Lordi

Lordi
Lordi on stage in 2009. In the picture: OX and Mr Lordi.
Background information
Origin	Rovaniemi, Finland
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal, shock rock
Years active	1992–present
Labels	AFM Records, Sony Music, GUN, The End, BMG, Drakkar Records
Website	lordi.fi
Members	Mr Lordi Amen OX Hella Mana
Past members	G-Stealer Enary Magnum Kita Kalma Awa Otus

Lordi (Finnish pronunciation: [lordi]) are a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi. In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during concerts and music videos.

Lordi rose to fame in 2002 with their hit single, "Would You Love a Monsterman?". The band made history in 2006 by becoming the first, and still today the only, hard rock act and Finnish artist to win the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

Lordi has toured around the world actively since 2002. The band records a new studio album in 2–3 years cycle and at the same time Mr Lordi upgrades the costumes and masks of the band. Monstereophonic were released in Fall of 2016. The band has gone through several line-up changes, but original members Mr Lordi and guitarist Amen are still active with the band.

Members of Lordi have stated their desire for their unmasked faces to remain private. However, they have made a number of unmasked appearances in several news outlets.

Lordi was formed in 1992 as a solo project by Mr Lordi. Lordi's very first demo album Napalm Market was done in 1993. The album included a song "Inferno", which also got a music video, all done by Mr Lordi. In the music video Mr Lordi performed unmasked but he had made monster make-up for his friends who played secondary role in the video. After the video was done, Mr Lordi got an idea of a band of monsters. "Inferno" was later released in Finnish "Rockmurskaa" compilation album in 1995. In 1996 Mr Lordi organized a Kiss cruise for Finnish Kiss fans from Finland to Sweden. During the cruise he met musicians Amen and G-Stealer, and told them about his music project called Lordi. After the cruise they joined the band. One year later Enary joined the band on keyboard and the band recorded their first album, Bend Over And Pray The Lord. At the time when the album was recorded, the band didn't have a drummer and they used MIDI drum tracks in place of a real drummer.