NIGHTWISH Singer Pregnant

NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon has issued the following update via her official blog:

"I have held a little secret for you all for some time now, but today I feel I want to share it with you all.

"As you all know, I am very private and don't want to share to much about my personal life, but due to some speculations and since I am so happy I have decided to tell my secret:

"Last autumn in the middle of my demo recordings of my solo album, I started to feel very, very tired and also nauseated. I took a pregnancy test and guess if me and my boyfriend [Johan, which some fan sites have speculated is actually bassist Johan Husgafvel of the Swedish metal band PAIN, although Anette has never publicly confirmed this — Ed.] was really surprised to see that I had gotten pregnant. Since I had decided to not have any more children than my son [eight-year-old Seth], it was totally not planned, but after the very first shock, it felt really, really good.

"Now I have almost done half the pregnancy and I am feeling extremely good, but it's due to this I decided to not do the solo this year. I am sure you all can understand this decision better now and I do promise to release the songs at another time."

A short question-and-answer session with Olzon about her pregnancy follows below.

Q: How does it feel to have a baby after so many years from the first one?

Anette: I had decided to not have any more children due to the fact that my last pregnancy was very hard and filled with hospital visits and a hard delivery. I also had big problems getting pregnant the first time, so I really didn't think my body could do it one more time, especially since I am 38 years old. Now when faith stepped in and I am pregnant after so many years (my son is turning 9 when the baby comes) it feels as a good timing. My son is really looking forward and he can be that big brother who can help me a little bit more than if he was 2.

Q: Tell something about the schedule next fall. Are you able to keep any mom vacation or do you have to get to work soon? How is that going to happen, if yes?

Anette: Well, I do have to go as soon as possible to Finland for rehearsals with the [NIGHTWISH] boys after I have delivered my child and then we'll stay there for a couple of weeks working with the new songs. After that the album will start to be recorded but since we always record all the instruments, orchestra and choirs before I go in and do my vocals, I don't have any big pressure to do anything in the fall. I will, of course, go and visit the recordings when it feels OK to do so, but otherwise my recordings aren't gonna be happening until 2011 at first. The solo album I had planned to release this autumn was something I felt couldn't be done due to me having my child, so I will wait with that and do it in the future instead.

Q: Having a baby in you age is different than giving birth when you're on your twenties. What plus sides do you see about having a baby around 40 years?

Anette: I had my son when I was 30 and I am happy I waited that long to be a mum and this time I feel even so much more at ease in the whole process. I am not stressing over the pregnancy like I did the first time. I am enjoying it much more and I am not so obsessed with that my body is changing and growing as I was then. I also feel so blessed to be able to have a child at my age; it gives me a feeling of youth and the thing with turning 40 seems very easy. Being a mum is truly a wonderful thing and now when I am older I enjoy it so much more and of course it's a big change to have a small baby again after the easy years I have had with a son that is able to take care of himself. But at the same time, it feels like I will feel younger much longer now, seeing another child grow up.

Q: How are you going to handle the upcoming NIGHTWISH tour?

Anette: It will work out just fine. We have all decided that the last world tour was to intense in the planning and we will take it a bit easier this time. Planning is everything and I have a great father to my baby who will take care of her/him when the day comes and I also have a nanny who can come with me if that is needed at some points. I don't stress over these things 'cause I know everything is gonna be just fine. The last tour was so hard and still it worked out with my son being at home.

Q: If you want to say something else / courage other performing artists and/or adult women in these questions... whatever comes in mind.

Anette: Having children and having a career can work out really, really well. There should never be anyone telling you that you can't do it, 'cause you can!

Olzon spent time last fall in Stockholm, Sweden creating songs for what was supposed to be her solo CD with Swedish producers Stefan Örn and Johan Glössner. The album was slated to be co-produced by Swedish producer/songwriter Anders Bagge, who has previously worked with MADONNA, CELINE DION, JANET JACKSON and JESSICA SIMPSON, among others. He is also one of judges on the Swedish TV talent competition "Idol" and a producer of the TV series "Made in Sweden".

Olzon and MUSTASCH performed a medley of five songs which were nominated in the "Song Of The Year" category during the January 19 "P3 Guld" (Swedish radio's annual music awards) live awards ceremony broadcast from the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. The singer also appeared on August 13, 2009 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra at a special concert in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the Stockholms Kulturfestival (Stockholm's Culture Festival).

NIGHTWISH played a special homecoming show in September 2009 at the sold-out, 11,000-capacity Hartwall Arena in Helsinki to mark the end of the band's colossal "Dark Passion Play" two-year world tour. Support at the gig came from APOCALYPTICA.

NIGHTWISH is not expected to play any more shows until the release of the band's next studio album in September 2011.

Photo below: Anette Olzon and rumored boyfriend, bassist Johan Husgafvel of the Swedish metal band PAIN (courtesy of AnetteOlzonCentral.com)