Nightwish Announce Departure Of Bassist Marko Hietala
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Nightwish have announced the departure of Marko Hietala.
The bassist and supporting vocalist, who has been with the band nearly 20 years, posted a letter to the Nightwish social media pages in which he detailed his disillusionment with the music business and his inability to feel "validated by this life." Head below to read it in full.
Dear people. I am leaving Nightwish and my public life.
For a quite a few years now I haven’t been able to feel validated by this life. We have streaming company big guns demanding 9/5 work from artists of inspiration while unfairly sharing the profits. Even among the artists. We’re the banana republic of the music industry. Biggest tour promoters squeeze percentages even from our own merchandise while paying dividends to Middle East. Apparently some theocrasies can take the money from the music that would get you beheaded or jailed there without appearing as hypocrites. Just a couple of examples here.