The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were still in high school.[4] The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (lead singer/songwriter), Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Janne Heiskanen (drums). The former drummer Heiskanen quit the band in 1998 and was soon replaced by aqui Hakala.

Before releasing their fourth studio album Into (2001), they were simply known as Rasmus, but changed their name to The Rasmus in order to avoid being confused with a Swedish DJ of the same name. They had a hit in 2003 with "In the Shadows" which reached number 1 in several countries.

The band is one of Finland's most successful bands with more than 1.5 million sold albums worldwide[citation needed], eight gold awards and five platinum awards.[5] They have released six studio albums, one compilation album and 21 singles. Some of the band's most famous songs are the singles "Liquid", "F-F-F-Falling", "In the Shadows", "First Day of My Life", "Guilty", "Funeral Song" , "No Fear" and "Sail Away". The band has recently announced another album, titled "Black Roses" which will go on sale after Summer 2008. Notably, production help from Desmond Child and a duet from Ylönen and Nightwish Singer Anette