Nightwish keyboardist and founder Tuomas Holopainen has addressed why a reunion with original lead singer Tarja Turunen will never happen.
Holopainen reflected on the band’s turbulent 2005 split with Turunen, describing the fallout as a difficult and painful chapter for the group.
“Nightwish got blamed for what happened, for good reason. But there was no future with Turunen. We were just operating in survival mode and plagued by these dark thoughts,” Holopainen said.
He went on to describe the intense public backlash the band faced in the aftermath of the split, particularly following the open letter that announced Turunen’s departure.
“We got completely butchered in the media after the open letter was published. It was like we were these evil neanderthals who’d hurt our wonderful ex-singer. I got some really interesting letters, let’s put it that way,” he continued.
Holopainen also dismissed any possibility of a future reunion, even addressing suggestions of bringing back both Turunen and former bassist/vocalist Marko Hietala, who left the band in 2020.
“It was a divorce, and an ugly one at that. So I think we have our own lives now. Someone did say to me if we got Tarja and Marko back in, we could tour just South America for a year straight. That’s not gonna happen,” he said.
The circumstances surrounding that original split remain a defining moment in the band’s history. Turunen was let go immediately after Nightwish’s final concert of the “Once” World Tour, held at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki on October 21, 2005. The band presented her with the now-infamous open letter backstage that same night, effectively ending her nine-year tenure as the group’s frontwoman.
The letter itself, later published on the band’s website, made clear that continuing to work with Turunen and her husband and manager, Marcelo Cabuli, had become impossible. It accused Turunen of allowing business interests, money, and solo career ambitions to take priority over the band. The letter also cited missed rehearsals and soundchecks, along with a growing distance from her bandmates, as contributing factors to the decision.
The fallout from that letter shaped years of public perception of the band, feeding directly into the media firestorm Holopainen described. The image of Nightwish as villains in the breakup stuck for a long time, even as the band maintained that the decision had been building for months before that final show.
Holopainen has previously called the decision to fire Turunen “the most difficult thing” he has ever had to do, explaining that it stemmed from a combination of factors. One of those factors was the belief that Turunen no longer wanted to continue touring with the band. She had signaled that the album following “Once” would be her last with Nightwish, regardless of the band’s plans.
That history underscores why Holopainen remains firm in ruling out any reconciliation today. In his telling, what began as a bitter and highly public breakup two decades ago has evolved into simply separate paths that neither side has any real interest in reversing.
Source: loudersound.com
