# Tony Kakko

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{{short description|Finnish musician (born 1975)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Tony Kakko
| background        = solo_singer
| image             = Sonata Arctica Rockharz 2023 36 (cropped).jpg
| caption           = Tony Kakko performing with Sonata Arctica in 2023
| birth_name        = Toni Kristian Kakko
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1975|5|16}}
| birth_place       = [Kemi](/source/Kemi), Finland
| origin            = 
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}}
| genre             = [Power metal](/source/Power_metal)
| occupation        = Musician, songwriter
| instrument        = Vocals, keyboard, acoustic guitar
| years_active      = 1996–present
| label             = 
| current_member_of = {{flatlist|
* [Sonata Arctica](/source/Sonata_Arctica)
* [Northern Kings](/source/Northern_Kings)
* [Raskasta Joulua](/source/Raskasta_Joulua)
}}
| past_member_of    = 
| website           = 
}}

'''Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko''' (born 16 May 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band [Sonata Arctica](/source/Sonata_Arctica) since 1996.<ref>[http://www.sonataarctica.info/site07/index.php?s=5&l=uk Biography at sonataarctica.info] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115015822/http://www.sonataarctica.info/site07/index.php?s=5&l=uk |date=15 January 2008 }}</ref>

==Biography==
{{BLP one source|section|date=August 2017}}
Kakko was born in [Kemi](/source/Kemi), Finland and joined [Sonata Arctica](/source/Sonata_Arctica) in 1996, after studying keyboards for two years and singing informally in local festivals. He initially performed both the keyboards and the vocals, but after the release of the band's first album, decided to concentrate on singing with the joining of [Mikko Härkin](/source/Mikko_H%C3%A4rkin). The metal bands, [Stratovarius](/source/Stratovarius), [Children of Bodom](/source/Children_of_Bodom), [Nightwish](/source/Nightwish), [Rhapsody of Fire](/source/Rhapsody_of_Fire) and [Helloween](/source/Helloween) are amongst his biggest musical influences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview: Sonata Arctica with Tony Kakko (keyboards/vocals) : MetalBite – Heavy Metal Magazine |url=https://metalbite.com/interviews/278/sonata-arctica-with-tony-kakko-keyboardsvocals |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=MetalBite |language=en}}</ref> Kakko also states the season of winter as one of his influences. His singing style is clean and generally high-pitched. He sings in the [tenor](/source/tenor)s range, and has begun to scream on later releases with [Sonata](/source/Sonata_Arctica), especially [The Days of Grays](/source/The_Days_of_Grays), but also some screams in the background on [Unia](/source/Unia).

Kakko appeared as a guest male vocalist in Nightwish's 2001 remake of their song "Astral Romance", which appeared on the EP ''[Over the Hills and Far Away](/source/Over_the_Hills_and_Far_Away_(album))''. He also sang backing vocals on the song "Over the Hills and Far Away" and sang a duet with [Tarja Turunen](/source/Tarja_Turunen) on the live version of "Beauty and the Beast." Kakko appears on stage with Tarja performing "Beauty and the Beast," on Nightwish's live DVD ''[From Wishes to Eternity](/source/From_Wishes_to_Eternity)''. He performed guest vocals in the song "Wasted Time" from [Heavenly](/source/Heavenly_(French_band))'s album ''Virus'' and backing vocals for ''[Before the Bleeding Sun](/source/Before_the_Bleeding_Sun)'', the fifth album of the Finnish band [Eternal Tears of Sorrow](/source/Eternal_Tears_of_Sorrow), and [Epica](/source/Epica_(band))'s song ''White Waters'' from the album [Design Your Universe](/source/Design_Your_Universe).

Since 2006,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-02-17 |title=Raskasta Joulua |url=https://jahola.com/projects/raskasta-joulua/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=J.Ahola |language=fi}}</ref> he has been involved in the metal music project [Raskasta Joulua](/source/Raskasta_Joulua) from Finland which records and performs Christmas carols in concerts. More recently, he has been involved with a project [Northern Kings](/source/Northern_Kings), in which he, along with [Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto](/source/Juha-Pekka_Lepp%C3%A4luoto) ([Charon](/source/Charon_(band))), [Marko Hietala](/source/Marko_Hietala) ([Tarot](/source/Tarot_(band)), [Nightwish](/source/Nightwish)) and [Jarkko Ahola](/source/J._Ahola) ([Teräsbetoni](/source/Ter%C3%A4sbetoni)) sings covers of classics from decades past.

In July 2015, it was announced that Kakko would replace [Jukka Nevalainen](/source/Jukka_Nevalainen) as Nightwish's special guest at [the 2015 edition of Rock in Rio](/source/Rock_in_Rio).<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock in Rio: Jukka Nevalainen cancela participação no show do Nightwish; Tony Kakko substitui|url=http://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/musica/rock-in-rio-jukka-nevalainen-cancela-participacao-no-show-do-nightwish-tony-kakko-substitui-16868880|website=[O Globo](/source/O_Globo)|publisher=[Grupo Globo](/source/Grupo_Globo)|access-date=22 July 2015|language=pt|date=21 July 2015}}</ref>

In December 2018, Kakko was awarded with the title of Knight of The [Order of The Lion of Finland](/source/Order_of_the_Lion_of_Finland).

==Selected discography==
===Sonata Arctica===
{{main|Sonata Arctica discography}}

===Northern Kings===
* ''[Reborn](/source/Reborn_(Northern_Kings_album))'' – 2007
* ''[Rethroned](/source/Rethroned)'' – 2008

===Guest appearances===
* [Nightwish](/source/Nightwish) – ''[Over the Hills and Far Away](/source/Over_the_Hills_and_Far_Away_(album))'' – 2001
* [Nightwish](/source/Nightwish) – ''[From Wishes to Eternity](/source/From_Wishes_to_Eternity)'' (DVD) – 2001
* [Heavenly](/source/Heavenly_(French_band)) – ''[Virus](/source/Virus_(Heavenly_album))'' – 2006
* [Eternal Tears of Sorrow](/source/Eternal_Tears_of_Sorrow) – ''[Before the Bleeding Sun](/source/Before_the_Bleeding_Sun)'' – 2006
* ''[Nuclear Blast All-Stars: Into the Light](/source/Nuclear_Blast_All-Stars%3A_Into_the_Light)'' – 2007
* [Apocalyptica](/source/Apocalyptica) – Live Vocalist (Finland and Japan) – 2008, 2009
* [Elias Viljanen](/source/Elias_Viljanen) – ''[Fire-Hearted](/source/Fire-Hearted)'' – 2009
* [Stratovarius](/source/Stratovarius) – ''[Polaris](/source/Polaris_(Stratovarius_album))'' – 2009
* [Epica](/source/Epica_(band)) – ''[Design Your Universe](/source/Design_Your_Universe)'' – 2009
* [Van Canto](/source/Van_Canto) – "Hearted", on ''[Tribe of Force](/source/Tribe_of_Force)'' – 2010
* [Powerglove](/source/Powerglove_(band)) – ''[Saturday Morning Apocalypse](/source/Saturday_Morning_Apocalypse)'' – 2010
* [Avalon](/source/Avalon_(Finnish_band)) – "We Will Find a Way", on ''[The Land of New Hope](/source/The_Land_of_New_Hope)'' – 2013
* [Tuomas Holopainen](/source/Tuomas_Holopainen) – ''[Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge](/source/Music_Inspired_by_the_Life_and_Times_of_Scrooge)'' – 2014
*[Vanishing point](/source/Vanishing_point) – Circle of fire on Distant is the sun – 2014
* [Dark Sarah](/source/Dark_Sarah) – "Light in You" on ''[Behind The Black Veil](/source/Behind_The_Black_Veil)'' – 2015
* [Hevisaurus](/source/Hevisaurus) – "100" – 2019
* [Lordi](/source/Lordi) – "Rollercoaster" on ''[Lordiversity](/source/Lordiversity)'' – 2021
* [Ancestry](/source/Ancestry) Darkest Day on Transitions -2021
* [Jani Liimatainen](/source/Jani_Liimatainen) – "All Dreams Are Born to Die " on "My Father’s Son" – 2022

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.sonataarctica.info Sonata Arctica's official website]

<br>
{{Sonata Arctica}}
{{Northern Kings}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakko, Tony}}
Category:1975 births
Category:Finnish heavy metal singers
Category:21st-century Finnish male singers
Category:Finnish male singer-songwriters
Category:Finnish singer-songwriters
Category:Finnish tenors
Category:Finnish heavy metal keyboardists
Category:Sonata Arctica members
Category:Living people
Category:People from Kemi
Category:English-language Finnish singers
Category:Northern Kings members
Category:20th-century Finnish male singers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tony Kakko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kakko) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kakko?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.