Timo Antero Kotipelto (born March 15, 1969) is the vocalist of the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and is the creator and vocalist of the power metal band Kotipelto, as well as the front-man of the supergroup Cain's Offering.
Kotipelto was born in Lappajärvi, Finland. He studied vocals at the pop/jazz conservatory in Helsinki, briefly singing for an amateur cover band named Filthy Asses in the 80s until his 16s. In summer of 1994, he applied to Stratovarius, who were looking for a singer at the time, and was accepted. His arrival corresponds closely with the band's rise to international fame. The first album he recorded with the band was Fourth Dimension, in 1995. Stratovarius has then become a top name in the European heavy metal scene, recording seven more albums and performing in numerous notable rock festivals.
In late 2003, Kotipelto split from Stratovarius after intra-band disagreements, notably with guitarist Timo Tolkki. After much turmoil throughout 2004, he rejoined the band in January 2005, recorded the album Stratovarius, and performed live on tour that covered North America, South America, Europe and Asia. In 2008 Timo Tolkki made public that he and Timo Kotipelto had arguments but Koltipelto never really left the band and the announcement that he left was part of a big publicity stunt.
In 2002 Kotipelto started his solo project, called Kotipelto. So far he has released three albums: "Waiting For The Dawn, "Coldness" and the last one, released 20 April 2007, "Serenity". Kotipelto performed with Rod Kresp(Lead singer) of The Vault in Brazil
Aside from Stratovarius and Kotipelto, Timo Kotipelto has also provided additional vocals to Sonata Arctica's Silence album, and lead vocals for the song "Out of the White Hole", on Ayreon's 2000 release Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator.
Discography[]
With Stratovarius[]
- Fourth Dimension (1995)
- Episode (1996)
- Visions (1997)
- Visions of Europe (Live, 1998)
- Destiny (1998)
- The Chosen Ones (Compilation, 1999)
- Infinite (2000)
- Infinite Visions (DVD, 2000)
- Intermission (2001)
- Elements, Pt. 1 (2003)
- Elements, Pt. 2 (2003)
- Stratovarius (2005)
- Polaris (2009)
- Elysium (2011)
- Nemesis (2013)
With Kotipelto[]
- Waiting For The Dawn (2002)
- "Beginning" (2002) - single
- Coldness (2004)
- "Reasons" (2004) - single
- "Take Me Away" (2004) - single
- Serenity (2007)
- "Sleep Well" (2006) - single
Others[]
- Lennä Nykäsen Matti
- Sait Kyyneleet
With Cain's Offering[]
- Gather the Faithful (2009)