The Rasmus

The Rasmus

The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. 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 and went platinum in Finland.

The band is one of Finland’s most successful with more than 3.5 million sold albums worldwide, eight gold awards and five platinum awards. They have released seven studio albums, one 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.

Along with the band, The Rasmus own their own record label and recording studio under the Dynasty Recordings. This is also the name of a small brotherhood of Finnish bands to which they belong. Lauri Ylönen and Pauli Rantasalmi both produce and write songs for other artists. At the moment The Rasmus are in the studio (by themselves) producing and recording their next album which they hope will be released by Spring 2011.

Vocals: Lauri Ylönen

Lead Guitar: Pauli Rantasalmi

Drums: Aki Hakala

Bass: Eero Heinonen

From: Wikipedia