Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho (born April 8, 1979)

is a Finnish singer, composer, and

guitarist. He is best known for being the

lead guitarist as well as lead vocalist for

melodic death metal band Children of

Bodom, and he is also the guitarist for

Sinergy and Kylähullut. He has previously

played with Thy Serpent and Impaled

Nazarene on occasion, as well as Warmen

and Hypocrisy.

Laiho was ranked #96 out of 100 Greatest

Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by

Guitar World.

Guitar World magazine has ranked him as one of the 50 fastest guitarists in the world.

Roadrunner Records ranked him #41 out of 50 of The Greatest Metal Frontmen of All Time.

  In 2004, Laiho founded a side-project called Kylähullut, which was assembled together with Tommi Lillman (ex-Sinergy) and Vesa Jokinen (from Klamydia). The band was created merely for the entertainment of the musicians, and takes a carefree approach to their music. The band's discography includes two EP's, and two full-length albums.

In February 2002 Alexi married Kim Goss during a private ceremony in Finland. Prior to the marriage, they dated for four years. In 2004 they separated, but still remain close friends and band mates in Sinergy. He has the letters "COBHC" (Children of Bodom Hate Crew) tattooed on his left hand and "HATE" tattooed on his right hand as an homage to Ozzy Osbourne, who has a similar tattoo with the letters O-Z-Z-Y, except it's on the left hand. Alexi has been featured on the cover of Young Guitar Magazine several times, as well as being on the cover of Guitar World along with master guitarists Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde. The "Wildchild" nickname is derived from the song "Wild Child" by the band W.A.S.P. he also has a clothing line called "wild child industries". His first guitar was a Tokai Stratocaster.[citation needed]

Children of Bodom Played the 2008 Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards, Laiho also received the Dimebag Award for "Best Shredder".

Laiho appears on Canadian thrash metal outfit Annihilator's 2007 album, Metal, as a guest, performing a guitar solo on the song "Downright Dominate".

In spring of 2009 Children of Bodom was forced to drop out of their North American "No Fear Energy Tour" when Laiho broke his wrist after falling out of his bunk when the tour bus took a sharp turn on April 26, 2009, after the show in Palladium Ballroom, Dallas TX. Laiho originally planned to continue touring despite his injury, but was forced to cancel the last 6 dates when any efforts to alleviate the pain failed.

In January 2003, ESP Guitars announced a line of Alexi Laiho Signature Models. The US version guitars are a slightly different shape than what Alexi usually plays, as the SV shape is a copyrighted Jackson shape. So to avoid a lawsuit, ESP made the bottom horn slightly larger and also put in a cut-away to get to the higher frets, like a modified B.C. Rich Ironbird. Another difference is the use of solid black or yellow pinstripes on the paint finish instead of his traditional pinstriped design which lies on the bevels of the guitar.

Alexi Laiho has used the Lee Jackson Preamp and Marshall JCM 800 cabinets (with 75 watt Celestion speakers) and various power amps for the first half of his career. After Hate Crew Deathroll, he started experimenting with different amp heads including the Krank Revolution, Marshall JCM800 KK, and the Engl Special Edition EL34 head. As of late August 2011, Alexi is now signed with Engl and is currently using the e530 preamp with various poweramp and cabinet combinations.

He first used an Ibanez KZ 220B to record the first Children of Bodom record and eventually switched to Jackson Guitars and used them for several years until 2 of his 3 Jacksons (the one with the WildChild sticker and the one with white pinstripes) were stolen. He asked Jackson to make him another one, but the time-table they gave him for its production was too long (around a years time). ESP came to him and said that it would take around 3 months for his new signature model to be up and running, so Alexi took this offer. Thus he switched to ESP guitars.