
- Songs of Silence (Live album) - 2002
- Winterheart's Guild - 2003
- Takatalvi (EP) - 2003
- Victoria's Secret (Single) - 2003
- Broken (Single) - 2003
- Don't Say a Word (EP) - 2004
- Reckoning Night - 2004
- Don't Say a Word (Single) - 2004
- Shamandalie (Single) - 2004
- The End of This Chapter (Compilation) - 2005
- For the Sake of Revenge (Live album and DVD) - 2006
- The Collection 1999-2006 (Compilation) - 2006
- Replica 2006 (Single) - 2006
- Unia - 2007
- Paid in Full (Single) - 2007
- The Days of Grays - 2009
- The Last Amazing Grays (Single) - 2009
Northern Kings
Guest appearances
- Nightwish - Over the Hills and Far Away - 2001
- Nightwish - From Wishes to Eternity (DVD) - 2001
- Heavenly - Virus - 2006
- Eternal Tears of Sorrow - Before the Bleeding Sun - 2006
- Timo Rautiainen - Sarvivuori - 2006
- Raskaampaa Joulua - 2006
- Nuclear Blast All-Stars: Into the Light - 2007
- Odin's Court - Deathanity - 2008
- Apocalyptica - Live Vocalist (Finland and Japan) - 2008,2009
- Elias Viljanen - Fire-Hearted - 2009
- Stratovarius - Polaris - 2009
- Epica - Design Your Universe - 2009
- van Canto - Tribe of Force - 2010
- Powerglove - Saturday Morning Apocalypse - 2010
References
External links