Born: 13 December 1981 Birthplace: Riverside, California Best Known As: Vocalist for the rock band Evanescence Amy Lee is the vocalist and songwriter of the goth-drama band Evanescence, whose debut album, Fallen (2003), was nominated for five Grammys in 2003. The band won two Grammys that year, for Best New Artist and for Best Hard Rock Performance, the latter for the hit song "Bring Me To Life," featured in the movie Daredevil (2003, starring Ben Affleck). Lee and band co-founder Ben Moody (guitarist) met at summer camp in Arkansas when they were teenagers. Although they rarely performed live, their early recordings gained a local following and in 2001 they were signed to a recording contract. John Le Compt (guitar), Rocky Gray (drums) and Will Boyd (bass) joined the band, and the success of Fallen made them overnight rock stars. Within a year, however, Moody left the band and was replaced by guitarist Terry Balsalmo. A live album and DVD released in 2004, Anywhere But Home, continued the band's success, and their second studio album, 2006's The Open Door, debuted at the top of Billboard's Top 200 chart. Boyd left the band in 2006, and some kind of internal dust-up in 2007 led to the departure of Le Compt and Gray. Amy Lee, the only original member of the band, vowed to soldier on. Amy Lee the rock singer is not to the same as Amy Lee the saxophone player... Bass player Will Boyd left the band in 2006 and was replaced by guitarist Tim McCord. WebNewsImagesShoppingPage Tools ? Print this page Send to friend Translate this pagePersonalize Library Animal Life Business and Finance Entertainment and Arts Food and Cooking Health History, Politics and Society Home and Garden Law and Legal Issues Literature and Language Miscellaneous Religion and Spirituality Science Shopping Sports Technology Travel See All...

Amy Hartzler (born Amy Lynn Lee and best known as Amy Lee, December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California) is an American singer-songwriter and classically-trained pianist. She is a founding member and lead singer of the Grammy Award winning rock band Evanescence. Her influences range from classical musicians such as Mozart to modern artists like Bj?rk, Tori Amos, Danny Elfman,[1] and Plumb.[2] Biography Early life 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.[3] 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, did," also hinting at the death of her sister and her grief for it.[4] Lee took classical piano lessons for nine years. Her family moved to many places, including Florida and Illinois,[5] 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. In an interview on AOL Music, Lee revealed that the first songs she remembered writing were called "Eternity of the Remorse" and "A Single Tear". The first was written when she was eleven years old and wanted to become a classical composer, and the second was for an assignment when she was in the eighth grade of school.[6]
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.[7] Within a month, the pair were playing acoustic sets at Arkansas book stores and coffee houses,[8] 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.[9] The band version was included on later copies of Fallen, notably the Brazilian and Argentinian editions. Departure of Ben Moody 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".[8] Ex-Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo replaced Moody in the band, both on guitar and as Lee's writing partner. Lawsuit On December 1, 2005, former Evanescence manager Dennis Rider filed a lawsuit against Lee for breach of contract. The suit claims Rider was prematurely and unjustly terminated from his position as manager of Evanescence. In return, Lee filed a counter-suit against Rider for "breach of fiduciary duty, sexual assault and battery, professional negligence, currency conversion, and other charges". The suit also claims Rider "neglected Lee's career and business and has focused his efforts on having extramarital affairs, hiding them from his wife, becoming intoxicated during business meetings, physically abusing women and boasting about it, making repeated unwelcome sexual advances toward Lee, receiving fees in excess of what was provided for in his management agreement and using Lee's corporate credit card to purchase gifts for his mistress." Rider's attorney, Bert Deixler, claimed in a statement that Rider had fully performed all of the duties and obligations owed by the firm under the management agreement, and that he had always conducted himself by the highest professional standards.[10] Amy Lee singing at a concert in 2006. The Open Door Main article: The Open Door Lee had claimed to be working on music for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but that the music was rejected for being "Too dark and epic." However, the producers of Narnia stated that Lee was never asked to compose any music for the film, whose score was written by Harry Gregson-Williams, and that "No Evanescence music was planned for the soundtrack."[11][12] While there was some speculation that one of the supposed songs had been cut and used in several tracks of The Open Door, Lee stated this was not true except for part of it being used to segue into the last track of the album, "Good Enough".[13] Engagement and marriage Lee revealed during the taping of MuchMusic's January 9, 2007 episode of http://www.answers.com/topic/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.[14] She noted in an interview that the songs "Good Enough" and "Bring Me To Life" were inspired by him.[15] The couple were married on May 6, 2007, and honeymooned near The Bahamas.[16] She has posted on EvThreads that she is "now officially Mrs. Amy Hartzler."[17] Amy Lee, performing at an Evanescence concert. Image Lee has a recognizable goth style, marked by her occasional use of Gothic make-up and taste for Victorian-styled clothing.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] In 2006, Blender listed Lee as one of the hottest women in rock alongside such singers as Joan Jett, Courtney Love and Liz Phair.[21] Other projects In 2000, Lee sang guest vocals on two of former Evanescence keyboardist David Hodges' songs: "Breathe" (The Summit Church: Summit Worship) and the unreleased "Fall Into You".[22] She performed backup vocals for "Missing You", a song on Big Dismal's 2003 debut album Believe, and sang backup vocals on two songs with 'supergroup' The Damning Well, though her vocals were taken off the final release due to record label issues.[23] Lee later performed a duet with her then-boyfriend Shaun Morgan on the track "Broken" for Seether's 2004 album Disclaimer II. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack for the 2004 film The Punisher. In 2006, Lee become the American Chairperson for Out of the Shadows, an international foundation with the goal of educating others about epilepsy. Lee's younger brother, Robbie, was previously diagnosed with this condition.[24] The singer also made a brief guest appearance in the music video for Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down[25], where she chose to appear laying flowers on a grave. She was recorded in Trinity Church in Manhattan. During the shoot, she wore a 'long-sleeve black velvet coat' that was Tim Burton's.[15] On Korn's MTV Unplugged: Korn, Lee was featured in the song "Freak on a Leash". The song is also the first single from the album and was released to television and radio in early February 2007. Discography Evanescence Main article: Evanescence discography Evanescence EP (December, 1998) Sound Asleep EP (August, 1999) Origin (November 4, 2000) Mystary EP (January, 2003) Fallen (March 4, 2003) Anywhere but Home (November 23, 2004) The Open Door (October 3, 2006) Collaborations David Hodges featuring Amy Lee - "Breathe" - The Summit Church: Summit Worship (2000) David Hodges featuring Amy Lee - "Fall Into You" (2000, Unreleased) Big Dismal featuring Amy Lee - "Missing You" - Believe (2003) Seether featuring Amy Lee - "Broken" - Disclaimer II (2004) and The Punisher Soundtrack (2004) Korn featuring Amy Lee - "Freak on a Leash" - MTV Unplugged: Korn (2007) References ^ Interview with Evanescence singer Amy Lee. gURL.com. iVillage Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Farias, Andree. "Pre-Evanescence", Christianity Today, Christianity Today International, 2006-04-10. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Odell, Michael. "Survivor!", Blender magazine. Retrieved on 2006-10-18. ^ Amy Lee discusses every song from the album. VH1.com (2006-10-08). ^ Amy's bio. OutoftheShadows.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Robertson, Jessica (2007-10-19). P's & Q's: Amy Lee Finds Solace in Marriage and Music. AOL.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19. ^ D'Angelo, Joe. "Evanescence - The Split", MTV News, 2004-02-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ a b Bakker, Tiffany. "Moody blues", Sydney Morning Herald, 2004-01-09. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ My Immortal Band Version. Evanescence.com. Archived from the original on [[2004-06-15]]. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. ^ Harris, Chris. "Evanescence's Amy Lee Sues Former Manager, Alleges Financial And Sexual Misconduct", MTV News via VH1.com, 2005-12-08. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ D'Angelo, Joe. "Evanescence's New Sound Is Reminiscent Of ... Evanescence", MTV News, 2004-11-18. Retrieved on 2007-07-06. ^ "Wardrobe closed to Evanescence singer", The New Zealand Herald, 2007-11-27. Retrieved on 2007-07-06. ^ Lee, Amy (2006-07-13). Discussion of The Open Door album. EvBoard.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-09. ^ Lee, Amy (2007-01-09). Amy's Engaged!: *clink clink* *ahem...*. EvThreads.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. ^ a b Eells, Josh. "Amy Lee: Back in Black", Blender. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. ^ Rubin, Courtney. "Evanescence Singer Amy Lee Gets Married", People, 2007-05-10. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. ^ Hartzler, Amy (2007-05-18). i've got a new ring & now you've got the scoop. EvThreads.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-18. ^ Evanescence's Amy shreads her threads!. Kerrang (2003-06-09). Retrieved on 2007-04-29. ^ Amy Lee - Instant Fashion Profile. MTV News (2004). Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Moss, Corey. "Evanescence's Amy Lee Hopes To Get Into Film, Rages Against Cheesy Female Idols", MTV News via VH1.com, 2004-06-10. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Errico, Mike (December 2006). Hottest Women of…Rock!. Blender. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. ^ Discography / Lyrics / Audio Clips. DavidHodges.info. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ D'Angelo, Joe. "Borland, Bowie, Maynard James Keenan Ready To Unveil Hush-Hush Project", MTV News, 2003-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-08. ^ Why Epilepsy?. OutoftheShadows.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. ^ Kaufman, Gil. "Timberlake's Brainstorm: Johnny Cash Video With Kanye, Jigga, Depp, Others", MTV News via VH1.com, 2006-11-17. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.


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