My Thoughts on Floor Leaving Nightwish
(…Because everyone keeps asking)
Nightwish Story exhibition (pre-relocation)
So, as we all know, I wrote a little rant recently to blow off some steam (which has since been censored because I really don’t actually want any part in internet fan drama). It related to how frustrated I am by the internet’s perception of Nightwish’s Tuomas Holopainen, triggered by the announcement of the 30th anniversary compilation. Perhaps I’m just frustrated by parasocial relationships with celebrities in general. I digress.
Wouldn’t you know it? The “curse of three,” as they call it, has claimed Nightwish, for as of October 15th, 2026, Floor Jansen has parted ways with the band.
I find myself in an interesting place, because people keep asking me my thoughts on this. Surprising, really, that of all the things I spout on about, this is the place where people seem most interested in my thoughts. Perhaps it’s because people know I’ve been following and covering Nightwish and its associated acts for some time now. Perhaps it’s because I’ve remained quite Nightwish-adjacent since semi-retiring from music journalism; I’ve sold merch for Marko Hietala on two Finnish tours and I’ve followed Eye of Melian around the country covering their tour, among many other things. Or perhaps it’s because I wrote that angry-ass rant about how frustrating I find people on the internet who make up personas for artists based on nothing more than their parasocial obsession, limited perspectives, and/or a lot of half-baked assumptions. Or… maybe folks are just going down a wormhole on the internet regarding the whole situation.
One way or the other, people seem to want to hear my thoughts on this breakup. So, here they are:
I really, honestly, genuinely don’t care.
I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. One way or the other, one or both sides of this decided that this was the right choice for them, so I’m going to respect that. That’s all there is to it.
One half of the internet is already making up a bunch of nonsense about how Floor was fired/evil Tuomas chased her off, and the reality is, plain and simple, that what happens between bands is absolutely, 100%, none of my business, nor is it anyone else’s. Everyone’s once again making all these assumptions that Nightwish have been mistreating Floor. Maybe they did, and if so, I hope she speaks out and I hope people learn and grow and try to do better next time. However, Floor didn’t say she was mistreated, so why are we assuming that immediately? I will consider whatever any of the parties involved say, if and when they say it.
The other half of the internet is saying that Floor is a disloyal bitch who’s betraying her fans. Because apparently she’s not allowed to make decisions about her career and future without asking 8 billion people permission first. Thing is, Floor’s got a family and her husband’s also in a huge, touring band (Sabaton). Did anyone at all consider that she might want to have more control over her schedule and her own life, and that’s valid? Women don’t need to be married to someone else’s project forever anymore, people. They’re allowed to have their own careers. I’m not saying this is her motivation, but Floor can have a thousand reasons to want to leave Nightwish that have absolutely nothing to do with Tuomas. Do we forget how sexist this sounds? She’s a whole-ass person and her choices do not have to all center around her relationship with a guy she works with. If she wants to talk smack about Tuomas, she can. She’s Dutch, so I have no illusions that if she wants to drag him, she can and will. Until that day, I have no opinion. It’s not my business and it’s an immense waste of time to speculate because we’re unlikely to learn the whole truth either way.
Look, I don’t know what this band’s atmosphere is behind the scenes. I don’t know how demanding Tuomas is when he’s bringing his vision to life. All I know is that I’ve spent a fair amount of time with him and he has never been anything but warm, introspective, and kind. Emphasis on the kind. Yes, some great artists out there can be tough to work with. This has been documented throughout history. It would come as no surprise that Tuomas might be very demanding. That’s absolutely not outside of the realms of possibility. Other famous big names in the metal scene have also admitted to being very demanding to work with. Fun thing about that is that every artist has the choice to embrace the challenge of working with someone who’s demanding, or move on and do their own thing. And it’s okay if someone changes their mind after a while. Floor is a grown woman who can make her own decisions for her own reasons and no one is entitled to knowing those reasons beyond the people she personally tells.
I really don’t understand why people are so married to the idea that bands should remain unchanged. Why is it acceptable for people to leave bands for illnesses or injuries, but not for other personal reasons? Why do they need to justify their life choices to the public?
Here’s the facts: historically, none of this drama has ever hurt Nightwish. Floor kicks ass and she’s gonna keep on kicking ass, no matter what she does. She’s absolutely beloved and she’s doing well with her solo career. She’s floored me (sorry, not sorry) every time she’s performed with Ayreon. She slays in everything she’s a part of. She’s welcome to want to pursue her own interests over someone else’s musical project, no? I wish her the absolute best of luck and I look forward to checking out her new album and seeing her show next year.
From Nightwish’s end, the only part of this that interests me in the slightest is theorizing who would make a fun replacement. For reals. Look, I love old Nightwish with Tarja, I love second gen with Anette, and I love third season with Floor. This is because the meaning and inspiration behind the music has followed along with my life’s journey and I’ve always stayed connected to it, and I am really not that fussy about keeping the band’s bloodline pure. Blood purists are generally the villains of stories, remember? So long as I still find the music interesting and inspiring, I’m going to keep listening to it, regardless of who’s fronting things. I wish Nightwish all the best and I look forward to finding out who they choose to work with next.
On that note then—since I am actually already exhausted of being cranky with people’s attitudes—let’s draw the conclusion that I have absolutely zero interest in speculation and drama-mongering, so instead, here are some of the most interesting choices for new Nightwish singers that I’ve already heard theorized! And sorry, no, I’m not including Tarja Turunen because I doubt either side of that party want to move backwards rather than forwards. I’m pretty sure I saw an interview recently saying that this wasn’t going to happen, so I wouldn’t mind, but I find this too unlikely to bother speculating on.
Johanna Kurkela — now, I’d love to hear her try some Nightwish material, but I think if she was going to join, she’d have probably replaced Anette already, though who knows, perhaps the situation has shifted since then. She and Tuomas already have Auri together, though, so they might need some project separation between them.
Charlotte Wessels — she is a talented, big-name in the symphonic metal scene, and she is a free agent at the moment. I’m not extremely familiar with her solo work, so I don’t know how she’d do with the Nightwish material. My thoughts there would relate to potential loyalties between Nightwish and Delain, though I wouldn’t discount the possibility.
Noora Louhimo — another big name with a big range who happens to be a free agent currently, who’s already been singing Nightwish songs with Marko Hietala… there’s no question she could do it and do it well. But she’s already paving her way with her own career and doing a lot of TV performances, so she might not have the time nor interest in being a part of another person’s project, yet again, especially if part of the reason for her split with Battle Beast related to her desire to have more creative input. I don’t think their trajectories align, even if it would be cool to see.
A total newbie — of course, this is always a possibility, but can’t make any theories on that note.
A fun but unlikely one: Anneke van Giersbergen — she’s been riding the solo waves for quite some time, since we haven’t heard from Vuur in ages, so she’s beloved, talented, knows her way around the industry already (ergo less likely to tolerate any crap), and could surely handle the material.
My favorite idea: Helena Haaparanta. I have no idea if she’d want a wild record-and-tour lifestyle like that, but we all know from The Voice of Finland this year that she can basically do Tarja, Marko, and Anette’s parts, so if she’d be into it, I think she’d be a hell of a choice. Bonus points for her extremely varied experience, which covers everything from metal to tango.
And my personal favorite weird and unlikely idea: rotating vocalists — one option could be to move things into a slightly more Ayreon-like territory and hire a few different guest vocalists for each album that would best suit the material.
So, indeed, my thoughts regarding this recent split are 100% dedicated to thinking about who could be an interesting replacement. Who do you think would be fun to see at the front of the band?
