The Rasmus

The Rasmus is 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 also went platinum in Finnland.

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" and "Sail Away". 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.

In an interview held on June 10, 2009 before their performance at Halberg Open Air in Saarbrücken front singer Lauri Ylönen announced that the highly anticipated duet with Nightwish singer Anette Olzon "October in April" was expected to be released in October on a new compilation album being released in order to celebrate the band's 15th anniversary. Furthermore Ylönen revealed that a new studio album was to be released in 2010.

Band members

 * Lauri Ylönen
 * Pauli Rantasalmi
 * Aki Hakala
 * Eero Heinonen

Former members

 * Janne Heiskanen

Albums

 * 1996: Peep
 * 1997: Playboys
 * 1998: Hell of a Tester
 * 2001: Hell of a Collection
 * 2001: Into
 * 2003: Dead Letters
 * 2005: Hide from the Sun
 * 2008: Black Roses