Colleagues Pay Tribute to Juice Leskinen
Image: Mika Kanerva/YLE
Leskinen began singing at the age of 18, when he also started playing guitar. He began his recording career with the band Juice Leskinen and Coitus Int. However he also worked with many other musicians during his career, including a long-running partnership with Mikko Alatalo, now a Centre Party MP.
On YLE TV on Monday morning, Alatalo said that Leskinen had revolutionized Finnish popular music, particularly in terms of its lyrics.
Leskinen was seen as an inventive interpreter of the deepest feelings of the Finnish nation, often combining an anti-authoritarian message with wry humour. During a career that began in the early '70s, Leskinen released 30 albums. He also wrote songs performed by many other Finnish artists; as well as novel, poetry and children's books.
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