Ville has completed the Finnish dubbing for the movie Madagascar Escape 2 Africa.Valo plays the part of Moto Moto the hippo. It’s to be released on November 21st.

Valo has since been accused of prompting some people to commit suicide, though Valo has responded that he wasn’t making suicide suggestions in the song - rather he says he was more of a rip-off of “Don’t Fear The Reaper”. The son is more about being willing to do anything for love, including die - but not necessarily dying for love right off the bat.

Needless to say “Join me” was popular enough that it made its way onto two movies (The Thirteenth Floor and Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and has been covered several times.

Ville Valo. Ville Valo. Sounds like the name of a supervillain. Given his music, Valo himself probably wouldn’t mind the comparison. But others with a similar name - or at least with the ‘Ville’ - might not enjoy the comparison as much.

Here are a few other renowned Villes in the world today, though rest assured, none of their names sound as cool as Ville Valo’s. (And, yes, they’re all Finnish, just like Valo.)

1. Ville Itala, a politician.
2. Ville Laihiala, a fellow singer for metal group Poisonblack.
3. Ville Mieminen, a hockey player.
4. Ville Peltonen, another hockey player.
5. Ville Ritola, an athlete.
6. Ville Vallgren, a sculptor.
7. Ville Virtanen, also known as the DJ Darude.

The only one who sounds even remotely as cool is Ville Virtanen. Which is interesting, given that he’s another successful Finnish musician.

Though the band was formed in 1991 (by Valo, guitarist Mikko Lindstrom and bassist Mikko Paananen), their initial demo was created and recorded in 1992. For whatever reason the band decided not to release the demo, Witches and Other Night Fears, and the only copy of it known to exist sits with Valo to this day. Their name was changed to HIM to avoid links with satanic rituals.

The band has since gone on to enjoy great success with Valo still at the head. They are the only Finnish band with a certified gold record in the United States. They’ve released six studio albums to date, with four compilations and one live album.

- A series of jagged, almost jigsaw puzzle tattoos running up the entire length of his left arm. The tattoos start at his wrist and end at his shoulder, encircling the whole arm and covering almost all of the skin.

- A heart intertwined with a triangle on the back of his neck, just below the line of his hair. Depending on how long his hair is at the time of viewing this may or may not be readily visible.

- A stylized ‘f’ (Finland, maybe? Something more insidious?) circling his left nipple (probably something more insidious). From the looks of it this tattoo was later replaced by a triangle surrounded by snakes.

- A series of thorns and a smaller picture in the middle right in the middle of his stomach, a little ways below his navel.

- A heart on his right wrist.

- What looks to be a stylized flame on one of his calfs, though it could just be a spike.

- A fairly intricate picture of a pope with a space helmet on on the other calf. (This writer’s favorite.)

- A tattoo of a man’s head (he looks to be some historical figure) on his outside right wrist.

- A pair of gigantic eyes across his shoulder blades.

You don’t get much more hardcore than that.

Yet apparently he’s only interested in one, and that’s Jonna Nygren. The two are – or were – or were they even at all? It’s hard to tell – married at one point. They’re currently split, as Valo has trouble concentrating on more than one thing and wants to give his career priority at the moment. However he is said to have told Nygren that he loves her and wants to spend his life with her once he has sorted his life out.

Nygren is a minor celebrity, having appeared on a few TV shows in the past few years in acting roles.

Brandon Cole Margera, more popularly known as Bam Margera, is a popular American skateboarder with a penchant for MTV hits the likes of Viva la Bam and the insanely popular TV show and movie Jackass.

But he’s also dabbled in the directing field, and recently released a movie called Haggard that featured a character named Valo, played by Margera himself. The character was so named in honor of his friend. And, to kick that off, they have a professional relationship as well, as Ville Valo has provided music for a number of Margera’s works over the years.

But it works. Playing in conjunction with Natalia Avelon Valo makes Summer Wine his own. The summer is certainly not a significant deviation from the original – the lyrics seem spot on, and the arrangement sounds pretty much identical – but it’s somehow filled with a vitality that was missing in the old. There’s a great deal more energy and gravitas in Valo and Sinatra’s rendition of it than the old Sinatra and Hazlewood work.

Already a song with a long history of covers (even Bono covered it a while back), Summer Wine apparently has more room for successors to its already long legacy.

Have a look at Ville Valo’s version below:

Originally composed in 1967 by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Summer Wine has a history of being covered by bands, of which Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon’s duet forms only the latest rendition. It was also covered by Demis Roussos, U2’s world-renowned singer Bono along with The Corrs, Gry and FM Einheit (along with his accompanying orchestra) and German techno band Scooter.

Who will cover this great song next? Who knows. Given its history, though, it’s likely somebody will eventually, but check out Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon’s version below: