Tenure with
Nightwish was 1996-October 21st, 2005. Their last concert together was Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland on October 21st, 2005, the final concert of a 1.5yr long tour (titled "Once Upon a Tour"). She was fired via a personal letter directly after the concert; a copy of which was uploaded to Nightwish's personal website, as an open letter, the day after. Their final concert was recorded Live and released titled "End of An Era" one year later.
Tarja gave a tearful press conference the week after her dismissal, and posted her own open letter in response to the allegations made by Nightwish. After media attention grew too intense, she fled Finland to join her husband in Argentina via a last minute plane flight.
After receiving death threats, Tuomas retreated to his parents house to recuperate. The traumatizing experience of Tarja's (very public) firing would be his inspiration for writing "The Poet And The Pendulum", later recorded for their cathartic album, Dark Passion Play.