Facts

  • Is the lead singer of the band Evanescence.
  • She was meeting a few of her friends at a restaurant when a guy she barely knew looked into her eyes and asked her “Are you happy?”. She knew that she truly wasn’t, and those simple words really struck her. That is how the opening lines to the song “Bring Me To Life”, “how can you see into my eyes like open doors…” came about.
  • Her favorite artists are Tori Amos, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, NIN (Trent Reznor), Björk and Coldplay.
  • Says that if she didn’t become famous she would “help people in some way”.
  • Is the daughter of Sara Cargill (of the Clan Drummond) and John Lee, and sister to Robbie, Carrie and Laurie.
  • Is named after the 70s song “Amie”.
  • Born in California. Grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, Illinois and finally Little Rock Arkansas, where she met her band.
  • Collaborated with rock group Seether on their song ‘Broken’ for the soundtrack from The Punisher (2004).
  • Won the awards for Best New Artist & Best Hard Rock Performance for Bring Me To Life, at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
  • She has a kitten named Zero.
  • When offered a cameo in the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), she requested that she play a character who gets killed.
  • She is a classically trained pianist. She spent 9 years studying classical piano in her youth.
  • Attended and graduated from Pulaski Academy, a private elementary and junior/senior high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, class of 2000.
  • Briefly attended Middle Tennessee State University.
  • Was president of the choir council her senior year. She wrote a choir arrangement called “Listen to the Rain” which was performed by the school choir at graduation.
  • While growing up, she and her family moved frequently to many places, including Illinois, Kansas, and Florida before finally settling in Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • Was an alto in her school choir.
  • Is a spokesperson for the National (American) Epilepsy Foundation.
  • After her 3 year old sister’s tragic death, Amy wrote a song called Hello, it’s track 9 on their debut album “Fallen”. It was performed for her family. It’s personal, so personal that she says she can’t perform it live at concerts because she’ll go into a serious breakdown.
  • Father, John Lee, is also a a Television spokesperson for various regional and local advertisers and won NBC’s “The Gong Show” in 1980. He defeated Pee Wee Herman by playing guitar and singing, “Desperado.”.
  • Had encounters with stalkers. Hence brought the song “Snow White Queen” on Evanescence’s album “The Open Door”. The title came from ‘Snow white’ which is a nickname given to her by fans. and ‘Queen’ Amy said that the scary attention that the stalker gave her made her feel in a twisted way “like a Queen”.
  • (May 6, 2007) Married her longtime boyfriend Josh Hartzler following a 4-month-long engagement.
  • Gave birth to her 1st child at age 32, a son named Jack Lion Hartzler on July 24, 2014 at 7:51 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs., 13 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. Child’s father is her husband, Josh Hartzler.