Ville Valo Obituary

‘Poetry Is The Rhythmical Creation Of Beauty In Words’
Edgar Allan Poe

On February 1st 2009 a man who was a great fan of Poe died, and it is he who has taken this short quote and turned it into reality. Despite him living on this earth just over three decades.
This is in the memory of Ville Hermanni Valo, lead singer of the Finnish alternative musical group HIM (His Infernal Majesty).

I will never forget the day
All the candles in my room went out at once
The day he died

In my dreams I saw angels cut out their tongues
What is the point of singing hymns
When he is gone

Beauty could not show his face the next day
Darkness swept over every land
He brought the light

And now we are able to only weep and pray
That love will not forget our fragile souls
Without the company of his words
His voice
His passion
His love


From being the nervous newcomer, to the poster boy of metal, to the drunken wreck and finally the rehabilitated saviour Ville Valo captured and kept the hearts of countless fans in every country possible. His unique style of lyrics made a dying form of music new again and truly beautiful. No on e could challenge his charm and talent as lands fell like dominos to HIM’s own genre of music, Love Metal. His creation of the heartagram has given a symbol to almost anything that combines romance and the gothic in a perfect combination. A simple pentagram with two curves instead of points may not seem like much to the ignorant eye, but it has become worshiped amongst HIM fans to the point of countless tattoos and t shirts.
He was close to his fans, always being polite and signing autographs or standing for pictures no matter what trauma was going on in is life secretly. Because of this it was heartbreaking to watch him loose himself to drink and for a time we all thought it was the end. We were right, but it was not because of the drink, nor was it the cigarettes. Although now he has immortalised the picture of a handsome young man always with a cigarette in his hand or drooping from his lips. Like an old style rock and roll photo shoot, just every day instead.
Now ever picture, interview, song, poem, quote and gig ticket is sacred matter, and Helsinki is sacred ground. Ville, we will never forget you, no matter how much we try through our grief. Your wonderfully poetic words will be tattooed on all our souls, like kisses from delicate angels. And we all know now that you are amongst them, black feathered wings and burning halo, you will guide us all through this life until we can join you...
In death.