On May 28th, 2021 Nightwish announced Jukka Koskinen (Wintersun, ex-Norther - pictured left) as the replacement for bassist Marko Hietala, who left the band in January 2021. Koskinen was tapped as the band's session bass player for their Human. :||: Nature. world tour. 

On August 21st, Koskinen was made an official member of Nightwish. The band has issued the following statement: 

"We're delighted to announce our dear friend Jukka Koskinen is officially inaugurated as a member of the band. We've been incredibly thankful to have him on our side while touring and it only feels natural to have him join the band officially."

In June 2021, Koskinen spoke with Finland's Kaaos TV about how he ended up being brought on board as a session player. Check out the interview below.

Koskinen: "It was a few months back. I received a phone call from the Nightwish camp and was being asked if I would be interested in the bass player position regarding what has happened, that Marco has left the band. I immediately, of course, said that yes, definitely I would be interested. I always listened to Nightwish; I always liked their music a lot. Two months ago I was in Finland practicing. We had a meet-and-greet before as well, but another one where we practiced together for the first time to see how, playing-wise, the chemistry was going, and get to know each other more. After the audition thing, everything went very smoothly, and the guys said, 'You're in.'"