Marko Hietala

#1966_births
#Living_people
#People_from_Tervo
#Finnish_heavy_metal_bass_guitarists
#Finnish_heavy_metal_singers
#Finnish_heavy_metal_guitarists
#21st-century_Finnish_male_singers
#Finnish_male_singer-songwriters
#Finnish_tenors
#Nightwish_members
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala （born 14 January 1966） is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter.
Internationally, best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish.
He was also the vocalist and bassist as well as composer and lyricist for the heavy metal band Tarot.
He was also a member of the supergroup Northern Kings, and portrayed one of the main characters in Ayreon's 2013 album The Theory of Everything.
Marko Hietala was born in Tervo, and is the youngest child of the Hietala family.
Hietala lived in Tervo until the age of 15, after which he moved to Kuopio to study classical guitar, vocals and musical theory in high school.
In 1984, he and his brother, Zachary Hietala, formed heavy metal band Tarot under the name Purgatory.
In 1986, Tarot received a deal for their first album and went on tour.
Before becoming a full-time musician, he worked as a live and studio sound engineer.
While on tour with Tarot in 1998, Marko had met the members of the band Nightwish in Siilinjärvi as they were an opening act for his band.
Marko recalled having watched their performance: "I watched their show and thought their music was actually quite good at times. They had all this force and drama, so maybe some day they would successfully combine the
two. But goddamn, they looked absolutely horrible on stage. Shorthaired guys just standing there – Tarja was a pretty girl but just as petrified, shrieking in the middle of the stage in her leather pants. Honestly,
I assumed them to be just a momentary fad and thought they will fade away after six months or so. Luc...