Michael Monroe

Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm, best known by his stage name, Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23 and Jerusalem Slim (with Steve Stevens).

Early life

Michael Monroe was born Matti "Makke" Fagerholm on 17 June 1962. His father, Pentti Fagerholm (1935–2015), was a very well known Finnish radio personality and reporter. Monroe states in the Hanoi Rocks autobiography All Those Wasted Years that one of the first times he was exposed to rock n' roll was when he saw Black Sabbath's 1970 Paris performance on television.

Hanoi Rocks (1979–1985)

Hanoi Rocks was a band that Monroe and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy had thought of, but because McCoy was in the Finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy, he told Monroe to start the band without him. The band released their first album in 1981 titled Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, with most of the songs written by McCoy. The album was produced by Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe, who were known as "The Muddy Twins".

In 1984, Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks were among the most popular performers in the UK. The readers of the Sounds magazine voted Hanoi Rocks as the second best band in the world just after Marillion.

Solo years and other projects (1985–2001)

After Hanoi Rocks broke up in 1985, Monroe decided to start his solo career, but first he got to work with his good friend Stiv Bators. In the Fall of 1985, Bators and Monroe were asked by Steven Van Zandt to record backing vocals in London and then fly to New York to appear on his song "Sun City" and its music video. Both agreed and recorded backing vocals for the song, and both can be seen in the music video.

Monroe's solo career didn't prove to be as successful as he'd hoped, so in 1990 he decided to put together a new band. The band was called Jerusalem Slim, and was completed by former Billy Idol-guitarist Steve Stevens, Sami Yaffa, Greg Ellis and Ian McLagan.

In 1991, Monroe was asked by Guns N' Roses to appear on their Use Your Illusion I album, where he plays the harmonica and saxophone on the song "Bad Obsession". Monroe also later appeared on GNR's 1993 album, "The Spaghetti Incident?", where he sang on the cover of The Dead Boys' "Ain't It Fun". At the time, Monroe also joined Guns N' Roses on stage performing Honky Tonk Women together with the band members and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones.

Reformation of Hanoi Rocks (2002–2009)

In 2002, McCoy and Monroe started working together again and decided to reform Hanoi Rocks with two new members on guitar and bass. In 2008 Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe stated that they had taken the band as far as they could, and so they decided to end the band. In April 2009, Hanoi Rocks played 8 sold out farewell gigs in 6 days at the Tavastia Club, in Helsinki. The band's original guitarist Nasty Suicide appeared as a special guest on 3 of the last gigs.

New band (2010–present)

On 25 January 2010 Michael Monroe held a press conference in Los Angeles, where he unveiled his new band featuring Sam Yaffa on bass, guitarist Ginger from The Wildhearts, Todd Youth from Danzig and Samhain on a second guitar, and Jimmy Clarke on drums. The press conference was hosted by Bam Margera of Jackass. The Michael Monroe band started touring on 11 March at San Francisco's Paradise Lounge and toured the US until 21 March. After some of the first shows Todd Youth and Jimmy Clark were replaced by guitarist Steve Conte of New York Dolls and drummer Karl Rosqvist... On 9 November 2011, Sensory Overdrive won the "Album of the Year" award at the 2011 Classic Rock Magazine awards.

In 2012 Monroe was a Star Coach on TV in The Voice of Finland.

The dude is still rocking.

Michael Monroe, ensin Mike Monroe on suomalainen rockmuusikko, joka tunnetaan erityisesti Hanoi Rocks -yhtyeen laulajana. Monroe perusti yhtyeen vuonna 1979 Nasty Suiciden ja Stefan Piesnackin kanssa. Vuonna 2012 Wall Street Journal mainitsi Monroen ehkäpä maailman arvostetuimmaksi vähemmän tunnetuksi rockmuusikoksi.

Syntyi: 17. kesäkuuta 1962 (ikä 59 vuotta), Helsinki
Pituus: 1,83 m
Puoliso: Johanna Fagerholm (v. 2003), Jude Wilder (v. ?–2001)
Vanhemmat: Pentti Fagerholm, Toini Marjatta Kiilas
Yhtyeet: Hanoi Rocks (vuodesta 1980), Demolition 23. (1993 – 1995

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Monroe Michael Monroe], ensin Mike Monroe (oikealta nimeltään Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm), on suomalainen rockmuusikko, joka tunnetaan erityisesti Hanoi Rocks -yhtyeen laulajana. Monroe perusti yhtyeen vuonna 1979 Nasty Suiciden ja Stefan Piesnackin kanssa.

Vuonna 2012 Wall Street Journal mainitsi Monroen ehkäpä maailman arvostetuimmaksi vähemmän tunnetuksi rockmuusikoksi. Linkki artikkeliin (maksumuuri).

Hanoi Rocksin ohella hän on laulanut useissa muissa yhtyeissä ja julkaissut sooloalbumeja, ja toiminut tuomarina TV:n The Voice of Finlandissa.