Johnny Logan is giving Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah” a pop-rock turn, while Lordi is answering with a metal version of Logan’s “Hold Me Now.” The two Eurovision winners are joining forces on a release built around the songs that made them famous, and the project is due in December 2025.
Logan, the Irish singer and three-time Eurovision winner, said the collaboration came together almost by accident after a phone call that was meant to be brief. “The meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes and then lasted over an hour. We immediately hit it off,” he said, adding that when he heard Lordi’s demo tailored to him, “I knew right away that I wanted to do it.”
The exchange gives both songs a new frame. Logan’s version of “Hard Rock Hallelujah” shifts the 2006 winner toward pop-rock, while Lordi’s take on “Hold Me Now” pushes the 1987 classic into metal territory. Lordi is also bringing in Noora Louhimo for its version of the song, and Logan said the Finnish band and Louhimo had “completely made ‘Hold Me Now’ their own.”
The project lands as Lordi marks 20 years since its Eurovision victory in 2006, while the band also says it is celebrating the contest’s 70th anniversary. Lordi said the idea was to do something “special” for both milestones, explaining that the plan was to pair two Eurovision-winning songs with new arrangements and a jump into other genres. The band said it rearranged and recomposed “Hard Rock Hallelujah” with Logan in mind, while also giving “Hold Me Now” a new metal edge.
Logan said “Hard Rock Hallelujah” had “incredible energy from the very first moment,” and he described the song as a natural fit once the arrangement was sent his way. He recorded his vocals in Copenhagen, then said he would have liked to present the project live, “but under the current circumstances that’s not possible.” This year’s Eurovision appearance is off limits for him because of the ESC boycott supported by Ireland.
For Louhimo, the collaboration marks a new step after her split from Battle Beast in December 2025 to pursue a solo career. She said this release would be her first as a full-time solo artist and called it a chance to tick off several long-held ambitions at once, including working with Lordi, singing with Logan and performing a Eurovision winner song in heavy metal style. “I am so excited about our collaboration and this new friendship we have created with Lordi in the past few months,” she said.
Lordi will be on stage at this year’s Eurovision competition, keeping the band in the contest’s orbit as the new versions begin to roll out. What makes the project unusual is how neatly it ties together two different eras of Eurovision history: Logan’s wins in 1980, 1987 and 1992, and Lordi’s defining triumph in 2006. The result is less a tribute act than a mutual handoff, with each side reshaping the other’s signature song for a new audience.
