EVANESCENCE
AMY LEE
LIFE LESSONS
Amy Lee talks childhood grief, catharsis through art and how Evanescence have surpassed her wildest expectations
WORDS: STEPHEN HILL
• PICTURES: TRAVIS SHINN
AMY LEE IS a 21st-century metal icon. Blessed with true talent and a genuinely unique, sincere perspective, the young girl who started Evanescence back in 1995 and found fame with 2003’s mega-hit Bring Me To Life has turned her band into superstars. Talking to Hammer over Zoom, she’s as warm and friendly a personality as you’d wish to encounter, and it’s not long before we realise that her list of achievements is so vast – taking in No.1s, collaborations and orchestral work – it’s near-impossible to squeeze everything she’s learned into a single hour.
BEING PART OF A BAND IS A BEAUTIFUL THING
“There’s a lot of new fire now we’ve found Emma [Anzai, bassist]. It’s like it was the universe telling us what Evanescence should be. I’ve found as I’ve gotten older to let the universe do that; you have to let go of your own plans. It certainly gives you a new energy when you’re in this new, positive space. We really have something special, we feel like brothers and sisters, and we have good memories of all of our bandmembers.”
YOU CAN’T CHANGE PEOPLE’S IDEAS OF WHO YOU ARE