Packing a gritty alt-rock sound similar to American artists like Meredith Brooks and Sheryl Crow, Maija Vilkkumaa broke into the Finnish music scene in the early '90s with her band Tarharyhma. She went solo in the late '90s and released her debut album, Pitkä Ihana Leikki, in 1999, which went on to peak at number three on the Finnish charts. Several more albums followed over the course of the next five years; three of those albums peaked at number one, including 2003's Emma Award-winning album Ei. Vilkkumaa enjoyed her first number one single in 2006 with "Hei Tie." ~ TiVo Staff