Petri Ilari Walli (February 25, 1969 – June 28, 1995) was the founder, vocalist, guitar-player, songwriter and producer of the Finnish psychedelic rock-band

Kingston Wall Kingston Wall was a psychedelic/progressive rock group from Helsinki, Finland, originally formed in 1987. Influenced by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the group combined eastern themes, mysticism and vivid psychedel ...

. Petri was born in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, his brother is Aki Walli. He also have half-brother

Hasse Walli Hannes Mikael Waldemar "Hasse" Walli was born on 10 February 1948 in Helsinki. His father Aarno Walli was a musician and bandleader, his mother Anne-Marie Strandberg a singer. Hasse Walli was about ten years old when he started playing drums. ...

who is a Finnish guitarist. Petri (aka Pete) founded the band called Kingston Wall in 1987, and he was the spirit behind the whole band. They came out with three albums in 1992, 1993 and 1994, and broke up in December the same year as the last album was released. The break-up was Walli's idea, as he wanted Kingston Wall to be on a hiatus for an unspecified time. After the break-up Petri travelled to

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where he had been many times before with his friend

Ior Bock Ior Bock (; originally Bror Holger Svedlin; 17 January 1942 – 23 October 2010) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish tour guide, actor, mythologist and eccentric. Bock was a colourful media personality and became a very popular tour guide at the isl ...

. (There is not much written text about Petri's and Ior's friendship, so nobody knows exactly how good friends they were). Petri ended his life by jumping off the balcony of the Töölö Church in

Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsinki ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

the following summer. Walli was later buried in the

Hietaniemi Cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery ( fi, Hietaniemen hautausmaa, sv, Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state ...

, only about one kilometer away from his place of death. Petri was a mysterious person who loved the eastern culture, philosophy, Scandinavian mythologies and most of all, playing guitar. There have been numerous rumours and speculation about the reasons of his suicide. Some say that he committed suicide because of his failed relationship with a Finnish girl called Tanja or Tanya, others say that he was in a spiritual turmoil which reflected on the lyrics and themes on Kingston Wall's last album, '' Tri-Logy''. The song "For All Mankind" from ''Tri-Logy'' is considered by many to be Walli's suicide note. Petri's co-musicians in Kingston Wall were

Jukka Jylli Jukka Kalevi Jylli is a Finnish bass-player who played in the psychedelic/progressive rock group Kingston Wall Kingston Wall was a psychedelic/progressive rock group from Helsinki, Finland, originally formed in 1987. Influenced by such arti ...

(bass) and

Sami Kuoppamäki Sami Kuoppamäki (born 1971) is a Finnish drummer who has been a very prolific jazz and popular music session musician after the break-up of his early-90s band, Kingston Wall. He played on the Von Hertzen Brothers album '' Approach'' in 2006 b ...

(drums). Sometimes they had guest musicians performing on their albums and live shows, such as

Sakari Kukko Sakari Kukko, (full Name: Jyrki Sakari Kukko, born 8 July 1953, Kajaani, Finland) is a Finnish musician. Career Kukko started his career in the early 1960s as a singer participating in several singing contests and performing in radio stations, ...

(saxophone) and Kimmo Kajasto (synth). Drummers Petteri Ståhl and Timo "Tinde" Joutsimäki played drums in Kingston Wall before Kuoppamäki joined the group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walli, Petri 1969 births 1995 suicides 20th-century Finnish male singers Finnish male guitarists Suicides by jumping in Finland 20th-century guitarists Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery 1995 deaths