Nightwish - The Phantom of the Opera 2002

"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the 1986 stage musical of the same name, based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, which tells the tragic story of a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, masked musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House. The song was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt. The song was originally recorded by Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, which became a UK hit single in 1986, prior to the musical. Listen to it here! In its theatrical debut, it was sung by Brightman and Michael Crawford in their roles as Christine Daaé and the Phantom. Listen to it here! The Phantom of the Opera was the longest running show in Broadway history, and celebrated its 10,000th performance on February 11, 2012, becoming the first Broadway production in history to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap. The original West End production at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, ended its run in 2020, its run cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers.

In 2002, Nightwish released Century Child, along with the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless the Child". Century Child was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts of most distance between a first place album and the second place. An enduring favorite of fans is the band's version of "The Phantom of the Opera". The song was routinely played in concerts until October 21, 2005, when vocalist Tarja Turunen was fired from the band and later replaced with Anette Olzon, whereupon the band announced that they would never play the song live again. This would hold true for 17 years until November 27 and 28, 2022, when Nightwish was joined by Dutch singer Henk Poort on stage at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam to perform the song. Marko Hietala joined Tarja Turunen at a couple of her solo shows in 2023 to sing "The Phantom of the Opera" with her. They are set to tour together in Spring 2024 in Latin America on Tarja's "Living The Dream – The Hits Tour".

"The Phantom of the Opera" recieved a total of 82,7% yes votes!

I made this Nightwish animation last year! I hope to work with them one day!

nightwish - amaranth · decades tour, live in buenos aires

"ever felt away without me, my love, it lies so deep, EVER DREAM of me" Nightwish live at Download Festival 2016

Tarja and Marko then and now...

Phantom of the Opera 2005 || 2023

Tarja Turunen - Nightwish: "Gethsemane" Live "Lista Chart" TV Finland 1999 (x)

Pictured: Oceanborn, released in 1998

It is funny cause if I'm not actively looking for Alan Wake content and just randomly see it my mind immediately is like "is this fanart of Imaginaerum?" cause Ilkka Villi was always the dad from that movie to me before he was Alan Wake

Also this is my call to just go watch Imaginaerum by Nightwish it's one of my all time favorite films by one of my favorite bands

Musictober - 21/31 - Nightwish

If you think in 1998 you were cooler than Nightwish...

You probably were.

TARJA TURUNEN & MARKO HIETALA ✤ 18 years later (2005 - 2023) Performing 'The Phantom of the Opera' #MetalMonday