Mr Lordi

Mr L did not do well at school – except for music and drawing. After years, he graduated as a media designer, specialising himself in video editing. He made Lordi's first music video "Inferno", a seven-minute combination of horror fantasy and heavy metal music video, in 1995. The video featured Mr Lordi's friends in heavy makeup and masks and horror decorations made by Mr Lordi – and Mr Lordi himself singing without any makeup. Shortly thereafter he met his future band members on a Kiss Army trip to Sweden and Lordi turned into a real band with four members – Mr Lordi, G-Stealer, Enary and Amen.

In 2011 Mr Lordi created his own choir from Rovaniemi for Finnish version of Clash of the Choirs miniseries. He named his choir as "Rock'n'Rollo" and invited the choir to perform in Lordi's anniversary concert in 2012.

He married his long-time girlfriend Johanna Askola in early August 2006 in his home town Rovaniemi.

While working as storyboard artist, Mr Lordi spent his freetime producing the first Lordi album Bend Over and Pray the Lord in 1997. He could not, however, find a publisher for the album and it was left unreleased. Since then, he has also illustrated a comic book featuring Lordi. After 2002, when the first single Would You Love a Monsterman? and the album Get Heavy were finally released by BMG Finland, Mr Lordi is still responsible for all the album artwork, merchandise design and masks and outfits of the band members. The songs he writes along with the other band members.

Before Lordi, Mr L had played in many rock bands from Rovaniemi, best known as the lead singer for his former band Wanda Whips Wall Street. He founded Lordi as his solo project in 1992, when he was 18 years old. He produced the first demo, Napalm Market, in 1993. Mr L described Lordi's desired sound as "a song made by Kiss back in 1983, covered by Pantera in 1992 and remixed by Puff Daddy". Lordi became a band four years later when Mr Lordi met Lordi's original line-up during a Finnish Kiss cruise, organised by himself as a president of Kiss Army Finland.

All publicity photographs of Mr Lordi have his face concealed with his mask and stage makeup. However, many tabloids have published fake photos of his unmasked face. A real published photograph of his unmasked face was taken in the early 1990s, as the chairman of Kiss Army Finland.

Tomi Petteri Putaansuu (best known by his stage name, Mr Lordi, or Mr L, born 15 February 1974) is a Finnish musician, businessman, special effect make-up artist, songwriter, actor, painter, comics artist and graphic designer.