Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist and saxophonist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23 and Jerusalem Slim (with Steve Stevens).

Some other favourite bands of Monroe's at the time included: Alice Cooper, The New York Dolls, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Little Richard.

The band released their first album in 1981 titled Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, with most of the songs written by McCoy.

In 1984, the band began working with producer Bob Ezrin and started on their fifth studio album Two Steps from the Move, which was the first recording deal that would introduce them to US markets.

After Hanoi Rocks broke up in 1985, Monroe decided to start his solo career, but first he got to work with his good friend Stiv Bators.

In the Fall of 1985, Bators and Monroe were asked by Steven Van Zandt to record backing vocals in London and then fly to New York to appear on his song "Sun City" and its music video.

[3] The album featured guest appearances by Monroe's friends and fellow musicians, including Steven Van Zandt, Ian Hunter and Nasty Suicide.

When Not Fakin' It was released, the Guns N' Roses record label, UZI Suicide, was re-releasing Hanoi Rocks albums in America.

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash also made a guest appearance on Monroe's Los Angeles shows in December 1989, performing the song "Looking at You".

In the turn of the decade, Monroe performed along with Bryan Adams, Don Henley, Huey Lewis and Loudness in two New Year's shows at the 70,000-seat Tokyo Dome in Japan, on December 31, 1989 and January 1, 1990.

The band was called Jerusalem Slim, and was completed by former Billy Idol-guitarist Steve Stevens, Sami Yaffa, Greg Ellis and Ian McLagan.

In 1991, Monroe was asked by Guns N' Roses to appear on their Use Your Illusion I album, where he plays the harmonica and saxophone on the song "Bad Obsession".

At the time, Monroe also joined Guns N' Roses on stage performing Honky Tonk Women together with the band members and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones.

In 2005 Hanoi Rocks released Another Hostile Takeover replacing the two former members with Andy Christell on bass and Conny Bloom on guitar (both formerly of the Electric Boys).

Ari Väntänen's, Michael Monroe's and Andy McCoys's book All Those Wasted Years was published later in 2009 in Finland, telling the story of Hanoi Rocks from the beginning to the end.

At the end of July, Monroe also shared the stage for the first time in many years with Sami Yaffa when his band, the New York Dolls, were performing in Helsinki.

On 25 January 2010 Michael Monroe held a press conference in Los Angeles, where he unveiled his new band featuring Sami Yaffa on bass, guitarist Ginger from The Wildhearts, Todd Youth from Danzig and Samhain on a second guitar, and Jimmy Clarke on drums.

After some of the first shows Todd Youth and Jimmy Clark were replaced by guitarist Steve Conte of New York Dolls and drummer Karl Rosqvist.

"[10] At the Ankkarock festival in Finland, Steve Conte couldn't perform and he was replaced for this one show with the ex-Hanoi Rocks guitarist, Nasty Suicide.

During the performance of the song "We're All Gonna Die" Monroe broke two of his ribs while hitting a metal barrel in front of the stage.

The album was recorded at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki, Finland and mixed in Los Angeles by Niko Bolas (Keith Richards, Kiss, Spinal Tap).

The band had also booked an extensive UK tour for April 2010, taking in venues in London, Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds and Exeter among others.

By July Steven Van Zandt played the well-received lead single, "Ballad of the Lower East Side", on his radio show almost weekly.

On 23 August 2013 the band released Horns & Halos, which went straight to number 1 in the Finnish album charts and was certified Gold in four days in Finland.

Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks have influenced many rock'n'roll artists and bands: Slash had bought tickets to the sold-out gigs in Los Angeles which were cancelled because of the death of Razzle.