About Evanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent EPs as a duo in the late '90s and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut studio album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Propelled by the success of hit singles like "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal", Fallen sold more than four million copies in the US by January 2004, garnering Evanescence two Grammy Awards out of six nominations. They released their first live album and concert DVD, Anywhere but Home, in 2004, which sold over one million copies worldwide.
Evanescence released their second studio album, The Open Door, in 2006, co-composed by Lee and guitarist Terry Balsamo. It received a Grammy nomination and has sold more than six million copies worldwide. With Balsamo, guitarist Troy McLawhorn, bassist Tim McCord and drummer Will Hunt, the band reconvened in 2009 to work on music for their next album, Evanescence. Released in 2011, it marked the first album co-written as a band. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and Hard Rock Albums charts. Following the end of the album's tour cycle, the band entered a hiatus.
In 2014, Lee and Evanescence left their record label and became an independent band. The band emerged from hiatus in 2015 and resumed touring, while a new album was not yet created as Lee was also focusing on a solo project. In 2016, Lee stated that Evanescence was working on a fourth album, Synthesis , composed of orchestral and electronica arrangements of their previous material alongside two new songs. Its release was followed by the Synthesis Live tour, in which the band performed with live orchestras for the first time. After pandemic delays, Evanescence released their fifth studio album, The Bitter Truth, in 2021, which reached the top five of the Billboard Independent, Alternative, and Hard Rock charts.
Generally classified as a gothic alternative metal and hard rock band, Evanescence have a diverse sound incorporating various musical styles including classical music, alternative music, heavy metal, industrial music, and electronic music, driven by Lee's contrasting musical pursuits and introspective songwriting. Beginning as a duo partnership, Evanescence had several lineup changes, and became a band collaboration in 2009. The band comprises Lee, guitarist Tim McCord since 2006, guitarist Troy McLawhorn and drummer Will Hunt since 2007, and bassist Emma Anzai since 2022. Among other accolades, Evanescence has received two Grammy Awards, three Loudwire Music Awards, a Kerrang! Award, a Revolver Golden Gods Music Award, a Rock Sound award, a Brit Award nomination, three American Music Award nominations, and five MTV Video Music Award nominations. Evanescence have sold a total of 31.9 million albums, making the band one of the best selling hard rock and metal artists of all time.
Singer and pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody met in 1994 in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 13 and 14, when the two were at a Christian youth camp where Lee played piano during sport activities and Moody played acoustic guitar and she thought they could play music together. Lee thinks what drew them together at the time was that they "didn't fit in that well" and were "out of element in this silly camp environment". Within a month of meeting, Lee brought Moody a cassette tape of her playing guitar and singing a song she wrote. They became musical collaborators, playing and working on music at Lee's home, and were soon performing acoustic sets at book stores and coffee houses in the Little Rock area. Lee said their music at the time "sounded different because we didn't have the means to make it sound like we wanted". Strings, choirs, and "dramatic, cinematic" sounds were musical desires they couldn't materialize as they were "just two kids in a basement". Lee had a 16-track recorder and she and Moody would use it and Pro Tools, "fake strings and choirs" on her keyboard, and layer sounds and beats for their early material, which they mixed and produced. "We were basically just putting it down to remember what we wanted", Lee said.
Lee had the musical vision for Evanescence. What made her want to start a band was "the idea of combinations that were unlikely". Danny Elfman's film scores were a significant influence for her when she began creating Evanescence's music. Lee aimed to combine her various musical tastes, "bringing something from the cinematic and classical symphonic world and marrying it to metal, hard rock and alternative music." Perceiving "similarities between the drama of classical music and the heavier stuff I was listening to" inspired her to "bring those things together for myself", and she infused in Evanescence her love of contrasting sounds. "There was all this music that was inspiring me. And Evanescence was the product of these two extremes combining". After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, Lee and Moody decided on Evanescence, which means disappearance or fading away. They wanted a name that was "out of nowhere", and when they came across the word they found it "beautiful" and "elusive".
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