Alexi Laiho, frontman of metal band Children of Bodom, dies aged 41
Alexi #Alexi
Alexi Laiho, frontman with globally successful Finnish death metal band Children of Bodom, has died aged 41.
His bandmates in his current group, Bodom After Midnight, announced the news, writing on social media: “It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Alexi Laiho. We are absolutely devastated and heartbroken for the sudden loss of our dear friend and band member.”
A press release said he had “suffered from long-term health issues during his last years”. His wife, Kelli Wright-Laiho, said: “Alexi was the most loving and magnificent husband and father. Our hearts are eternally broken.”
Laiho was born in Espoo in 1979, and began learning guitar as a teenager, forming the group Inearthed in his mid-teens inspired by the bleak, burgeoning metal scene across Scandinavia in the early 1990s as well as classic heavy metal. In 1997 the band changed their name to Children of Bodom, a reference to the murder of three teenagers at the local Lake Bodom in 1960.
They released their debut album, Something Wild, later in 1997, and their reputation grew across successive records, with fourth album Hate Crew Deathroll (2003) becoming the first of six Finnish chart-toppers. Their success then went global, with 2008’s Blooddrunk reaching No 22 in the US and the UK Top 50, a rare achievement for a death metal release. They released 10 albums in all, plus two live LPs.
They disbanded in 2019, playing a final concert in Helsinki in December that year.
More to come…