The idea of Nightwish was 'born' in July 1996 at midnight when Tuomas was spending a night with his friends around a campfire. The first three songs, which were acoustic mood music, were recorded between October and December 1996. At that time the band had three members: Tuomas, Tarja and Emppu. Originally, Tarja Turunen wasn't into metal at all (nor did she even know what it was). She was approached by the first two members at her school at the time and asked to join because they knew she was one of the best singers in the school.

Trivia: Tuomas Holopainen is a huge fanatic of Disney animation and he loves Disneyworld in Florida, USA. Nightwish has played some shows there at the Blues Club, and at that time, the Disney film "Finding Nemo" was in theaters, leading to the misconception that the song 'Nemo' has something to do with movie. The truth is Nemo is Latin for 'nobody' and the name is a coincidence. At Nightwish live shows, it's been known for people to throw the Nemo fish character plush doll on stage to the band.

Former lead singer Tarja Turunen was fired with an 'open letter' by the 4 other band members on Oct. 22, 2005. It took until May 2007 for her replacement, Anette Olzon (of the AOR band Alyson Avenue) to be announced.