HIM is a rock band from Finland. It was formed in 1991 by Ville Valo (vocals), Mikko Lindström (guitarist), and Mikko Paananen (bassist).

HIM started out as a band, covering songs of artists such as KISS, Type O Negative, Danzig, Black Sabbath and Depeche Mode. After many lineup changes and a hiatus from 1991 to 1995 caused by the members' conscription into military services, the band now consists of the three founding members plus keyboardist Janne Johannes "Burton" Puurtinen and drummer Mika Kristian "Gas" Karppinen.

In late fall of 1995, HIM released “This is Only the Beginning”. This was a demo tape, with only 100 copies made and sold in specially chosen stores on Helsinki. It featured the first version HIM had done of "Wicked Game" and "The Heartless". The tape also includes rare songs "Serpent Ride", "Borellus", "Stigmata Diaboli" and "The Phantom Gate".

“666 Ways to Love: Prologue” was released in 1996 solely in Finland, and only 1,000 copies of this album were sold. This makes it very rare for HIM collectors and fans. Recently an almost mint condition copy of the bands EP was listed on eBay for around $600.

The band released their first full-length studio album, “Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666”, on November 20, 1997. It features covers of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". Four singles were released from the album.

After gaining popularity in Europe, particularly in their homeland, HIM released its second album in 1999, titled “Razorblade Romance”. This is when the band's popularity began to raise, their single "Join Me in Death" from the album reached no 1 on the German music charts, selling over 500,000 of this single in two months.

On April 14, 2003, HIM released “Love Metal”. This was the first album that did not feature singer/songwriter Ville Valo on the cover. 

“And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997-2004” are HIM’s first greatest hits album. It contains two unreleased songs: "And Love Said No" and "Solitary Man", the latter of which is a Neil Diamond cover. HIM's fifth studio album, 2005's Dark Light, became the band's full breakthrough in the US, debuting in the top 20 of the Billboard Top 200 and spawning two major rock hits, "Wings of a Butterfly" and "Killing Loneliness", both of which have accompanying videos. In the summer of 2005 they played the mainstage of Download Festival with Black Sabbath and Velvet Revolver.

In 2006/2007, HIM released its second and third compilation albums titled Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 and Uneasy Listening Vol. 2, respectively.

Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 was released in 2006 on October 27 in Germany, October 30 in the United Kingdom and November 14 in the United States. The compilation contains fifteen alternate versions of HIM's lighter songs such as "In Joy and Sorrow," "The Sacrament," "Gone With the Sin," and "One Last Time."

They have released six full length albums to date.As of 2007, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.

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