Kari Tapani Jalkanen

Kari Tapani Jalkanen (22 November 1945 – 7 December 2010), better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. During his career, he was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades; having sold over 830,000 certified records (during his career and posthumously), he is the best-selling soloist in the country. Kari Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland. In the 1960s he performed in his hometown Pieksämäki with the local bands ER-Quartet and Jami & The Noisemakers. In 1966 he took singing lessons from Ture Ara.

Kari Tapio finally broke through in 1976 with his single Laula kanssain (literally "Sing with Me", a Finnish cover of Jackpot's Sing My Love Song), which was followed by Viisitoista kesää ("Fifteen Summers", a cover of Mort Shuman's Sorrow) and Kaipuu ("Longing", a cover of Mort Shuman's Sorrow). Kari Tapio's songs are heavily influenced by country music. He performed many Finnish versions of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson's songs. Kari Tapio's song Valaise yö was one of the candidates to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.