Category Archives: Amy Lee

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Amy Lee of Evanescence

Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in rock and metal music, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. This month’s piece features an interview with Amy Lee of Evanescence.

There’s no denying that Evanescence were a game changer. When Amy Lee and company came on the scene in the early 2000s, it was a time when mainstream and active rock radio had nothing but male artists on the charts. Evanescence found themselves an anomaly alongside bands such as Limp Bizkit, Creed, and others on the active-rock radio airwaves.

Fast-forward to today, and mainstream rock radio plays a bevy of female-fronted bands, from In This Moment to Halestorm to The Pretty Reckless.

It’s safe to say Evanescence played a large part in mainstream-rock radio opening its mind to playing a female voice on the airwaves, although Lee is humble about it.

“It’s hard to really take credit, because for me, there were a lot of women that came before me,” Lee tells Heavy Consequence. “There’s Shirley Manson — there were some powerful women in my sphere in the ‘90s and the alternative era that we’re killing it. Gwen Stefani, too.”

“It’s not like I was the first-first, but to go into that active-rock space and be able to break through like we did, I did see that it was special.”

Lee spoke with Heavy Consequence for the latest Beyond the Boys’ Club column, discussing the obstacles she faced early on in her career, the rise of women in hard rock and metal over the years, her recent experience touring with a full orchestra, new Evanescence music, and more. [Full Article]

Amy’s interview with SiriusXM

Amy Lee: the albums that changed my life

Taking cues from the worlds of classical and metal, Evanescence have always been a unique property amongst the early-noughties explosion of bands. But what records are responsible for changing the life and music of frontwoman Amy Lee? Let’s find out.

The first album I ever bought was…

The California Raisins– The California Raisins Sing The Hit Songs (1987)
“The California Raisins! Ha ha! It’s claymation raisins doing cover songs of The Four Tops etc. It was a big thing in the ‘80s and I was five years old. I must be the first person to ever be talking about The California Raisins in Metal Hammer.”

The album I wish I’d made is…

Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (1994)
“That’s a hard question! Oh man, The Downward Spiral. I want so many things out of music, but if that was my record… I could sing that whole thing and be very happy. I have all of NIN’s records, but …Downward Spiral is my favourite.”

The album that broke my heart is…

Björk – Vespertine (2001)
“Vespertine by Björk. It’s really eerie and mellow and it has pagan poetry on it. There are a couple of songs on there that are so beautiful and are, to me anyway, about letting go and accepting things in a really beautiful and kinda sad way.”

You can read the full article at [here].

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Happy Birthday Amy Lee!

Everyone at Amy Lee Fans would like to wish Amy a very happy birthday!

Dream to Much available on Spotify and Apple Music

Amy Lee Makes Emotional Cameo in New Veridia Video

Nashville-based pop/rock/electronic band Veridia have released a candid new performance clip for “I’ll Never Be Ready” off their latest album The Beast You Feed. The track features Amy Lee on piano and backing vocals, and its accompanying video captures the Evanescence front woman playing the song with Veridia for the first time at the band’s album release party at Nashville’s Analog.

Veridia frontwoman Deena Jakoub wrote “I’ll Never Be Ready” as her dad was dying from renal disease, and when she reached out to Lee to guest on the song, it resonated strongly with the Evanescence bandleader, who had recently lost her brother. Both singers talk about their experiences with loss and how the song and the collaboration helped them to heal in the video.

“It felt like we were divinely brought together to walk through and perform through those deep emotions,” Jakoub told Alternative Press. “She played the song of my soul that I could not find the words to sing.”

“There are things in this world that are cruel and unfair, and there are also things in this world that are impossibly beautiful,” Lee added. “Reaching out and finding someone else in the darkness lights up the one thing that lives forever. Love. And to quote the words that hold my heart, ‘I’ll never forget how much I was loved.'” [Source]

Amy Lee Reveals Personal Turmoil Behind Success Of Fallen

Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee has revealed that the success of the band’s 2003 debut Fallen was overshadowed by fears for the health of her brother.

In an exclusive interview with Kerrang!, Lee opens up about her personal life during the upswing of her band’s popularity following the release of the single Bring Me To Life.

“My life has been so full of extremes,” says Amy. “It’s hard to sum up what it was like when it was all happening because it was happening fast, but there was so much else happening at the same time. I’ve had major tragedies in my life and major victories, too. But at the time the first song, Bring Me To Life, made it to Number One in the UK, and the next song [Going Under, which charted at eight in the UK]… It was all happening and we were at the GRAMMYs.”

That whole year, as much as it was wonderful, at the same time, my brother Robby was having brain surgery and facing the fact that he might not ever be okay,” she continues. “And my family was so happy and so excited for me, and I realised there was a lot of turmoil within the band behind the scenes at that time. There was so much going on. It was wonderful and also terrifying, and a lot of learning happened. I’m grateful for it all. In some ways, I’m a lot happier to be where I am now than where I was then.” [Full Article @ Kerrang!]

Being a Rock Star and Mom: ‘I Always Thought It Was One or the Other’

Amy Lee is enjoying her work-life synthesis of music and motherhood.

This summer, the Evanescence rocker has been on the road promoting the band’s latest release, Synthesis, on which the act revamped their hits with orchestral and EDM twists.

And the co-headlining tour with Lindsey Stirling has been a family affair for Lee, whose husband, Josh Hartzler, and their 4-year-old son, Jack, have joined her on the road.

“I feel really grateful that I’m able to do both and not have to stop making music and being who I am to be a mom,” Lee, 36, tells PEOPLE.

“I think when I was a lot younger, I always thought it was one or the other: You are either fully focused working your butt off on your art, or you’re a mom and you don’t have time for that anymore,” she says. “And actually, now that I’m in it, I realize that it’s super important that I keep being who I am.” Read Full Story Here

Amy on Social Media “As I move through life”

Amy On Evanescence’s Success: ‘I Feel Proud When I Look Back’

From blabbermouth.net: Amy Lee and guitarist Jen Majura were recently interviewed by Belgium’s RTBF. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked how she looks back on Evanescence‘s success so far, Amy said: “I feel proud when I look back. I look back to those early times and see my face, especially if I see an old an interview or a performance when we were on that ‘Fallen’ tour, and I look like a kid. I was a kid; I’d only lived outside my parents’ house for, like, four years. So I see it and I’m, like, ‘Woah! What an incredibly crazy thing to happen.’ And I know that, behind it all, I was juggling a lot, just adjusting emotionally and trying to keep the band together and everything else crazy that goes along with doing this.

“This has been a very retrospective era for us,” she continued. “We made this box set of our history, and now we’ve done ‘Synthesis’, which is a beautiful reflection of our music throughout my career, and then adding some new things in it.”

Evanescence and acclaimed electronic violinist Lindsey Stirling will embark on a co-headlining 2018 summer amphitheater tour across North America. The trek, produced by Live Nation, will kick off July 6 in Kansas City, Missouri at the Starlight Theatre and will make stops in 31 North American cities. The tour will wrap September 8 in Ridgefield, Washington at the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater.

Both artists’ shows will be accompanied by a full orchestra, highlighting both acts musicality and their incredible performance abilities that continue to blow fans away. The orchestrated performances will also perfectly accent the astounding amphitheater venues across the U.S. and Canada that the two will be performing in, making for a magical summer evening.

The two artists recently collaborated on the song “Hi-Lo” from the latest Evanescence album, “Synthesis”, which features a virtuosic violin solo by Lindsey Stirling.

“Synthesis” was released in November. The disc sees many of Evanescence’s songs reworked in new ways, incorporating orchestral and electronic elements into the original compositions.

The “Synthesis Live” tour launched in October and like the album, it features a full orchestra and electronics.