Amy Lynn Lee Hartzler, or Amy Lee as she is more commonly known, is an American singer and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence. Her first EP in Evanescence was Origin. The next Major Hit was Fallen which was realesed in 2004. It brought two grammis to her.Her second album The Open Doors is in stores.
History[]
Lee was born to parents John Lee, a disc jockey and TV personality, and Sara Cargill. She has one brother, Robby, and two sisters, Carrie and Lori. Lee had a third sister, who died in 1987 at the age of three from an unidentified illness. The song "Hello" from Fallen has been reported to have been written for her late sister, as well as the song "Like You" from The Open Door with the lyrics, "I long to be like you, sis, Lie cold in the ground like you, dead," also hinting at the death of her sister and her grief for it. Lee took classical piano lessons for nine years. Her family moved to many places, including Florida and Illinois, but finally settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Evanescence started. She graduated from Pulaski Academy in 2000 and also briefly attended Middle Tennessee State University.
Evanescence[]
Founding[]
She co-founded the band with Ben Moody. The two met at a youth camp after he heard Lee playing Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)" on the piano. Within a month, the pair were playing acoustic sets at Arkansas book stores and coffee houses,and they eventually recorded two EPs, Evanescence EP (1998) and Sound Asleep EP (1999), selling them at various local venues. In 2000, Evanescence recorded the longer EP Origin. This demo contains three songs from the debut album Fallen and was written by Lee and Moody: "Whisper", "Imaginary" and "My Immortal". Whereas "Whisper" and "Imaginary" underwent further modifications before being included on Fallen, "My Immortal" is virtually identical. A later band version of "My Immortal" was made available for download for those who had bought an official version of Fallen through their official web site, but required that a CD checker program also be downloaded for verification before it would play.The band version was included on later copies of Fallen, notably the Brazilian and Argentinian editions.On October 22, 2003, guitarist Ben Moody left the band citing "creative differences". In an interview several months later, Amy said: "We'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record". She also said "We're finally a real band, not just Ben and I and a few others thrown together".Ex-Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo replaced Moody in the band, both on guitar and as Lee's writing partner.Now John LeComp and Rocky Gray has left the band. Amy is the only original artist left in the band.Will Hunt and Troy McLawhorn have now taken John and Rocky's place in the band.
The Open Door[]
The Open Door is the second album of Evanescence.
Personal life[]
Image[]
Lee has a recognizable goth style, marked by her use of Gothic make-up and taste for Victorian-styled clothing. She also designs many of her own clothes, including those worn in the music video for "Going Under" and the dress she wore at the 2004 Grammy awards. After she designed it she chose Japanese designer H. Naoto to make it for her. In concerts, she often wears a corset and fishnets, as well as long skirts and knee-high boots. She used to have a notable piercing on her left eyebrow which is visible on the cover of Fallen.
She has stated on a number of occasions that she would never flash her breasts or engage in other publicity stunts that would draw attention to herself. In fact, in the music video for "Everybody's Fool," she aimed to mock such artists by suggesting that celebrities who use sex to appeal to an audience are, in fact, merely peddling "lies" (the unifying theme of the music video). Many fans praise Lee for her refusal to emulate other celebrities by using sex appeal in her music.
In 2006, Blender listed Lee as one of the hottest women in Rock alongside such singers as Joan Jett, Courtney Love and Liz Phair.
Engagment and Marriage[]
Lee revealed during the taping of MuchMusic's January 9, 2007 episode of Live @ Much that she had become engaged the previous evening. She later confirmed on EvThreads.com that she had been proposed to by Josh Hartzler, a 29-year-old therapist and longtime friend.She noted in an interview that the songs "Good Enough" and "Bring Me To Life" were inspired by him.The couple were married on May 6, 2007, and honeymooned near The Bahamas.She has posted on EvThreads that she is "now officially Mrs. Amy Hartzler."
Discography[]
Albums[]
Singles[]
- Broken (with Seether)
External links[]
- Evanescence Wiki
- Amy Lee on the Evanescence wiki