Kaija Koo

Kaija Koo
Background information
Birth name Kaija Irmeli Kokkola
Born September 10, 1962 (1962-09-10) (age 49)
Helsinki, Finland
Genres Pop (Finnish)
Occupations Singer
Instruments Singing
Years active 1980—present
Labels Warner Music;
Cosmos Music Group;
Päijät-Hämeen Sorto ja Riisto

Kaija Kokkola (born September 10, 1962, in Helsinki, Finland), better known by her stage name Kaija Koo, is a Finnish singer.

Kaija began her career when she was 17 years old, as a member of a band Steel City, later known as Kaija Koo Band, until it broke down and Kaija Koo became a soloist. Her debut solo album Kun savukkeet on loppuneet was released in 1986. The next album Tuulten viemää, created with her then-husband Markku Impiö, released in 1993, was Kaija Koo's major breakthrough. It sold 175 000 copies, making it the sixth-best selling album of all times in Finland. Kaija has also participated in the Finnish qualification of Eurovision Song Contest 1981 as a member of the background choir in Frederik's song "Titanic".

Since her breakthrough, she has been very active and still successful, releasing a new album every few years. The lyrics were written by Kaija and Markku together and songs are composed by Markku. However, they divorced in 2006. During her career, Kaija Koo has sold nearly 500,000 certified records, which makes her the 20th-best-selling music artist and the third-best-selling female soloist in Finland.[1]

In June 2010, she signed out of Cosmos Music Group and started under Päijät-Hämeen Sorto ja Riisto ("Päijänne Tavastian Oppression and Exploitation"),[2] an independent label established in September 2009 by the members of the Finnish rock band Apulanta.[3] In 2010, she released the number-one[4] single "Vapaa", which belongs to the album Irti, released shortly after. Irti has thus far peaked at number two on the Finnish Albums Chart.

Contents

Discography

Studio albums

The (rough) English translations of the albums are in the brackets.

  • Kun savukkeet on loppuneet (1986) (When We're out of Cigarettes)
  • Tuulten viemää (1993) (Blown Away by Wind)
  • Tuulikello (1995) (Wind Chime)
  • Unihiekkamyrsky (1997) (Sleep Sand Storm)
  • Operaatio jalokivimeri (1998) (Operation Gemstone Sea)
  • Tinakenkätyttö (1999) (Girl in Tin Shoes)
  • Mikään ei riitä (2002) (Nothing Is Enough)
  • Viiden minuutin hiljaisuus (2004) (Five-Minute Silence)
  • Joulukirkossa (2005) (In Christmas Church)
  • Irti (2010) (Loose or Afloat)

Compilations

The (rough) English translations of the compilations are in the brackets.

Singles

39 singles released in 1980—2006.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kaija Koo" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/artistit/kaija+koo. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
  2. ^ Leinonen, Ann-Mari (2010-06-20). "Apulannan pojat nappasivat Kaija Koon levy-yhtiöönsä" (in Finnish). Bonnier Group. http://www.mtv3.fi/viihde/uutiset/musiikki.shtml/1146365/apulannan-pojat-nappasivat-kaija-koon-levy-yhtioonsa. Retrieved 2011-06-16. 
  3. ^ Kallio, Tero (September 30, 2009). "Uusi levy-yhtiö – Päijät-Hämeen Sorto ja Riisto" (in Finnish). noise.fi. http://www.noise.fi/uutiset/?id=10961. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
  4. ^ [1]

External links