Amy Lynn Lee

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Amy Lynn Hartzler

Amy Lee (born Amy Lynn Lee on December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California) is the co-founder, lead singer and primary songwriter of Evanescence. Her family moved around the US a lot to places such as West Palm Beach, Florida and Rockford, Illinois, before finally settling down in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Evanescence was formed. She is the main songwriter and provides the image for the band as well as doing most of the interviews. Amy and Ben Moody met at a summer camp in Little Rocky in 1994, where she played Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and two measures of a Meatloaf song on the piano. After that, the rest is history.

Image

Signature of Amy Lee

Amy 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 the early days, she also used to make some of her clothing. In concerts, she often wore a corset and fishnets, but she abandoned corsets in the 2011-12 Evanescence album tour, with Amy saying with an interview with VEVO Stylized that she has become more confident on stage since the early days. Amy used to have a piercing on her left eyebrow, which she had taken out and re-pierced a few times, but later removed it permanently in mid-2005.

Amy's short hair in 2008.

Kerrang magazine readers voted her #1 Sexiest Rock Woman, with Hayley Williams from Paramore coming in 2nd.

Amy Lee was honored with the National Music Publishers' Association Songwriter Icon Award for 2008. She received the award on June 18 in New York City. This award is very privileged as only one person gets it per year out of the whole music industry. She also performed for them. The Icon Award recognizes outstanding songwriters for personal achievement and who personify the vision of NMPA and the goals of its members. Former recipients include Jimmy Webb and Neil Sedaka.

Amy Lee attended the Betsey Johnson Spring 2009 Fashion Show on September 9, 2008.

Amy got her first tattoo on May 24, 2018 in tribute to her late brother, Robby Lee.

Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano.

Solo Career

Amy in October 2009

In October 2008, Amy said during an interview with Spin that she had begun writing songs which she described as "definitely different", citing folky and Celtic influence. She stated that she needs to show that she is "more than a one trick pony" and that she is going back to her "really old roots". She said that it is nothing that she would "categorize as Evanescence". In an interview with The Gauntlet, she said that she doesn't know what she is writing new songs for. In another interview with Spin in 2010, during the time Amy was working with Steve Lillywhite on Evanescence's third album, she said that nothing from the material she mentioned in the 2008 interview will be on the new album.

Later in 2011, during an interview with Billboard, she said that while the material made with Steve Lillywhite was scrapped, they may end up on future projects someday.

I think that some of those songs aren't right for Evanescence. Some of the songs that we had at that time could maybe be a solo thing in the future. We really do have a lot of extra songs from that time and also songs that the band wrote together; we just wrote a ton in the past few years and especially in the last one year. My head is totally focused on Evanescence right now, but I think it's totally possible that some of those songs will end up on different projects someday -- maybe solo, maybe something else.

However, she revealed in 2015 that the album produced by Lillywhite was scrapped by her label and that she "was told that none of the songs I'd been pouring my heart into for a year, in any form, were good enough." She was forced to start over and release what we know now as the self-titled album. She further said she owns those unfinished recordings, adding she plans to finish some of the scrapped songs and release them someday.

On December 1, 2013 Amy announced that she and Dave Eggar scored an independent film called War Story. The soundtrack album, titled Aftermath, was released in August 2014.

In 2015 she scored Hammerstep's short film Indigo Grey: The Passage.

In 2016, she released a covers EP, Recover, Vol. 1, as well as her second solo album, Dream Too Much, a children's album that was inspired by her son Jack. The following year she released two stand-alone singles, Love Exists and Speak to Me, the latter being the end title song of Voice from the Stone. She also scored the 2017 film Blind, and its soundtrack album was released in January 2018.

Social Efforts

Out of the Shadows

In 2005, Amy became a spokesperson for the Epilepsy Foundation and launched a campaign called Out of the Shadows. The goal is to help spread awareness about epilepsy and to encourage people to not discriminate against people with epilepsy. This campaign is important to Amy, as well as her family, because her younger brother had epilepsy and she has seen first hand the effect it has.

To Write Love in Her Arms

Amy is supporting To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. Her husband, Josh Hartzler, has a counseling background. Amy was wearing a T-shirt of the movement on November 12, 2007, in Nissan Live on Yahoo! Music.

UN Haiti Relief Effort

On January 22nd, 2010, Amy announced on her Twitter account the release of "Together Again" to the public, after the Haiti earthquake events - "Today @Evanescence is releasing a new song, Together Again, and the proceeds are going to help Haiti! Details to follow!". If you were to donate at least five dollars or more, you would receive this song. According to Amy, the song successfully raised over $31,000 in its first week of availability.

Restore Freedom

In 2010 and 2012, Amy supported Restore Freedom to help the campaign against sex trafficking and for the construction of the first "safehouse" in NY, to host the victims of sex trafficking. In the Restore Freedom official website, Amy had a personal page where it was possible making a donation to support the project. The campaign raised over 125,000$. She also donated a piano to the safehouse and taught music to the survivors. Her involvement with the organization inspired her to write My Heart is Broken.

Other Appearances

In 2000, Amy sang guest vocals on David Hodges' songs Breathe (The Summit Church: Summit Worship CD) and unreleased song of his called Fall Into You.

She did back up vocals on Big Dismal's song Missing You off of their 2003 debut release CD, Believe.

Did some vocals on the Underworld soundtrack in 2003 but after some issues with her record label her voice was never used. Her name still appears in the credits though.

Amy collaborated with a supergroup called The Damning Well in 2003. She recorded guest vocals on their song Power, but because of issues with Wind-Up, the song was never released.

Amy is featured on Seether's song Broken. The song was released as a single in 2004 and can be found on The Punisher soundtrack and on Seether's Disclaimer II album.

In 2004, Amy claimed to be working on music for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, but it was rejected for being "too dark" and "too epic." However, the producers of Narnia stated that she was never asked to compose any music for the film. She later revealed that she had written Together Again (previously referred to as The Narnia Song) and part of Lacrymosa for the initial concept film, which producers had originally said would be in the vein of Lord of the Rings, and she used part of The Narnia Song instrumental she wrote as the intro to Good Enough. The latter two songs were included on The Open Door, and the former was released as a charity single in 2010.

She appears on KoЯn's 2007 MTV Unplugged album on the track Freak on a Leash. The song was also released as the first single.

She sang Epiphany with Aaron Lewis from Staind, at My Coke Fest 2007 held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Amy also appeared with Finger Eleven to duet on their song, One Thing.

In 2008, Amy Lee made a remake of the song Sally's Song from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). The cover is featured on the Nightmare Revisited soundtrack which was released in September 2008 in the U.S and 27th October in the U.K., published by Walt Disney Records.

Amy covered the song Halfway Down the Stairs for the album Muppets: The Green Album, released on August 23, 2011. The cover song was recorded in 2009 and the album was intended for a 2010 release, but it was finally released in 2011.

Amy joined Lzzy Hale on stage to duet on Break In several times whilst they were on the Carnival of Madness tour in 2012. On July 31, 2020, a studio version of the duet was released as the first single off Halestorm's Reimagined EP.

Amy was asked to play piano on Veridia's song, I'll Never Be Ready, and has performed it live with them several times whilst touring together.

Amy sings backing vocals on the song, All About Anna, from Dave Eggar and Chuck Palmer's EP, Cellogram which was released in 2018.

Amy features on Lindsey Stirling's 2019 album, Artemis, on the song Love Goes On and On. A music video was released on July 12, 2022.

Amy appeared on Body Count's song, When I'm Gone, which was released on March 6, 2020.

Amy is featured on the song Sakura Rising from Wagakki Band's sixth album, Tokyo Singing, which was released on October 14, 2020. The deluxe edition includes a DVD for February's Symphonic Orchestra concert in Osaka, Japan where Amy performed as a guest. The song was released as a single on September 18, 2020 with a accompanying animated lyric video depicting New York and Tokyo amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Amy is featured on the song One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death off Bring Me the Horizon's 2020 EP, POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR. The EP was released on October 30, 2020.

Amy and Dave Stewart from Eurythmics teamed up to cover The Everly Brothers' Love Hurts. The song and its music video premiered on June 19, 2022 at the virtual concert Hey Doll Baby Festival: Celebrating The Lives & Music of The Everly Brothers, and the song was digitally released and available to stream on the 24th.

On February 20, 2023, Amy Lee and Bush duetted on the song 1000 Years at Bush's concert in Nashville.

Tools of the Trade

On tour, Amy uses a Baldwin baby grand piano with a keyboard insert (a baby grand piano shell with an electronic keyboard instead of an acoustic piano on the inside). She also uses a stand-alone Baldwin keyboard and Shure Microphones. She has used a Kurzweil and a Yamaha digital piano during the Fallen Tour. She's also been using a Roland RD-700sx keyboard since 2009. She uses a Korg synthesizer attached to her piano since 2012 when she performs Swimming Home.

In her home studio, she uses ProTools, Dynaudio speakers and a US7 mic that was used to record vocals on Fallen, plus plug-in softwares, a Akai Midi keyboard and various keyboards. She also has a theremin and a Moog Taurus synthesizer.

At the 50th Grammy Awards, Amy disclosed that she was learning to play the harp, practicing two hours a day. She was taught by Kirsten Copely, who later performed on Evanescence's fourth album, Synthesis.

Social Media

MySpace & Facebook

Amy Lee does not have a personal MySpace page or Facebook profile. There are several impostor pages on both sites claiming to be Amy Lee. They are not real.

She has also stated this again in October 2009 in a response to a user on Twitter:

Glad you asked! No, this is my only Twitter. I also do NOT have a personal facebook or myspace page, those are all false.

However, on April 16, 2014, Amy announced (through her verified Twitter account) that she has an official Facebook page [1]. It is also verified.

I finally got my own Facebook page! This is me: https://www.facebook.com/AmyLeeOfficial

Twitter

Amy has a Twitter account, created September 22, 2009, with the nickname of AmyLeeEV. With this profile Amy keeps fans updated about news. She revealed this writing this post on EvThreads:

Hey guys! I can't believe I'm saying this but..... I've decided to try out the twitter thing. I think it might be a fun way to stay in touch better and I know I need to announce myself on here because there are so many other 'me's.' My name on twitter is AmyLeeEv. I can't guarantee I'll have anything interesting to say but if you're really bored and need a distraction, why not follow me? Actually, I think I haven an idea for my first tweet. How about I spill the first little surprise I've been holding onto? See you there!

Instagram

Amy also has an Instagram account, created December 8, 2013, with the nickname of amylee. She mainly uses this profile to share things about her personal life with her fans. She revealed its creation with a post on her Twitter, which gave a link to her profile.

General Facts

Personal

• Amy was born at Parkview Hospital in Riverside, California and is a Sagittarius; she was born in The Year of the Rooster.
• Amy is named after the 70's song "Amie" by Pure Prairie League.
• Amy didn't really have any childhood names, it was always either Amy, Ames, or Amers.
• Amy's said that her heritage is mostly Scottish and English.
• Amy said that when she was in middle school she was "overweight and had poofy hair."
• While moving around the country, Amy attended a junior high school, where she met one of her childhood "enemies", Christina. Christina once tore Amy's drawings that were on a sketch pad while she was in the bathroom.
• In high school, Amy was active in choir and drama. She was also president of the choir (hence her name for herself, "choir nerd"). While there, she wrote the song "Listen to the Rain", which was performed by the Pulaski Academy mixed choir.
• According to Maximum Evanescence, Ben Moody took Amy to her senior prom in high school. During this time, Amy and Ben had a brother-sister relationship.
• Amy's immediate family includes father John Lee, a DJ on K106.3 in Little Rock, mother Sarah Lee, brother Robby, and sisters Carrie and Lori. Lee had a third sister, who died in 1987 at the age of three from an unidentified illness, who is known to be the inspiration for a few very personal songs. "On the last record, I wrote 'Hello' about her. 'Like You' is her place on [The Open Door]."
• Past romantic relationships include Ben Moody and Shaun Morgan.
• Amy is currently married to a long time friend, Josh Hartzler. He was an inspiration for her writing "Bring Me to Life" and the song "Good Enough" from The Open Door. The two were engaged on January 8th, 2007, and Amy made the first official announcement on January 9th. They were married on May 6th, 2007.
• Amy has a son called Jack Lion Hartzler with her husband, Josh. He was born in July 2014.
• Amy currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She lived in Brooklyn, New York from 2006 until 2019.
• Amy's related to Robert E. Lee - her great, great uncle.
• Amy knows how to snowboard.
• Amy got her first tattoo on May 23, 2018 in tribute to her late brother, Robby Lee.

Professional

• Some of Amy's influences include Björk, Portishead (Beth Gibbons), Soundgarden, Nirvana, Korn, Carole King, Michael Jackson, Janis Joplin, Tori Amos, Plumb, Mozart, and Hardcore.
• The first songs written by Amy include A Single Tear and Eternity of the Remorse.
• Amy's favorite Fallen song is Going Under.
• Amy saw an acting teacher to help her with her stage fright before they started recording Fallen. She also took three vocal lessons from Seth Riggs.
• Amy would prefer to stay at home and play in one place, but she still likes to tour.
• Piano and organ are Amy's main instruments.
• Amy is a notable Baldwin Piano user, though she used to play Kurzweil keyboards while performing My Immortal live when the band was starting out. She started using a baby grand Steinway & Sons piano to record Synthesis and brought it with her on the Synthesis Live tours.
• Amy can play the guitar, as demonstrated in the The Cartoon Network Song.
• Amy began playing the harp in 2008 after her husband, Josh Hartzler, surprised her with lessons as a gift. She has since used the harp on her cover of Sally's Song, and on Evanescence songs Swimming Home, New Way to Bleed and Secret Door.
• Before Evanescence took off, Amy was about to start part-time work as a waitress.
• When Amy was younger, she wanted to be a vet, until her dad showed her a dog surgery on the Discovery channel.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy doesn't use any automatic voice tuning software on stage.

Music Likes & Dislikes

• The first album Amy owned was the California Raisins tape.
• Björk was Amy's idol and biggest musical influence.
• Amy's favorite 80's song is "Everything She Wants" by Wham!. She has sung the song karaoke at least five times.
• Amy hates "Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men.
• Amy admits to listening to Mariah Carey.
• Amy thinks that Beyonce's song "Run the World" is "badass".

Movie Likes & Dislikes

• One of Amy's favorite movies is An American Tail.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite characters from the Harry Potter movies are Ron Weasley and Severus Snape.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite movie is the Nightmare Before Christmas.
• Amy's favorite zombie movie is Dead Alive.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite actors are Giovanni Ribisi and Johnny Depp.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's top five horror films are:

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas
2. Halloween
3. Carrie
4. Psycho
5. The Birds

Amy and her cat, Simon.

Pets

• Amy used to have a cat named Fievel. She found him in a ditch, and he lived with her family.
• Amy later had a cat named Zero, until it met a coyote.
• Amy owned a Bengal cat in the mid-2000's.
• Amy most recently had two cats: Stella and Shermie. It's unknown what happened to Stella, but Shermie passed away at the age of 18 in November 2021.
• Amy said she will get a new kitten around Christmas 2022. On January 19, 2023, she announced her new cat named Simon.

Miscellaneous

• Amy is allergic to lobster. She loves lobster.
• The beach is one of Amy's favorite places - she loves the ocean.
• Amy's favorite holiday is Halloween.
• Amy's favorite era is the Victorian era because they had such cool clothes.
• The three things Amy would bring with to a deserted island would be a piano and her two cats.
• Amy is the shortest member of the band, past or present.
• Amy's been to the Haunted Mansion at Disney World "a million times".
• Amy's most embarrassing celebrity crush is Corey Feldman from The Goonies.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy thinks pirates are better than ninjas.
• Amy's favorite color is aqua.
• During the annual lunch box auction, Amy's lunch box had the highest bid out of all the lunch boxes.
• Amy loves any food her dad makes.
• Amy's favorite drink is red wine.
• Amy's favorite video game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. She said she's played through it "at least 30 times".
• Amy's first "real" concert was The Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage when she was fourteen or fifteen years old.
• Amy said she would turn down the chance of being a judge on The X Factor, if she was ever asked.
• Amy turned down an opportunity to work on a song with Bon Jovi as she felt that it "wasn't right for [her]."
• Amy also turned down an audition to be in the Spider-Man musical on Broadway as "[she couldn't] imagine committing to doing something like that for six days a week forever."

See also

• Amy Lee's Artwork
• Amy dresses
• Snow White

External Links

• Official Website
• Official Facebook
• Official Twitter
• Official Instagram
• Official YouTube
• Out of the Shadows
• BMI Repertoire Listing for Amy Lee