Evanescence

Evanescence was founded by Amy Lee when she met guitarist Ben Moody at a youth camp. They started writing songs together and after a couple of their tracks were played on local radio, they assembled Evanescence in 1995 in Little Rock, Arkansas to play the songs live. They were signed by the Wind-Up label and in 2003 recorded their first album, Fallen. It’s mix of goth and metal turned them into international stars, selling over 15 million records and spending over a year on the US charts. They also won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2004. At the height of their success, however, Lee and Moody had major artistic differences resulting in Moody quitting the band and being replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold. It was the catalyst for their biggest hit, the dramatic “Bring Me to Life”, with a guest vocal from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones. After 2006’s follow-up, The Open Door topped the album charts, Bassist Will Boyd left followed by John LeCompt and Rocky Gray, the latter two both leaving to join Moody's band We Are the Fallen. New members joined and Evanescence took a short hiatus to work out their new direction. Their self-titled 2011 album returned them to Number 1 on the album chart. They toured across America, leaving behind their record label and becoming independent artists. In 2017 Lee issued a solo single, “Speak to Me”, in 2017, as well as a new Evanescence album, Synthesis. Four years later they returned with The Bitter Truth.