The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1995 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school.[1] The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (lead singer/songwriter), Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Janne Heiskanen (drums). Heiskanen quit the band in 1998 and was soon replaced by Aki Hakala.
Before releasing their fourth studio album Into (2001), they were simply known as Rasmus, but changed their name to The Rasmus in order to avoid being confused with a Swedish DJ of the same name. They gained international fame with their 2003 album Dead Letters which went gold and platinum in several countries, accompanied with the single "In the Shadows" which reached number 1 in a number of countries. Their follow-up album Hide from the Sun which was released in October 2005 also went platinum in Finland.[2]
The band is one of Finland's most successful with more than 3.5 million albums have been sold worldwide,[3] eight gold awards and five platinum awards.[4] They have released seven studio albums, two compilation album and 21 singles. Some of the band's most famous songs are the singles "Liquid", "F-F-F-Falling", "In the Shadows", "First Day of My Life", "Funeral Song", "No Fear", "Sail Away", "Livin' in a World Without You", and "Justify". Their most recent album, titled Black Roses, was released in 2008. Immediately it replaced Metallica's latest album Death Magnetic in the Finnish Album Charts and went gold after one week.[5] In early 2010, The Rasmus started working on their next album, which will be released by the band's personal record label due to their contract with their previous label dissolving at the end of 2009.
Most recently, Ylönen announced a solo album scheduled for release in March 2011 with the first single "Heavy" being out in February. The material will have its premiere at Emma Gala on February 26, 2011. Ylönen stated that he wanted several songs that didn't fit The Rasmus to be released as a major record rather than a demo. The album was self-produced with his record label Dynasty Recordings.[6][7] In the summer The Rasmus will team up again to finally produce their eighth studio album.[8]
