Ilkka Johannes Lipsanen, commonly known by his stage nameDanny, is a Finnish singer and guitarist. Still active, Danny's singing career is one of the longest in Finland, spanning over more than 50 years. He has recorded many evergreenhit songs. He achieved some notoriety outside Finland in 2005 when his 1978 music videoduet with the late Armi Aavikko, "Tahdon olla sulle hellä", sung in English as "I Wanna Love You Tender", became an internet meme. The choreography was apparently intended to be "erotic and tantalizing" but in the eyes of many it principally succeeded in being hilarious.
Career
Danny was born in Pori. He started his career with the band Islanders who released a couple of singles, among them Danny's first recording which was in English: East Virginia by Joan Baez in 1964. During his national service Danny switched to his native Finnish and recorded two hits, "Kauan" and "Piilopaikka". After the army in 1966 Danny launched his own management company, D-Tuotanto, and started his hugely popular and spectacular "Danny Shows" which toured around Finland every summer all the way to the late 1970s. During the 1960s, he recorded a number of hits, among them "Kesäkatu", "Vähän ennen kyyneleitä", "Tuuliviiri", "Rebecca" and "Se eikö todista että muutuin". In 1968 Danny appeared in Spede Pasanen's film comedy Noin seitsemän veljestä as a medieval troubadour and performed his song "Seitsemän kertaa seitsemän" which became another hit. Some of the best known hits for Danny in the 1970s were "Vai niin, vai niin", "Maantieltä taloon" and "Kuusamo". In 1977 Danny joined together with former Miss Finland, Armi Aavikko, with whom he had the extremely popular hits "Tahdon olla sulle hellä" and "Kaiken sulle antaisin". A song by Jukka Kuoppamäki, "Tämä taivas, tämä maa", was a big hit for Danny in 1992. In 1997 performed in China and in 1988 in Turkey. Danny and his band have a small cameo appearance in the 2013 British black comedy filmThe Double.
Personal life
Danny was married to Liisa Lipsanen until 2006, when they divorced. In 2016 Danny started a relationship with Erika Vikman, a popular singer who is 50 years younger than him.
