"Sleeping Sun" is a power ballad by Nightwish. The song was written by Tuomas Holopainen and dedicated to the solar eclipse that arose on the European sky in 1999. It was first released on the MaxiCD of the same name in 1999, with a re-recorded version released in late October/early November 2005.

"Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)" is the fifth single by Nightwish. The first recording of the song dates back from May and June 1999, it was recorded at two studios, Caverock and Finnvox, both in Finland. Together with the songs "Walking in the Air", "Angels Fall First" and "Swanheart", Sleeping Sun was released for the first time on the MCD Sleeping Sun – Four Ballads of the Eclipse. Later in 1999, the song was added to most new releases of the 1998 album Oceanborn, and in 2004 also on the compilation album Tales from the Elvenpath.

Sleeping Sun was certified with Gold Disc in Finland with more than 5.000 sold copies, and also in Germany with more than 15.000 sold copies. It reached the number-one spot in the Finnish charts, and was #69 in the German Official Singles Charts.

All music composed by Nightwish.

In 2005, Nightwish announced that they were busy recording a new version of this song for a compilation album, entitled Highest Hopes. Tarja Turunen sang lead vocals on the re-recorded version, this becoming her final studio contribution to the band before being replaced by Anette Olzon.

"Sleeping Sun" would appear on the Highest Hopes album titled "Sleeping Sun 2005 Version". To promote the compilation it was released as a CD & DVD single.

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Wikipedia