Jenni Mari Vartiainen (born 20 March 1983) is a Finnish pop singer. Before her professional musical endeavours, she was a

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

in her teenage years and attended the Kuopio Senior High of Music and Dance. Vartiainen rose to publicity by winning the Finnish talent show ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...

'' in October 2002 with Susanna Korvala, Ushma Karnani (currently Olava) and

Jonna Pirinen Jonna Christensen (née Pirinen, born 28 December 1982), better known by her stage name Jonna, is a pop and R&B singer/songwriter from Finland. She has released three albums, over ten singles and several music videos. She became known in 2002 f ...

. The four formed the band Gimmel that released three studio albums, sold over 160,000 records and received three Emma Awards, accolades for outstanding achievements in music, awarded by the Finnish music industry federation,

Musiikkituottajat Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland ry, or Musiikkituottajat for short (; formerly known as Suomen Ääni- ja kuvatallennetuottajat; ÄKT), IFPI Finland in English, is the umbrella organization of recording producers active in Finland, with 23 recor ...

. The band broke up in October 2004. After Gimmel, Vartiainen launched her solo career, releasing her debut single " Tunnoton" in April 2007. In September of the same year, the single was followed by her debut album ''

Ihmisten edessä ''Ihmisten edessä'' () is the debut studio album by Finland, Finnish Pop music, pop singer, Jenni Vartiainen. The Finnish language, Finnish-language album was released digitally on 5 September 2007, with the physical release following on 12 Sept ...

'', which peaked at number six on the

Finnish Albums Chart The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

, and its eponymous second single, both of which sold

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in Finland with over 65,000 and 16,000 copies, respectively. In late March 2010, Jenni Vartiainen released her second studio album '' Seili'', after the arrival of its gold-selling debut single "

En haluu kuolla tänä yönä "En haluu kuolla tänä yönä" () is a Finnish language, Finnish-language song by Finland, Finnish Pop music, pop singer Jenni Vartiainen. It was released on 1 February 2010 by Warner Music Group, Warner Music Finland as the lead single from her ...

". The second album debuted at number one on the Albums Chart, while charting non-consecutively for over a year, and went on to sell over 150,000 copies (septuple platinum), becoming the best-selling album of 2010 in Finland; and ranking 14th in the list of all-time best-sellers in Finland. A combination of pop and ballads, ''Seili'' spawned another gold-selling single in August 2010, " Missä muruseni on", which dominated the top-three spots of the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

all the way to early 2011, and the gold-selling promotional single "

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

". Vartiainen's third studio album, ''

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scient ...

'', released in October 2013, debuted at number one and sold triple platinum with over 62,000 copies. Jenni Vartiainen has sold over 330,000

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

records in Finland during her solo career, which places her among the 50 best-selling recording artists of all time in the country. She has also received nine Emma Awards.

Early life

Jenni Mari Vartiainen was born on 20 March 1983 in

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

. She started to play classical piano at the age of six and she played it until she was 16, building her musical skills later on by attending Kuopio Senior High of Music and Dance. In her teenage years, Vartiainen was also a

, competing ultimately at Finland's senior level alongside future top Finnish skaters such as Susanna Pöykiö. In the summer of 1999, when she was 16, she was injured during a skating lesson and she developed a

spinal disc herniation A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...

due to which she had to quit skating. In the spring of 2002, Vartiainen completed her

matriculation examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a School leaving qualification, school leaving ce ...

at the Senior High and moved to Helsinki. She was about to travel abroad, but her plans changed as she saw an advertisement of ''

'', the first Finnish season of the New Zealand-based casting show format.

Career

2002–2004: Gimmel

In the autumn of 2002, Vartiainen entered ''Popstars''. When interviewed by the magazine ''

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

'' in October 2007, she said she was not very seriously participating in the contest and that it was a "half accident", which led her to "finding herself". Along with Ushma Karnani (currently Olava), Susanna Korvala and

, she won the contest in October and the quartet formed the band Gimmel. However, Jonna Pirinen left the band after two weeks. Gimmel's debut single "Etsit muijaa seuraavaa" sold gold with over 17,000 copies in 2002, placing in the top 70 of the best-selling singles of all time in Finland. The band's debut album ''Lentoon'' (2002) debuted at number one on the Albums Chart, sold

multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

with over 98,000 copies and was the best-selling album of 2002 in Finland. With ''Lentoon'', the band won three Emma Awards in 2003: for New Pop/Rock Artist of the Year, Debut Album of the Year and Best-Selling Album of the Year. The second album ''Kaksi kertaa enemmän'' (2003) peaked at number two on the Albums Chart and managed to sell platinum with over 50,000 copies, but the third album ''Pisaroita ja kyyneleitä'' (2004), debuting at number three on the chart, charted for only six weeks and did not exceed the gold limit. During the Gimmel era, Vartiainen studied psychology at an open university. In the 2007 interview with ''City'', she said that Risto Asikainen, who wrote songs for the band, did not allow the trio inside the studio so that "they would not boss around". Vartiainen thought the decision was right, saying "three different girls have so different opinions" and adding that they were "newbies who knew nothing about anything". Vartiainen also considered Gimmel "a face to other people's project", saying that they could not focus on the content because they did not have time for that. In an August 2010 interview with ''Me Naiset'', Vartiainen said that she also learned from Gimmel "how it feels like when records don't sell and there are only ten people at a gig", adding that "an artist has to develop all the time and work like a maniac".

2005–2008: ''Ihmisten edessä''

In 2005, Vartiainen signed a record deal with

Warner Music Finland Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

. The production of her debut album together with producer

Jukka Immonen Jukka Immonen (born 14 April 1978) is a Finnish musician, record producer and composer. Career beginnings Immonen started to develop an interest in music as a teenager when his parents bought him a computer. Although his family was not especially ...

took so long that Vartiainen ran out of money, which led her to ask for cleaning jobs at Warner studios and ultimately she worked at a company, processing consumer complaints. Vartiainen's first solo single " Tunnoton" was released in April 2007 and the debut album ''

'' in September 2007. The album spawned two later singles, "

" and " Mustaa kahvia", of which "Ihmisten edessä", dealing with difficulties faced by

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people, was the biggest hit, peaking at number two on the Singles Chart and selling gold with over 16,000 copies. Vartiainen received the Seta’s price for the song in 2008. Selling over 61,000 copies and peaking at number six on the Albums Chart, her debut album went on to reach the Finnish double-platinum certification. Vartiainen was on the magazine cover for the December 2007 edition of the Finnish ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' and the March 2008 edition of the Mexican ''Cosmopolitan''. With ''Ihmisten edessä'' and its title track, Vartiainen won the Award for Debut Album of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2008 Emma Awards and the album was nominated for Pop Album of the Year.

2010–2012: ''Seili''

Vartiainen's second album '' Seili'' was released in March 2010 and it charted for 62 non-consecutive weeks on the Albums Chart—with 15 weeks at number one—and sold over 150,000 copies (

), becoming the best-selling album of 2010 in Finland with sales of 95,000 copies in that year and the 14th-best-selling of all time in the country. Three singles were released from ''Seili'', "

", " Nettiin" and " Missä muruseni on" along with two

promotional singles A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mus ...

, "

" and " Eikö kukaan voi meitä pelastaa?". "En haluu kuolla tänä yönä" and "Missä muruseni on" sold both platinum with over 11,000 copies and 18,000 copies, respectively, while "Duran Duran" sold gold with over 5,400 copies. "Missä muruseni on" was also the major chart hit from the album, topping the Singles Chart in its fourth week and staying atop for 11 weeks in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Met with mixed to positive critiques, on the one hand for its vocals and combination of pop and dark piano ballads, on the other hand for lack of peculiarity, the album and its singles earned Vartiainen a record-breaking seven Emma Awards in February 2011; the Awards for Female Soloist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year, Album of the Year, Pop/Rock Album of the Year, Best-Selling Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("En haluu kuolla tänä yönä") and Music Video of the Year ("Missä muruseni on"). In addition, her producer

won the Award for Producer of the Year. "Dumbfounded" by her success with ''Seili'', she said in an interview at the Emma Awards that "the way music starts to live its completely own life in the audience after being produced", makes her feel humble. Vartiainen was also nominated for Best Finnish Act at the

2010 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards took place on 7 November 2010 at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain. The awards ceremony was presented by Eva Longoria and Justin Bieber was the official MTV EMA 2010 digital host. Nominations were announced on 20 Septe ...

. Amid her busy concert tour around Finland in the spring of 2011, she denied some tabloid rumors that she would have canceled interviews due to stress and exhaustion. In May 2011, she announced she would take a long break after her upcoming summer concerts, to relax and prepare for a new album. Vartiainen's last concert before the break took place on the Main Stage at the

Finnish National Theatre The Finnish National Theatre (), established in 1872, is a theatre located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. The Finnish National Theatre is the oldest Finnish speaking professional thea ...

in Helsinki on August 28, with the specialty that the concert was broadcast live at

Finnkino Finnkino Oy is a Finnish film distributor, producer, and movie theater chain. It was established in 1986 as a union of 34 companies working in the film industry. In 1994, Finnkino was acquired by the Rautakirja Group, which became a division o ...

film theaters in 11 other localities around Finland, for the first time in the history of the theater. The tickets to the concert were sold out within a couple of hours. Due to technical difficulties, the concert could not be broadcast in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

and Kuopio. In an August 2011 interview with the radio station Iskelmä, Vartiainen said she was planning to spend her touring break by graduating as a singing teacher by August 2012—which she did in May 2013. In late January 2012, Vartiainen was about to perform briefly at a fundraising concert for the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

of the

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

Pekka Haavisto Pekka Olavi Haavisto (; born 23 March 1958) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2023. Haavisto returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of M ...

, but she was forced to cancel due to high fever and

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

2013–present: ''Terra''

After a two-year break, Warner Music Finland announced in August 2013 that Vartiainen would release her third studio album, ''

'', on 4 October 2013, preceded by its lead single " Junat ja naiset" on 16 August. The lead single peaked at number 15 and the album debuted at number one on

the Official Finnish Charts The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

. Vartiainen embarked on her new concert tour promoting the album on November 1.

Personal life

Jenni Vartiainen, who is known for keeping a very low profile on her private life, was reported on 28 March 2009 to have started a

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

with her producer

. Since May 2008, She has had a

Pumi dog The Pumi (in Hungarian, the plural form is ''pumik'') is a medium-small breed of sheep dog from Hungary. They are capable herding dogs, able to gather and work close to farm stock, particularly sheep, to keep them under control. Pumik have an ...

named Urho Kepponen. In August 2008, Vartiainen bought an apartment worth €400,000 in

Laajasalo Laajasalo () is a group of islands that forms a Southeast Helsinki's neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2018, it had a population of 18,876. It is Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most popu ...

neighborhood in Helsinki. During the summer of 2011, Vartiainen was a subject of pregnancy rumors in the media, due to her loose concert outfits, a slightly more rounded belly and the post-summer break the length of which was not specified. Vartiainen's spokesperson Carla Ahonius stated on the rumors to

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

that "the record label has nothing to report on the issue" and that " artiainenwill comment on the subject on Facebook if necessary". In September 2014, news broke that Vartiainen and Immonen had separated. In 2019, Vartiainen moved to New York City. The relatively successful career has accrued Vartiainen's wealth—she earned almost €71,000 in 2008, €47,000 in 2009 and €64,000 in 2010 The success of ''Seili'' further increased her wealth, as she earned nearly €200,000 in 2011 and €135,000 in 2012.

Discography

*''

'' (2007) *'' Seili'' (2010) *''

'' (2013) *''Monologi'' (2018) *''Origo'' (2025)

Awards and nominations

Emma Awards

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'' , Emma Award for Debut Album of the Year , , - , Emma Award for Pop Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;", "

" , Emma Award for Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;", 2011 , rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;", Jenni Vartiainen , Emma Award for Female Soloist of the Year , , - , Emma Award for Live Performer of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:left;", '' Seili'' , Emma Award for Album of the Year , , - , Emma Award for Pop/Rock Album of the Year , , - , Emma Award for Best-Selling Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;", "

" , Emma Award for Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;", " Missä muruseni on" , Emma Award for Music Video of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 2013 , rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;", Jenni Vartiainen , Emma Award for Female Soloist of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;", ''

'' , Emma Award for Album of the Year , , - , Emma Award for Pop Album of the Year , , -

MTV Europe Music Awards

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, rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;", Jenni Vartiainen , MTV Europe Music Award for Best Finnish Act , , -

References

External links

Jenni Vartiainen's Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vartiainen, Jenni 1983 births Living people 21st-century Finnish women singers Finnish pop singers Finnish women pop singers Finnish pianists Finnish flautists Finnish organists Finnish women pianists Finnish women flautists Women organists People from Kuopio Warner Music Group artists Finnish expatriates in the United States