NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon has issued the following update:

"I have held a little secret for you all for some time now, but today I feel I want to share it with you all. As you all know, I am very private and don't want to share to much about my personal life, but due to some speculations and since I am so happy I have decided to tell my secret:

Last autumn in the middle of my demo recordings of my solo album, I started to feel very, very tired and also nauseated. I took a pregnancy test and guess if me and my bf was really surprised to see that I had gotten pregnant. Since I had decided to not have any more children than my son, it was totally not planned, but after the very first shock, it felt really, really good.

Now I have almost done half the pregnancy and I am feeling extremely good, but its due to this I decided to not do the solo this year. I am sure you all can understand this decision better now and I do promise to release the songs at another time."

A Q&A; interview with Finnish site Rytmi.com reads as follows:

How does it feel to have a baby after so many years from the first one?

Olzon: "I had decided to not have any more children due to the fact that my last pregnancy was very hard and filled with hospital visits and a hard delivery. I also had big problems getting pregnant the first time so I really didn't think my body could do it one more time, especially since I am 38 years old. Now when faith stepped in and I am pregnant after so many years (my son is turning 9 when the baby comes) it feels as a good timing. My son is really looking forward and he can be that big brother who can help me a little bit more than if he was 2."

Tell something about the schedule next fall, are you able to keep any mom-vacation or do you have to get to work soon? How is that going to happen, if yes?

Olzon: "Well, I do have to go as soon as possible to Finland for rehearsals with the boys after I have delivered my child and then we´ll stay there for a couple of weeks working with the new songs. After that the album will start to be recorded but since we always record all the instruments, orchestra and choirs before I go in and do my vocals, I dont have any big pressure to do anything in the fall. I will of course go and visit the recordings when it feels ok to do so, but otherwise my recordings aren't gonna be happening until 2011 at first. The solo album I had planned to release this autumn was something I felt couldn't be done due to me having my child, so I will wait with that and do it in the future instead."

Having a baby in you age is different than giving birth when you're on your twenties. What plus-sides do you see about having a baby around 40 years?

Olzon: "I had my son when I was 30 and I am happy I waited that long to be a mum and this time I feel even so much more at ease in the whole process. I am not stressing over the pregnancy like I did the first time. I am enjoying it much more and I am not so obsessed with that my body is changing and growing as I was then. I also feel so blessed to be able to have a child at my age, it gives me a feeling of youth and the thing with turning 40 seems very easy. Being a mum is truly a wonderful thing and now when I am older I enjoy it so much more and of course it´s a big change to have a small baby again after the easy years I have had with a son that is able to take care of himself. But at the same time, it feels like I will feel younger much longer now, seeing another child grow up."

How are you going to handle the upcoming NW-tour?

Olzon: "It will work out just fine. We have all decided that the last world tour was to intense in the planning and we will take it a bit easier this time. Planning is everything and I have a great father to my baby who will take care of her/him when the day comes and I also have a nanny who can come with me if that is needed at some points. I dont stress over these things cause I know everything is gonna be just fine. The last tour was so hard and still it worked out with my son being at home."

- If you want to say something else / courage other performing artists and/or adult women in these questions... whatever comes in mind.

Olzon: "Having children and having a career can work out really, really well. There should never be anyone telling you that you can't do it, cause you can!"

Management has informed BraveWords.com that while there will be no new album until September of 2011, there are developments within the Nightwish camp. Mainman Tuomas Holopainen is currently writing the follow-up to 2007's Dark Passion Play which featured new singer Anette Olzon. The band will get together in July to record a demo of the ideas Holopainen has come up with. After that, he will live with the music, to determine if it just needs tinkering, or additional pieces must be created.

Currently the band is investigating the possibility of starting the next world tour in Los Angeles. Plans would call for a one-off North American exclusive at the 6,000 seat auditorium within the Universal Amphitheater. This venue would allow Nightwish to bring pyro and the full production to North America for the first time. A full continental tour would commence three-four months later, tentatively billed as late 2011, or early 2012.