Floor Jansen has opened up about her departure from Nightwish, announced on 15 October after 14 years with the band. Speaking to Dutch outlet NU.nl, the singer compared the split to the end of a romantic relationship. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work anymore,” she said.
Jansen explained that what mattered most was that, once they were on stage together, they were still “the band that everyone came to see”. “If that is no longer possible and you can no longer get through the more difficult periods together, then it is over,” she said. “That is not a decision taken lightly, and I certainly didn’t make it lightly.”
The October announcement described the parting as an amicable, mutual decision. In their statement, Nightwish called it “the end of a truly great voyage” and confirmed the band will carry on: “We will move forward and enter the studio in 2027 to record a new album.” The Finnish group, now marking their 30th anniversary, have not named a new singer. Jansen wrote: “Endings create new beginnings, and even though it was a hard decision to make, I believe there is a bright musical journey ahead of me.”
The split stands in contrast to comments keyboardist and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen made in 2021, when he said that if Jansen left, “it’s the end of NIGHTWISH. Absolutely, 100%.” Nightwish have not performed live since April 2023, and Holopainen has hinted at a return to the stage in 2028. Their most recent album, ‘Yesterwynde’, was released in September 2024 via Nuclear Blast.
Jansen joined Nightwish as a touring vocalist in 2012 following Anette Olzon‘s exit, playing her first show with the band on 1 October that year in Seattle, and became an official member in 2013. With the band, she recorded ‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’ (2015), ‘Human. :II: Nature.’ (2020) and ‘Yesterwynde’, as well as three live albums. She previously fronted After Forever, which she joined at 16, and ReVamp.
The Dutch singer will now focus on her solo career. Her second album, ‘Hytress’, arrives 15 January 2027 via REVAMP Music/Warner Music as the follow-up to 2023’s ‘Paragon’, and has been previewed with ‘Run’, ‘Bring Me Silence’ and ‘Everything Is Moving On’. Speaking to Finland’s Imperiumi, Jansen said she set out “to find a heavier, more metal sound that is 100% me, but not like NIGHTWISH”, citing Gojira, Bleed from Within and Periphery as inspirations, and said she consciously tried “to avoid anything really orchestral.”
The ‘Hytress’ tour opens on 14 January in Antwerp and runs until 13 February, with a UK date at London’s Electric Brixton on 16 January. Jansen will also play Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting in June.
