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NIGHTWISH's FLOOR JANSEN looks back on her extraordinary, incredible and challenging year in YouTube series "Coffee, Questions & Answers

21-06-2024

NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen has shared the very first episode of her new YouTube series “Coffee, Questions & Answers”. According to Floor, “Coffee, Questions & Answers” is a heartfelt and intimate series where she and her viewers “share a cup, life’s highs and lows, and the simple joy of connecting over a warm brew.”

In the first “Coffee, Questions & Answers” episode, Floor says in part: “Quite the year it has been. I mean, obviously, I had a baby. Great to have little Lucy into this world. ‘Paragon’ album, my first solo album, came into this world. We did a world tour with NIGHTWISH. We finally got to finish that post-pandemic and decided to stop touring for a while. So we actually played our last shows for a while. Not to mention I got cancer. I got too tired. We moved into a new house, and lots and lots has happened. So let’s talk about that.

“Little Lucy. She’s looking at me right now as I’m drinking coffee with you,” Floor continued. “She just woke up from a little nap. She’s eight months old already. Can you believe that? I mean, time just flies. It’s incredible.

“Last year, exactly a year ago, I was very, very round, still doing show, trying to pull everything off with her in my belly. Crazy year it has been, really. Yeah, just like that she was there — this tiny, tiny creature. As a mother of two now, I thought I kind of knew what was gonna happen, and partially you do actually know and you remember, and, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Oh, this.’ But you forget how tiny, tiny, tiny they are. I guess there was a lot of distraction for me too. This came right in between touring, making the first solo album, making ‘Paragon’. I’m forever proud of this first album. Yeah, it made the fight extra, extra worthwhile in that sense. This album is really an empowering one. Finally being able to tour with NIGHTWISH. I know I’m jumping from one thing to another a little bit, but they’re all quite entwined for me, because the cancer came right in the middle of this postponed ‘Human. :II: Nature.’ world tour. I found out a few days before I was supposed to come to South America that I had cancer. I had no idea what to do with it more than, ‘Okay, this needs to be out of my body.’ That’s the first and only thing you can think about. ‘Now I know that it’s in there, I want it out.’ And they kind of would have done that on the spot if there wasn’t a long travel ahead of me to South America. So, we planned it for the day after I landed back from that tour.

“It felt like I’m losing all control over everything — the control over my health, the control over my future,” Jansen admitted. “It was definitely difficult times for me. But once again there, the audience and also my band really helped me to pull through and to make the tour as good as possible, given the stress of, yeah, the physical aspect. Yeah, a tough cookie. Definitely a tough cookie.

“From there we rolled into the new year, and all of a sudden, just like that, the dark clouds disappeared, and I got pregnant,” Floor added. “I still had ahead of me, with NIGHTWISH, with the release of this album, with the tour I was gonna do solo, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do that with a baby in my belly now. Oh my god.’ Challenge. Challenge accepted. And so there we went. And I look back to it as an absolute challenge, but also the best of all worlds combined. I was able to still pursue my solo ambitions, make the tour with NIGHTWISH as good as possible, carry my child in a healthy way. Also there you guys were all the time. Every show, especially with the solo shows, it was so great to get to meet you, to talk, to share. But also online, and sometimes silence also means a lot, the fact that I know that I can take a step back when I have to.”

n November 2022, Floor revealed that she was “cancer free” after undergoing surgery to have a tumor removed following a breast cancer diagnosis.

In March 2023, Floor and SABATON drummer Hannes Van Dahl announced that they were expecting their second child. Jansen and Van Dahl already have a seven-year-old daughter named Freja, who was born on March 15, 2017.

In April 2023, NIGHTWISH surprised fans by announcing that the band was not going to be playing any live shows for the foreseeable future and would be not be touring in support of the group’s next studio album, “Yesterwynde”, which is due on September 20, 2024 via Nuclear Blast.

NIGHTWISH played its last concert before the break from touring this past Saturday, June 17 2023 at Lemonsoft Stadion in Vaasa. Fan-filmed video of that show can be seen below.

In 2023 Jansen released her solo album Paragon“. 

“Paragon” includes the following tracks:

  1. My Paragon
  2. Daydream
  3. Invincible
  4. Hope
  5. Come Full Circle
  6. Storm
  7. Me Without You
  8. The Calm
  9. Armoured Wings
  10. Fire

Jansen said: “To renew yourself and take leaps into the unknown makes you grow. To age is a gift not everyone gets. I am a fortunate woman who got to make an album I never knew I could make. One that even defines me, where I am on my path. I have reached my PARAGON! I am so proud of this work! And grateful for all the amazing people in this beautiful life that helped me get here!”

With its mix of influences and powerful vocal performances, “Paragon” is an album that will appeal to fans of pop music and metal alike. It’s the perfect addition to any music collection, and a must-have for fans of Floor Jansen and NIGHTWISH.

“Paragon” will be released digitally and physically on CD, vinyl, and a limited-edition deluxe box set. The album will be available on all major streaming platforms and at music retailers worldwide.

Following the release, Jansen will embark on a tour of The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in April and May of 2023.

Floor had previously released singles from “Paragon”: “Daydream”,  “Invincible”, “Me Without You”, “Storm” and “Fire”.

JANSEN revealed last year she is undergoing treatment after a successful operation fro breast cancer. The treatment continued in January.

When Floor Jansen revealed that she was “cancer free” on November 18th, she said in a statement:

“Great news! I am cancer free. The surgery took everything cancerous out and it hasn’t spread! I’ll get local radiation therapy in February to make sure everything stays out.

“I’m getting my energy back after the surgery and feel a huge relief to know it was successful! I’m not back to a 100% but I have no doubt the shows will give me the power push I need to rock with all of you on the upcoming European tour.

“Thank you for your amazing support and well wishes”.

Jansen revealed her diagnosis in October. At the time, she wrote: “A letter to you, Life comes in waves, with ups and downs. I have had the joy of riding many highs, and I have shared these with you through social media and the many many shows worldwide throughout the many years of my career.

“But now a new wave hit me. Not a good one. I have breast cancer. It was diagnosed a little over 2 weeks ago and I will have surgery tomorrow to remove the tumor. My prognosis is very good!!! It seems to be a non-aggressive cancer, which seems to not have spread. I will keep my breast. And I will be cancer free after this surgery, plus a local radiation treatment that will take place three months after this surgery, hopefully. We will know more after the surgery to see if this positive prognosis stands.

“The word cancer is a shocker. All that you found important in life before this diagnosis changes radically within minutes. Now I just want to be healthy again. I want to see my daughter grow into a woman; I want to live! And the scariest part of this diagnosis is that I thought I was healthy! I didn’t feel the cancer, I didn’t know it was there until I, as a 40+ woman, went to a standard mammogram checkup. Something many countries offer, for free even for the lucky ones. Had I not gone there, the tumor would have gone undetected. In a year from now this could have grown much bigger. The thought of that makes me share this story with you. A mammogram is lifesaving! It’s uncomfortable and you might think that you won’t have something in your breasts anyway but GO! And for the men reading this: remind your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister to go and get checked. Even without the luxury I as a western woman experience with free mammogram checkups: GO! Luckily, there are many organizations that offer information about self-detection if you do not have access or funds for a mammogram.
If I might inspire you to take good care of yourself, then something good will come out of this cancer diagnosis.

“If all goes as planned, I will be up and running in time for the European tour with NIGHTWISH, that will start on the 20th of November! And I am optimistic since my prognosis is good!

“I promise to take good care of myself.

“I will be off the grid for a while to focus on myself.”

Besides her work for finish gsymphonic metal band NIGHTWISH, she also has a successfull solo career, which was ignited by her participation in the Dutch t show De Beste Zangers (the best singers) in which she gave an interpretation of the ‘Phantom Of The Opera’, alongside operatic singer Henk Poort.

Four months ago, Floor was asked in an interview with FaceCulture if she is planning to eventually release a full-length solo album. She said: “There are a lot more songs ready. There’s not an album ready, but also because it would make no sense to have one. Due to the pandemic, there’s an entire NIGHTWISH still not done and still yet to be done; as it looks like, we actually are gonna do that now. So before that, I cannot say, ‘Okay, I come [out] with a solo album.’ ‘Cause then you also would like to do some more [solo] shows and do the right promotion and all of that, so there’s no time for that — which is a luxury problem on itself. But it’s fun. And that’s also a big difference with this pop music thing — you can release singles. It’s not an album-based world; it’s completely different.”

Jansen went on to call “Fire” “a statement and “the kick-off of everything. And from there I’ll keep releasing singles. And the aim is to release the album in ’23,” she explained before clarifying that there are a lot of variables involved that could affect the timeline of the LP’s arrival. “But the ambition is there. And everything is geared up to do that.”

Jansen is best known as the frontwoman in the multi-million selling and internationally successful symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH. As part of the band, Jansen has landed two number one albums in Finland, and Top Five albums in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Born in the Netherlands, Jansen joined her first band, one of the world’s first symphonic metal bands, AFTER FOREVER, when she was only 16 years old. The group went on to release five albums from 2000 to 2007, before they broke up in 2009.

Jansen‘s next band, REVAMP, released two albums in 2010 and 2013, before she joined NIGHTWISH as a full-time member. NIGHTWISH‘s first album with Jansen as the lead singer was 2015’s “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, which landed in Top 10s around the world. This was followed by 2020’s “Human. :II: Nature.” , which was also an international success.

Jansen has toured extensively with the band and appeared on three of NIGHTWISH‘s live albums “Showtime, Storytime”, “Vehicle Of Spirit” and “Decades: Live In Buenos Aires”.

In 2019, Jansen participated in the popular Dutch TV show “Beste Zangers” where she scored a big hit with “Phantom Of The Opera” together with Henk Poort. She was recognized with a Dutch Popprijs award — a prestigious accolade for artists that has made important contributions to Dutch music. In the same year, her first solo tour sold out in less than 24 hours.

Jansen performed live with NIGHTWISH for the first time on October 1, 2012 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the band’s lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon. Jansen officially joined NIGHTWISH in 2013.

ï»żï»żPhoto by Florencia Giuliana FotografĂ­a

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