Terry Balsamo

Terry Philip Balsamo II (born October 8, 1972) is an American musician who is best known as a former guitarist of the rock bands Cold and Evanescence.

Biography

Early projects and Cold After a brief run with the early lineup of Limp Bizkit

Evanescence When Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody left the band during the European tour of their debut album Fallen (2003), Balsamo replaced him as lead guitarist on tour and soon joined as Evanescence's permanent guitarist. Balsamo featured on Evanescence's 2004 live album and concert DVD Anywhere but Home, and became singer and pianist Amy Lee's musical collaborator on their second album, The Open Door (2006). Balsamo continued with the band, playing and co-writing on their 2011 self-titled third album. In August 2015, it was announced on the band's Facebook page that Balsamo had parted ways with the band. He performed with the band again in 2019 for the song "Sweet Sacrifice".

Health issues In October 2005, two days after having finished recording all of his guitar tracks for Evanescence's album The Open Door, Balsamo suffered a stroke from a torn neck artery, leaving the left side of his body paralyzed. The doctors showed him that it was caused by a blood clot in his neck, possibly a result of headbanging on-stage and likely formation of an aneurysm, allowing for pooling of static blood and a thrombus.

Equipment