Amy LeeEvanescence

“Echoes of Loss and Hope: How Evanescence Soundtracked My Grief”

“Echoes of Loss and Hope: How Evanescence Soundtracked My Grief”

1. “Like You” from The Open Door

“It is about something that’s hard to even talk about but feels good to write about,” Amy Lee once said of “Like You,” one of the most personal songs on The Open Door. “It’s about my sister who passed away when I was a little girl. I was six years old and she was three. It’s affected my life and definitely affected my music writing, and it’s made me who I am. It’s one of those things that happens early enough in life that it forms you. I think in a lot of ways I made it a thing that I can use in a positive way in my life. I’ve learned from it and grown up, and I’ve always felt older. Twenty-four sounds young to me, it’s weird.”

“Like You” arrives just past the album’s midpoint, a ghostly lull amid hi-voltage guitars. The opening piano chords—simple, aching—let Lee’s voice float free, almost as if she’s singing across a vast emptiness. When the drums finally kick in, they don’t puncture the mood; they cradle it, as though honoring a memory too fragile to batter.

I connect to “Like You” on a deep level. I was four when my sister passed at six—too young to hold onto shared memories, yet old enough to feel a permanent ache. Whenever Lee’s voice soars on the bridge (“I long to be like you, lie cold in the ground like you. There’s room inside for two…”), I feel that same bittersweet lift: grief entwined with a yearning for reunion.

2. “My Immortal” from Fallen

“My Immortal” stands as one of Evanescence’s most enduring heart-rending ballads, its simple piano-and-strings arrangement laying bare every drop of raw emotion.

“These wounds won’t seem to heal, this pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase”
Here, Lee captures the paradox of memory: the more you try to outrun it, the more it clings.

“I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that you’re gone
But though you’re still with me, I’ve been alone all along”
In these lines, hope and despair intertwine—she knows the truth of absence even as she fights against it.

Originally written on piano by Amy Lee and Ben Moody when they were just fifteen, “My Immortal” first appeared as a late-night demo featuring only Lee’s voice and a MIDI keyboard—no live strings. For the album’s “band version,” producers Dave Fortman and Ben Moody added guitar, drums, bass and a new string arrangement by David Campbell (building on Graeme Revell’s earlier orchestration), yet the final mix still centers Lee’s piano and vocals, preserving its confessional intimacy.

The bridge—where Lee admits that she’s “been alone all along”—resonates especially deeply. For me, it mirrored the loneliness of growing up with a shadow of her absence: surrounded by family’s love, yet carrying a solitary grief only I could understand. Just as the strings swell under Lee’s final refrain, I find catharsis in the release of remembering and honoring her, note by note.

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EvanescenceThrowback

Throwback Thursday: Evanescence Rise to Fame

Throwback Thursday: Evanescence Rise to Fame

Every Thursday we dive into some nostalgic moments and reminisce about the rise of Evanescence, whose trademark theme was mixing gothic rock and haunting melodies into the mainstream among the early 2000s.

It all started in Little Rock, Arkansas, where a young Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody met at a youth camp whilst they started writing music together. The humble beginnings would eventually take Evanescence to the top of the charts with their groundbreaking debut album, “Fallen,” in March 2003.

Evanescence live at the Music Farm in Charleston, SC 2003

“Fallen” isn’t just an album — it’s a cultural moment, a phenomenon. “Bring Me to Life”, “My Immortal,” and “Going Under” spoke to a generation with their emotional resonance and dark, cinematic sound. With Amy Lee’s soaring top notes, Evanescence pushed into a realm of music history through their fusion of the rock, metal, and orchestral genres.

Particularly, “Bring Me to Life” was propelled to stardom for the inclusion within the 2003 movie Daredevil. The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was awarded for the single and “Fallen” went on to sell over 17 million units throughout the world.

Despite lineup changes, personal struggles, and long gaps between albums, the evolution has continued, staying true to their emotional intensity and musical ingenuity. From The Open Door historically representing growth in 2006 through to Synthesis in 2017 and The Bitter Truth in 2021, these albums talk about growth, resilience, and artistic bravery.

The throwback today celebrates not just an account of success in their early days but the everlasting essence of Evanescence: a band that dared to be different and change the face of rock music forever.

What’s your favorite memory of Evanescence? Drop a comment below and let’s share certain moment!

Amy Lee

Amy Lee: the albums that changed my life

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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Evanescence

Premiere Of My Immortal From Synthesis Live DVD

Ahead of the release of their forthcoming new Synthesis Live DVD, Evanescence are premiering a show-stopping new clip of My Immortal, exclusively with Kerrang!.

Filmed last autumn on the band’s incredible Synthesis tour, Evanescence are set to release state-of-the-art footage from the shows on October 12 via Eagle Vision – but you can get a taste of what’s to come early with this amazing footage below. Watch My Immortal now, and be sure to pre-order Synthesis Live right here.

Evanescence

Amy Lee is rewriting history on the band’s new album

Their fourth release Synthesis is the opposite of an unplugged effort — rather Lee has re-recorded the band’s old material an even more dramatic and bombastic manner, with a full orchestra and heavy electronics. That includes their breakthrough 2003 hit Bring Me To Life. And there’s something missing from the version you know — that rap, by guest vocalist Paul McCoy.

“God bless the rap, it’s part of what got us on the radio I guess,” Lee says. “At least according to all the rules of radio that I don’t agree with or understand. The rap wasn’t part of our original idea or sound, it was a compromise in many ways. So to be able to go back to the original vision for the song was great.”

It’s not uncommon for an artist to go back and record their songs — Lee embraced being to able to revisit the band’s signature hit after performing it live at every concert they’ve played since it was release. “The recording of a song that ends being the one you hear the most through history is usually when the song was just freshly written. You’re still learning it yourself and getting used to what the notes are and how the parts go. That’s true for Bring Me to Life for sure. After doing it live for so long there’s different vocal choices I’ve made and different things we got to use in this version.” And no rap. “I forget the rap’s there now to be honest,” Lee says. “At the time it was a big issue, it was our first single. I wanted people to understand who we were. That’s a struggle you always fight as an artist. If we only had the one hit, if no one ever heard from us again then nobody would understand who we were. We’ve made it past that point so the rap doesn’t make me angry any more. I’m so glad to put a new version out there without the rap though.”

Similarly there’s an adult version of another Evanescence anthem, My Immortal — like Bring Me To Life it’s been the subject of countless covers and soundtracked many moody memes. Lee admits My Immortal almost got cut from Synthesis. “People have heard it so many times, I’m pretty open about the fact it’s not one of my favourite songs, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to totally re-record it again.” Despite a “band” version being recorded for their 17 million-selling debut album Fallen, most fans and radio gravitated to the early version of My Immortal, which Lee recorded as a teenager sneaking into the studio her dad worked at after hours. “I hate that version. I totally hate it. It’s an old demo from before we were even signed. Every time I hear it gets under my skin, but that’s the version most people play. I love the album version we did. But I wanted to do a new version so people know where I am vocally as a 35-year-old with all of this experience I have now behind me. As opposed to when I was 17. It’s beautiful because it’s pure and innocent but I was definitely still finding my voice. [Source]

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Evanescence

“My Immortal” on So You Think You Can Dance’s finale TONIGHT!

“My Immortal” on So You Think You Can Dance’s finale TONIGHT!

Hey guys – we have some pretty exciting news for you! On tonight’s finale of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance”, our song, “My Immortal” will play! Tune in on FOX at 8/7c!

Evanescence

Evanescence is Back Artist Direct Interview

Evanescence is Back Artist Direct Interview

Evanescence will be taking over 2010 with their highly anticipated third studio album due for late August/early September release date. Front woman, Amy Lee confirmed that Evanescence will be entering the studio this week to begin work on their third album with Grammy Award Winning producer Steve Lillywhite.

One of the coolest things I ever saw at a Disney event was when Lee took the stage at Nightmare Before X-Mas 3-D at Hollywood’s El Capitan theater two Halloweens ago for an entrancing, engaging and endlessly awesome rendition of “Sally’s Song” from Nightmare Revisited. She’s grown immensely as a vocalist, and this new album promises to be one of the most important rock records of the year.

“I can’t expain how excited I am to make this record,” said Amy Lee. “Over the past year and a half these songs have become the center of my life, and I can’t wait to hear what they grow into in the studio. I think our sound is evolving into something that will surprise people, in a very good way. I feel, as always, that growth can be an incredible, limitless thing if you let it. I never want to make the same album twice.”

The band, famous for hits like “Bring Me to Life”, “My Immortal,” “Going Under” and “Call Me When You’re Sober”, promises to stay true to the core Evanescence sound while integrating additional new sounds to create “another world.” The music’s core, which ranges from whisper- soft to painfully aggressive spans sounds of rock, goth and classical, led by Lee’s passionate vocals.

Evanescence is founder Amy Lee on vocals, piano, keyboards and harp; Terry Balsamo on guitar; Tim McCord on bass; Will Hunt on drums; and new collaborator Will “Science”, who will provide programming and drums, as well as additional production.

Evanescence has sold nearly 20 million records worldwide, more than 8 million in the U.S. alone, and won two Grammys® with their major-label debut Fallen, and a Grammy® nomination with their second album, The Open Door. READ MORE