Amy Lee

Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and classically trained pianist. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at age 11 and co-founded Evanescence at 13, inspired by various musical genres and film scores from an early age. Lee has participated in other musical projects, including Nightmare Revisited and Muppets: The Green Album, and composed music for several films, including War Story, Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015), and the song "Speak to Me" for Voice from the Stone (2017). She has also released the covers EP Recover, Vol. 1 (2016), the soundtrack album to War Story, the children's album Dream Too Much (2016), and collaborated on songs with various artists including Korn, Seether, Bring Me the Horizon, Lindsey Stirling, Body Count, Wagakki Band, Halsey, Poppy, and Courtney LaPlante.

Alongside her awards and nominations with Evanescence, Lee's other accolades include the Songwriter Icon Award from the National Music Publishers Association (2008), Best Vocalist at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards (2012), Rock Goddess of the Year at Loudwire Music Awards (2012), Best Film Score by the Moondance International Film Festival for Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015), and the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in Independent Film for "Speak to Me" (2017). In 2012, VH1 named Lee one of the top 100 greatest women in music. Lee is the American chairperson for the international epilepsy awareness foundation Out of the Shadows, and in 2012 was honored with United Cerebral Palsy's Luella Bennack Award for her work.

Early life and musical start Amy Lee was born on December 13, 1981, in Riverside, California, The oldest of five siblings, Lee has two living sisters. She had a younger sister who died at age three from an unidentified illness when Lee was six years old, and a younger brother who died in 2018 at age 24 after struggling with severe epilepsy for most of his life. She wrote the songs "Hello" from Fallen and "Like You" from The Open Door for her late sister. Classical music was her first musical influence as a child, inspiring her to become a musician and composer. She was first inspired by Mozart when she watched the 1984 film Amadeus at eight years old. She wanted to take piano lessons, and studied classical piano for nine years.

Lee began writing poetry about eternity and loneliness at age 10. Her mother had expressed concern about her writing, suggesting she see a therapist. Lee thought about taking antidepressants at the time but chose not to as she felt it would take her "soul away" and she "wouldn't be able to feel anything." One of the first songs she remembered writing was an instrumental piece called "Eternity of the Remorse", writing the sheet music when she was 11. Her first song with lyrics was called "A Single Tear", which she wrote for an eighth-grade assignment, recording it on a cassette tape and playing guitar while her friend from choir did backup vocals. When her family moved to Little Rock, Lee had a lot of pent-up "negativity". Lee found solace in writing, and joining the school choir helped her slowly gain confidence in her voice. She was in the alto section of her choir. Lee was initially insecure as a singer, and only used singing as a vehicle for her writing. she became president of her high school's choir, and wrote a choir piece called "Listen to the Rain", which the choir teacher liked and asked her to direct. The piece was performed by the choir in graduation.

Originally wanting to focus on classical or film score composing, Lee's plan changed as her "tastes got darker".

Lee's extra-curricular activities involved working on music, playing music with others from school, and freelance painting. She spent most of her free time making music at her house late at night. By age 13, Lee was inspired to form her own band, her musical vision for it being a fusion of her diverse musical tastes including cinematic and classical music, alternative, metal, and electronic music. In 1994, she met budding guitarist Ben Moody when she was 13 at a Christian youth camp; when others in the camp were playing sports, she played piano and he played acoustic guitar and she thought they could play music together. They packaged a demo CD, Origin (2000), to showcase to record labels.

Evanescence was signed by Wind Up Records in 2001, and moved to Los Angeles, where they completed their debut album, Fallen (2003). including three songs originally from their earlier independent records. In October 2003, Moody left the band in the middle of the Fallen tour, citing "creative differences". In Lee's termination letter to Evanescence's manager, she stated that Moody was physically and verbally abusive to her. and his influences were "a lot different" than hers.

Lee called former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo to replace Moody on the Fallen tour, and he soon became Evanescence's permanent lead guitarist and Lee's co-writing partner. She and Balsamo "clicked" and "connected on a lot of musical interests". When asked if the track was about Moody, Lee said, "If I answer that, then I'm not hiding anything anymore. But I just sort of answered it, didn't I?". Other songs Lee wrote throughout these months included "Lacrymosa" and "Together Again".

Lee collaborated with Balsamo, co-writing music together for Evanescence's second album, The Open Door (2006). The writing experience for The Open Door was "the best process" Lee ever had because she had "free reign"[sic] and could "do whatever I wanted without being judged". In 2006, Lee said that when she listened back to Fallen, she "hear all the vulnerability and the fear and all the childish things in me that are just human." While Lee was drowning in the misery of her experiences in Fallen, she said The Open Door is largely about her "purging the trials", acknowledging her issues and deliberating "what do I have to do to work this out", coming from a more hopeful place and with a more reflective outlook. Following the album's tour cycle, Lee took a break to recollect herself and live life away from the industry. and took harp lessons out of a desire to learn the instrument. In 2009, Evanescence began playing live shows again, with Lee realizing that she missed this part of her life, stating: "I had to get back together with all the guys, and we practiced all the old stuff ... and I enjoyed it so much. I started falling back in love with that part of me, the Evanescence part. I'd kind of been doing everything else, writing-wise, by myself, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, I love this stuff too. Maybe we should all make a record!'" Its lyrical themes include Lee "falling back in love" with Evanescence, her being inspired by nature and the ocean, brokenness, the quest for freedom, and falling in love. Different from The Open Door, which was "all about me and my personal experiences", Evanescence also includes Lee's musings on events that occurred to others in her life. "But really, whatever makes me feel the most, that's what's on the record, because that's what I need to get off my chest." In January 2014, it was reported that Lee had filed a lawsuit against Wind-up Records for $1.5 million in unpaid royalties owed to the band. the band worked on their fourth studio album, Synthesis, released in 2017. Synthesis is an album of orchestral and electronica re-recordings of the band's previous material in addition to two new songs and instrumentals. The album's release was followed by the Synthesis Live concert tour in which the band performed with a live orchestra for the first time.

In April 2020, Lee announced the release date of Evanescence's fifth album, The Bitter Truth. In a Q&A with Forbes in May 2020, Lee mentioned that the "image and idea" of the band from the early days was "something that combined multiple dramas, from the dramatic to the rock to the classical to the score", and that although many things have changed since, the "idea that started this whole thing is still there". Four songs from the album were released as singles throughout 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, while a virtual live-streamed show was performed by the band from their recording base at Rock Falcon Studio, Nashville, in December 2020. The album was released on March 26, 2021.

The band's sixth studio album, Sanctuary, was released on June 5, 2026.

2000–present: Solo work 2000–2007: Early solo projects Lee 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.

For Walt Disney Records' September 2008 release of Nightmare Revisited, Lee covered "Sally's Song". The album contains new material and covers of songs from the original Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

2013–2015: Aftermath and Recover On December 2, 2013, it was announced that Lee had teamed up with American composer Dave Eggar to create music for the American drama film War Story. She stated that collaborating on the song helped her cope with the passing of her brother, Robby.

In 2019, Amy collaborated with Lindsey Stirling on Stirling's 2019 album Artemis on the track and in the music video for "Love Goes On And On".

Amy appeared on Body Count's song "When I'm Gone" off their seventh album Carnivore, which was released on March 6, 2020.

On July 31, 2020, American rock band Halestorm re-released their song "Break In", featuring Lee's vocals. The single was included on the Halestorm: Reimagined EP.

On September 19, 2020, Japanese rock band Wagakki Band released a song "Sakura Rising" featuring Lee. The song was written and recorded the day before their orchestral show in Osaka on February 16, 2020, where Lee performed as a guest, but it was finished through file sharing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On October 30, 2020, Lee featured on the Bring Me the Horizon song "One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Your Death" from their EP Post Human: Survival Horror.

Lee voiced a character in the 2023 film Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar.

In 2025, Lee and singer Halsey collaborated on the song "Hand That Feeds" for the action thriller film Ballerina. The track topped the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart prior to the film's release. For the same film, Evanescence performed "Fight Like A Girl" featuring K.Flay, which was used in the end credits of the film. That year, Lee also collaborated with singers Poppy and Courtney LaPlante for the song "End of You", produced by Jordan Fish and released on September 4, 2025.

Artistry Songwriting Lee is a singer-songwriter and classically-trained pianist. As its main songwriter, Lee infused her love of sonic contrasts and various genres in Evanescence. (She prefers the feeling of a "clean slate" before she starts writing music, Writing primarily with keyboards and music software, Lee has also engineered, When demoing, Lee would layer chord progressions and sound effects, including piano, electronic sounds and drum loops.) Topics she has written about in Evanescence include: loss, abuse, fears, numbness, harassment, solitude, artifice, relationship dynamic, sorrow, relationship with music, aimlessness, contentment, mental health, defiance, indulgence, longing, nature, dreams, the music industry, identity, autonomy, disillusionment, speaking up, social issues, illusions, spiritual uncertainty, perseverance, and solidarity.

Voice Lee sings in a mezzo-soprano register.

Musical influences Lee has cited influence from composers such as Mozart, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer, Massive Attack, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Pantera, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Joan Jett,

Style and imagery

Lee has a recognizable fashion style, marked by her taste for Victorian-styled clothing and occasional use of gothic make-up. Her image was described as "independent and self-assured".

Lee explained and showcased some of her wardrobes in 2011, commenting that she would rather make her own clothes because it is hard to find exactly what she wants elsewhere.

In 2006, Blender listed Lee as one of the hottest women in rock alongside such singers as Joan Jett, Courtney Love and Liz Phair.

Discography

Aftermath (2014) Recover, Vol. 1 (2016) Dream Too Much (2016)

Filmography I Love the New Millennium (herself) VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (herself) Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (voice)

Awards and nominations