Tommy Johansson

Tommy Johansson — Swedish guitarist and vocalist — is known for his work in Sabaton and in ReinXeed, the band he founded, as well as an extensive output performing cover versions. His entry into Sabaton in 2016 came during a period of rebuilding: the band had lost most of its line-up in 2012 and reassembled with new musicians while keeping the format — power metal with military-historical subject matter, one of recent European metal's most commercially successful cases. Johansson has an uncommon trait: besides being a guitarist he is a wide-range vocalist, able to sing in the upper register with power. That let him build, alongside the band, a considerable presence performing versions of other people's repertoire — from power metal to pop songs and animation soundtracks — work that reached an audience of its own. It is a kind of career that only became possible recently. Direct distribution let musicians build reputations outside the band-and-label structure, and Johansson is one of the cases in which that parallel activity has a scale comparable to the main band's.