June 15–16 Song Festival Grounds
16.06.
13:00

Sakari Kuosmanen

Finland

Sakari ”Saku” Kuosmanen, the bass player of the former Finnish band Sleepy Sleepers/Leningrad Cowboys, was the man who at the first Rock Summer in 1988 dared to shout out openly “Freedom to Estonia!“ Nothing extraodinary in this in normal circumstances but Estonia was at the time still part of the Soviet Union and had three years to go till independence. The beloved Finnish singer, songwriter and actor is considered to be an extremely talented artist with power of uniting smoothly past and present, old and new. He is a man with the soul of a musician and the voice of a big singer both of what he has used in performing music from rock to jazz as well as playing smaller and bigger roles in cinematography. He is, by the way, one of the favourite artists of the well-known Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki. SK released his first studio album in 1985. He is the owner of Gold and Platinum awarded albums as well as… restaurants and the father of four children.
VIDEO: Watch Sakari Kuosmanen's performance at Rock Summer 25 and interview made by the Estonian National TV here (starting from 1:19).

Sakari (Saku) Kuosmanen – guitar, vocals
Peter Engberg – guitar, vocals
Upi Heikkinen – guitar, vocals