Sami Vänskä (born 26 September 1976) is the former bassist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.

Rush, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica has been cited as sources of inspiration to his bass playing.

[3] When Emppu Vuorinen, Holopainen and Jukka Nevalainen, remembered Vänskä who was previously in the band Nattvindens Gråt, they asked if he wanted to play with them.

[6] Vänskä played in the blues band Root Remedy after his dismissal from Nightwish.

[3] He recorded three albums with them, Medication Time With, Root Remedy and The Crawler before his departure in 2008.