BIO.
Hailing from Finland, HIM formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko Viljami "Linde" Lindström, and bassist Mikko Henrik Julius "Migé" Paananen.
The band's name was His Infernal Majesty (tho' the truth of this "name" is kinda grey) at the beginning, but was changed to just "H.I.M." or "HIM" after people started associating the band with Satanism in Finland. They were also known as HER and HIM and HER for a brief time while in the United States and Germany, respectively.
HIM started out as a cover band of artists such as Type O Negative, KISS, Danzig, Black Sabbath and Depeche Mode.
BIO CONT.
After many lineup changes and a hiatus from 1991 to 1995 caused by the members' military services, the band now consists of the three founding members plus keyboardist Janne Johannes "Burton" Puurtinen and drummer Mika Kristian "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen.
The band released their first studio album, 'Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666', on November 20, 1997. The album features covers of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
After gaining popularity in Europe, particularly their homeland, with the success of their second album, 1999's 'Razorblade Romance', HIM broke out into the mainstream in the UK in the early 2000s.
The group became more well-known in America and internationally when professional skateboarder and TV personality Bam Margera began using the band's heartagram logo and promoting them extensively on his MTV series 'Viva La Bam'.
More here...MEMBERS & PAGES
Current Members
Ville Hermanni Valo:
Vocals 1991-present
Mikko Henrik Julius Paananen:
Bass Guitar 1991-present
Mikko Viljami Lindström:
Guitar 1991-present
Mika Kristian Karppinen:
Drums 1999-present
Janne Johannes Puurtinen:
Keyboards 2001-present
Former Members
Antto Einari Melasniemi:
keyboards (1994-1998)
Jussi-Mikko "Juska" Salminen
(also known as Zoltan Pluto):
keyboards (1998-2000)
Juhana Tuomas "Pätkä" Rantala:
drums (1994-1999)
Official Links
http://www.heartagram.com/
http://myspace.com/heartagram