Aki Sirkesalo

Aki Pekka Antero Sirkesalo (25 July 1962 – 26 December 2004) was a Finnish singer and broadcaster. He and his family tragically lost their lives during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, a disaster that claimed over 230,000 lives across multiple countries.

Career

Sirkesalo started his public career in 1984 as an announcer in the Finnish Broadcasting Company radio show Rockradio. In 1986, he formed a band called Giddyups and later a successful a cappella group Veeti and the Velvets. Sirkesalo released his first solo album Mielenrauhaa in 1995. He went on to make four more solo albums, the last of which, Sanasta miestä, was released posthumously in February 2005. Sirkesalo also hosted music-related TV shows for the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Death

Sirkesalo, aged 42, and his family (wife Johanna, aged 38, son Sampo, aged 8 and daughter Saana, aged 4) drowned after being struck by the tsunami during their vacation in Khao Lak, Thailand, in 2004. They lie buried in Toijala. Before his death, Sirkesalo lived with his family for the last few years of his life in Klaukkala, Nurmijärvi.

His birth town Toijala memorized him by naming a street as Sirkesalontie. He had left a lot of unpublished music and lyrics before his death, which has been recorded by various artists.

Solo albums