Tarja Turunen made her name as the vocalist with Nightwish (1996-2005) before launching her solo career and becoming the most widely recognised voice and star of operatic metal. She has performed operatic rock at football stadia in South America and sung opera in central European opera houses. A TV star in Finland where her albums sell in double-platinum numbers, her Christmas-themed releases have become standards of festive radio across Europe. She has achieved fame in the US, UK and Europe headlining countless Metal festivals around the world (including one in Poland attended by 500,000 people), earning gold and platinum sales awards in the process.