page_title: Ville Valo
section_title: Collaborations and guest appearances
hierarchical_section_title: Ville Valo / Career / Collaborations and guest appearances
caption_attribution_description: English: Him performing in São Paulo, Brazil on March 30, 2014.
context_page_description: Ville Hermanni Valo is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM. Influenced by the likes of KISS, Black Sabbath and Type O Negative, Valo began his career playing bass and drums in various bands around his hometown of Helsinki. In 1991, he formed HIM, which would go on to become one of the most successful Finnish bands of all time, and the first to receive a gold record in the United States. He performed as the band's lead singer and chief songwriter from their inception until their dissolution in 2017. Known for his deep, crooning bass-baritone voice, Valo is also credited as the creator of the heartagram, the band's trademarked symbol which nonetheless has achieved great popularity outside of the band's fanbase.
  Outside of HIM, Valo has collaborated with various other bands and artist during his career, including Agents, The 69 Eyes and Apocalyptica. He's also made brief appearances in TV and film, often collaborating with Bam Margera of Jackass fame. Valo has been regarded as a sex symbol and has received several accolades in the music industry.
context_section_description: Valo has collaborated with many different artists during his career, often under different pseudonyms. Between 1997 and 2004, Valo performed back-up vocals on five albums by The 69 Eyes, and appeared in the music video for the song "Wasting the Dawn". In 1999, he sang back-up on Tehosekoitin's  album Freak Out, and performed three songs with Finnish schlager band Agents. In 2000, Valo contributed a track for the Tuomari Nurmio tribute album Tuomarin todistajat, and in 2001, he played drums on Daniel Lioneye's album The King of Rock 'n Roll and sang back-up on Five Fifteen's album Death of a Clown. In 2002 and 2004, Valo sang back-up on two albums by The Skreppers. In 2004, he also collaborated with Lowe Motor Corporation and Apocalyptica, performing the song "Bittersweet" with the latter, which also featured Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus. In 2005, Valo was featured on the album Hefty Fine by the Bloodhound Gang, and performed at the Roadrunner United concert in New York City. 
  In 2006, Valo played bass and sang back-up on Welcome to Carcass Cuntry by Jeff Walker und Die Fluffers, and made guest appearances on albums by Cradle of Filth and Isabelle's Gift. He also performed two songs for the Finnish compilation album Synkkien laulujen maa, one of which was a duet with Kari Tapio. In August 2006, Valo joined Anathema's Daniel Cavanagh on stage twice for a performance of "Inner Silence". In 2007, Valo made a guest appearance on Manna's album Sister, and performed the song "Summer Wine" with Polish-German actress and singer Natalia Avelon for the film Eight Miles High. The song eventually went platinum in Germany.
  In 2008, Valo sang back-up on Save Nuta's cover of "Rock 'n' Roll High School" by the Ramones. The track was a collaborative effort by several prominent Finnish musicians to save youth centers across the country. In 2010, Valo sang back-up vocals on Anathema's We're Here Because We're Here album, and remixed three songs with his brother Jesse Valo for the HIM album SWRMXS. That same year he also mixed HIM bassist Mige's solo album Cimmerica, which was released under the pseudonym MZ. In 2014, Valo was featured on the track "Whisper in the Chaos '97" by Lullacry, which was released on their compilation album Legacy 1998-2014. At the 2014 Helldone Festival, Valo rejoined Daniel Lioneye on drums and made his live solo debut under the pseudonym Rambo Rimbaud.
  In 2016, Valo made guest appearances on releases by Teho Majamäki, MGT, The Mission and Andy McCoy. On 4 July 2016, he released his first solo single "Olet mun kaikuluotain", a cover of "Annie's Song" by John Denver, with Finnish lyrics by Hector. The song's music video would go on to win Video of the Year at the Emma Gala. In 2017, Valo provided the soundtrack for the virtual reality game Downward Spiral: Prologue by 3rd Eye Studios. He would go on to score the 2018 sequel Downward Spiral: Horus Station as well.
  In 2018, Valo sang back-up on Andy McCoy's Soul Satisfaction EP and reunited with Agents to perform previously unreleased songs by Finnish singer-songwriter Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. The first single "Orpolapsi kiurun" was released on 21 September 2018. Ville Valo and Agents performed at the annual Emma Gala on 2 February 2019, and released their self-titled album on 15 February. The album went gold in less than a week and debuted at number one on the Finnish Album Chart. The group began their Finnish tour in March, which concluded in August.
  On 20 March 2020, Ville Valo released a three-song EP titled Gothica Fennica Vol. 1, under the pseudonym VV.
caption: Ville Valo performing in São Paulo, Brazil in March 2014
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