Young Michael Monroe lived on the street eating leftovers

Finland’s undisputed most famous rock star, Michael Monroe or Matti Fagerholm turns 60 on June 17. Named the most respected rock star in the world by the U.S. Wall Street Journal, Monroe has also lived a diverse life.

At just 17 years old, Monroe packed his cabbage and traveled to Stockholm. He didn’t have an apartment, so he ended up living on the street with his bandmates Nasty Suicidenie Jan-Markus Stenforsin and Sami Yaffan or Sami Takamäki with.

Young men laugh at anytime anywhere: in the depths of a subway station, in cafes, bars, and homes of strangers.

– A guard always came to the training room at midnight and threw us out. Sometimes they hid behind speaker cabinets and stayed to play all night, he says.

They learn to steal food. The other homeless people they met showed habits and could sometimes bring whole broilers from their robbery expeditions. In the summer, they also sat on the terraces and ate the leftovers of others.

– When the gang left, they sometimes left up to half of the food. We ventured and went to empty the plates, he updates his youth.

However, they played the music with great enthusiasm, and the rest didn’t matter. Monroe says there has always been little satisfaction. It never occurred to them to take a ship from the port to Helsinki.

– I had a rock band and I was a singer. I didn’t even need an apartment to be happy. I didn’t need anything else. The pump was pumped and we had a training room.

They take care of their personal hygiene in a sports hall for seniors, where the then drummer Jesper Sporre, aka Gyp Casino, was working. They were allowed to wash their laundry and take a shower in the hall.

“I had one of the leather pants that would have stayed on its own when they were so dirty,” Monroe laughs.

Rise and fall of

The line-up ensemble turned itself into a street gang that was worth watching out for. Or at least they themselves thought so.

– There was a street gang rather than the so-called beautiful boys who tried to be cute. There was a dangerous band. The gang was a little against the wall for that help, here it goes! There was no attempt to be anything other than us, Monroe describes.

Seppo Vesterinen, a well-known manager especially in the field of rock music, had already shown interest in Hanoi Rocks before the band left for Cinderella. The line-up had impressed Vesterinen after playing at the legendary Tavastia Club in Helsinki.

– It wanted to meet us and want to manage us. It had a vision and it fell in love with our band.

After training for half a year in Cinderella, Monroe called Vesterinen and invited him to listen. After that, Vesterinen started to perform gigs for Hanoi Rocks in Finland. Eventually, the band got a record deal in Scandinavia.

In 1981, the band’s debut album was released, bearing its name Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks. Its opening track is still one of the band’s best-known songs Tragedy.

The band on their way to fame moved to London in 1982, and Nicholas Dingley, better known as Razzle, took over as Gyp Casino.

The rise of the years and the journey to the top of the charts began. The dark sides of rock’n’roll life, such as intoxicants and railing, also entered the patterns.

Moment

In 1984, Hanoi Rocks was on a gig trip to California, USA. One day in December, they spent time with an acquaintance of the band Mötley Crüe Vince Neilin with his apartment.

The party needed more support, so Neil and Razzle decided to go to the store by car.

Neil grabbed the wheel of the car with his drunken head, as a result of which he lost control of the car. Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle died.

– It was a life-changing tragedy, my whole life went new, Monroe recalls.

After the tragedy, Sami Yaffa also decided to leave the band. Hanoi Rocks was in crisis and finally decided to quit.

Although they had been building Hanoi Rocks for years, continuing it without Sami Yaffa and Razzle felt forced.

– I didn’t want the gang to know Hanoi other than it was. The original band was so great. We had our own street gang, like family. We are against the world.

The newest wing

Monroe, who lived in London, was in front of a new one after Hanoi Rocks disintegrated. In 1985, he left for New York to begin his solo career.

Monroe became homeless again. The big city offered only one friend’s floor, which was sometimes suitable for sleeping. It didn’t always agree either and Monroe was on his own fortune.

– I hung out at the clubs as long as they were open. Then in the morning I would walk the streets.

In 1986, as his financial situation improved, he was able to check in to hotels until he finally got his own apartment in Manhattan.

– New York is a pretty tough city to be homeless … However, I’ve always been following the sound of my heart, so I just went to Nyc. The most important thing was that the dignity of Hanoi Rocks would be preserved.

Steven Van Zandt that is, more familiar Little Steven was at first Monroe’s only friend behind Rapako. American musician is known, among other things Bruce Springsteen as a guitarist, and as an actor in the Sopranos series.

Little Steven helped Monroe musically in his solo career. He also toured the albums of the world-famous rock band Guns N ‘Roses. Gunnare ‘s beaker Axl Rose also visited the music video for Monroe’ s song Dead, Jail or Rock’n’Roll.

Life in the United States began to take a breeze, and in 1994 he also founded the then-disbanded Demolition 23, until he moved back to Finland in the late 1990s.

In 2001, Monroe suffered another loss when his Jude wife, 16 years old, suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Life went on again in the midst of great personal sorrow. Eventually, however, he met his current wife Johannanwith whom he had a new opportunity for love.

– She will be married to her for 19 years in July. Luckily, I found a second chance and life partner after my late wife. I would not have thought it possible.

Soul and heart

Although times of homelessness are far behind, Monroe feels driven by the same uncompromising attitude: as a young boy, she was happy to be a rock band singer.

– It is a black success to be able to do your own thing genuinely from your heart. On their own terms. If it succeeds commercially, it is a plus on top.

Proximity is also one of the driving forces behind Monroe. Sure, she’s lived in the spotlight of the rock’n’roll of a long, step-by-step life, but she still doesn’t feel fame and fortune is the driving force behind her.

– The first conditions for me were that black would never bring an asshole. If you lose your soul here along the way, no money or reputation is worth it. Many get lost in the traps of fame.

However, he has always known that he holds the threads of his own life in his hands and stands firmly on his own feet.

– Because when I didn’t sell myself for money and stuck to my own principles, no one can take away what I have. At least I know I haven’t offended myself.

He further emphasizes that money and matter are those who come and go in human life.

– Soul and heart are things that cannot be bought. And not the closest, they are the salt of life. Because of that, I wasn’t tempted to lose myself anywhere.

He recalls that many drown in the world of rock glamor. Let’s start building a stereotype of what a rocker should be. Breaking hotel rooms, posing and mingling with women and drugs.

– You don’t have to be an idiot to be a rocker. After all, those side effects have nothing to do with rock.

Continuous self-improvement has also not stopped Monroe over the years.

– This is Michael Monroe, this character. I have developed and created this. I’ve always looked at myself from the outside to understand what I’m like, he says.

60th anniversary concert

A long career as an artist and the start of the new decade will be celebrated in September with a spectacular concert at the Helsinki Ice Rink. Numerous songs from both Hanoi Rocks’ production and Michael Monroe’s entire solo career will be heard at the gig.

– Even if you haven’t just followed Meikäläinen’s stuff, it’s worth seeing, he glows.

In addition, top musicians from Finland and the rest of the world who have collaborated with Monroe over the years will also take the stage. He is also accompanied by a familiar orchestra, as Sami Yaffa is heard on the instruments, Karl RockfistRich Jones and Steve Conte.

– Surprises can’t be revealed in advance, but this will be an exceptional set, Monroe glows mysteriously.