Amy Lynn Lee

Amy Lynn Hartzler in November 2013

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Amy Lynn Hartzler (née Lee, born December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California) is the co-founder and lead singer of Evanescence. Her family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, Rockford, Illinois, and finally stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas. Responsible for many of Evanescence's hard hitting lyrics and is the main songwriter of the band. Amy provides the image for the band and does most of the interviews. Ben Moody discovered Amy Lee in summer camp in 1994 when she played Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and two measures of Meatloaf songs on the piano. After that, the rest is history.

Image

Signature of Amy Lee

Lee has no trademark style with the "Faux Gothic". She dyed her hair jet black, though her hair is actually light brown. Her current hair color is red, after she dyed it in November 2012. 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, although she does sometimes make her own clothes. In concerts, she used to often wear a corset and fishnets, but she has abandoned corsets in the latest 2011-12 Evanescence album tour, with Amy saying with an interview with VEVO Stylized that she has become more comfortable with her own style. Amy used to have a notable piercing on her left eyebrow which she had taken out and had re-pierced a few times, but she took it out for good sometime in mid-2005.

Many fans praise Lee for her refusal to emulate other celebrities by using sex appeal in her music. 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 celebrities who use sex to appeal to an audience are, in fact, merely peddling "lies" (the unifying theme of the music video).

In her personal life, she enjoys being a girl. Her clothing style is quirky and marked by her frequent use of not-so-goth clothes (she stated in an interview with AOL that she was wearing "something floral"). She explains it as a professional thing, saying that her image onstage is so different from her normal clothes because it completes the image; if she were to come out onstage in pink boots and a track suit and sing about despair, it would totally ruin the image.

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 recieved 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. The event was not in 2009 (of course). It was held in 2008. She was there with Kelly Osbourne.

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 the new Evanescence 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.

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 has 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 has a personal page where it's still possible making a donation to support the project. The campaign raised over 125,000$.

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 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.

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 live.

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.

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.

At the 50th Grammy Awards, Amy disclosed that she was working hard learning the harp, practicing two hours a day.

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.

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 it's creation with a post on her Twitter, which gave a link to her profile.

General facts

Personal

• Amy was born at Parkview Hospital 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.
• When Amy was in middle school, she insists that 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 very close brother-sister relationship.
• Amy's immediate family includes father John Lee, a well known 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, who is a 29-year-old therapist. She wrote "Bring Me to Life" about him and he also inspired the song "Good Enough", the last song on 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 is currently pregnant. She announced this on her Twitter on January 18, 2014.
• Amy currently lives in Manhattan.
• Amy's related to Robert E. Lee (Her great, great...) uncle.
• Amy knows how to snowboard.

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".^{[citation needed]}
• Amy took acting lessons for stage presence before they started recording Fallen.
• Amy would prefer to stay at home and play in one place, but she still likes to tour.
• 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.
• Amy can play the guitar, as demonstrated in the "The Cartoon Network Song".
• Amy can also play the harp, which she first used in her cover of "Sally's Song". The harp is also used on the 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.
• Michael Jackson was Amy's idol growing up.
• 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 movie is the Nightmare Before Christmas.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite zombie movie is Dead Alive.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite Johnny Depp film is Edward Scissorhands.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's favorite actors are Giovanni Ribisi and Johnny Depp.^{[citation needed]}
• Amy's top five horror films are:^{[citation needed]}

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

Amy and her cat.

Pets

• Amy used to have a cat named Fievel. She found him in a ditch, and he now lives with her family.
• Amy later had a cat named Zero, until it met a coyote.
• Amy now owns a few cats, one of which (in the photo) is a Bengal cat.
• Amy owns two cats: Stella and Shermie.

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 members 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.

See also

• Amy dresses
• Snow White

External links

• Evanescence official site
• Out of the Shadows
• BMI Repertoire Listing for Amy Lee