Evanescence

Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody.[1] [3]  After recording independent albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003.Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide[4]  and helped the band win two Grammy Awards and seven nominations, as well as scoring No. 6 in CBS's "Top Bestselling Albums of the Last 10 Years" (2008).[5]  A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than five million copies.[4]

The line-up of the group has changed several times: David Hodges leaving in 2002, co-founder Moody left in 2003 (mid-tour), bassist Will Boyd in 2006, followed by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray in 2007. The last two changes led to a hiatus, with temporary band members contributing to tour performances. Billboard ranked Evanescence No. 71 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.[6]

Announced in June 2009, the newest line-up of the band eventually returned with Evanescence, their self-titled third studio album, released on October 11, 2011. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 127,000 copies in sales.[7]  The album also debuted at No. 1 on four other different Billboard charts; the Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and the Hard Rock Albums charts. The band spent 2012 on tour in promotion of their new album with other bands including The Pretty Reckless andFair to Midland.

1995-2001:  Formation and Early Years
Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano.[8]  Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit.

Two of Lee and Moody's songs were played on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demand for a concert. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area.[citation needed]  After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear").[9]

The band released two EPs. The first is the self-titled Evanescence EP (1998), of which about 100 copies were made and distributed at the band's early live performances. The second is the Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999). There was also a third EP called Mystary EP (2003). For their first full-length demo CD, Origin (2000), about 2,500 copies were produced and sold to concert audiences. Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some songs on their debut album, Fallen. During a radio interview, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-EvRef-music_10-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-EvRef-mp3_11-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]

2002-2005:  Fallen and Anywhere But Home
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Having first encountered the band at Ardent Studios in Memphis and been suitably impressed, producer Pete Matthews played their demos to his friend at Wind-up Records, Diana Meltzer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hitquarters.com_13-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  It was when Meltzer heard "My Immortal" that she became interested in signing the band, saying she "knew it was a hit". The Wind-up A&R told HitQuarters that, although they already exhibited huge talent, they were still young and needed to be developed, and "given the time and opportunity they could deliver a breakthrough sound."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hitquarters.com_13-1" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13] Once signed the band were relocated to Los Angeles, given an apartment and rehearsal space and enrolled in a gym. Lee was given acting, vocal and movement classes. After almost two years producer Dave Fortman was brought in to produce their first albumFallen.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hitquarters.com_13-2" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  However, record label executives initially refused to release the album unless the band would agree to add a full-time male co-vocalist. When the band would not agree to this demand, the label relented and only insisted on having a male vocalist in the album's lead single, "Bring Me to Life". Lee was still not happy about this, but agreed to it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scuzz_14-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">In early 2003, the lineup was completed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom worked on Evanescence's earlier songs. While they were looking to promote Fallen, Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company Nintendo to perform on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which they headlined in 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FusionTour1_15-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Fallen spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TODpr1_16-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  was certified 7x Platinum in the United States;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Fallen7xplat_17-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]  and sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cbs821_5-1" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  The album was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard 200,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-billboard1_18-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]  and it was one of eight albums in the history of the chart to spend at least a year on the Billboard Top 50.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-IGN_19-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band during the European tour for Fallen, reportedly because of creative differences.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allmusic1_20-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said: "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record." This became a point of confusion, as Moody and Lee stated on the Fallen album liner notes that they were best friends.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-smh_21-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  Lee said it was almost a relief that Moody left because of tensions created within the band.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-smh_21-1" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  During an interview, Lee has said, "I don't know, I just think it's exactly what I would've expected. He's more about kind of the pop influence sort of thing and also, you know, about being commercial and I mean selling albums: That's the part of him we often disagreed on. I wanted to do the more artistic weird thing and he'd wanna do the thing that people would want to hear..." She adds "So that's a lot of the reason [why] it's been so fun writing now, is [that] we're not thinking about that. It's like 'what do we like?', 'what's fun?', like 'what do we want to do that's different?'"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-youtubequote_22-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]  Moody was replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-VH1newguitarist_23-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", featuring guest vocals from Paul McCoy of, was a global hit for the band and reached number 5 on the American Billboard Hot 100.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbchart_24-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]  It provided Evanescence with their first UK number-one single,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ukcharts_25-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[25]  where it stayed for four weeks from June–July 2003. The song also became the official theme for WWE No Way Out 2003. The equally popular "My Immortal" peaked at number 7 in the U.S. and UK charts,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbchart_24-1" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]  and both songs were featured in the soundtrack for the action movie Daredevil. "Bring Me to Life" was recognized at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, where the band won the Best Hard Rock Performance andBest New Artist awards and were nominated for two others.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46grammy_26-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[26]  The two other singles off Fallen are "Going Under" (#5 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbchart_24-2" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]  No. 8 UK Charts) and "Everybody's Fool" (#36 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bbchart_24-3" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]  No. 23 UK Charts); all were promoted by a music video.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">In addition, Fallen is No. 6 at the "Top Bestselling Albums of the Last 10 Years". After selling more than 7 million copies in the United States alone and 17 million worldwide.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;"> In 2004, Evanescence's new lineup released a DVD/CD compilation titled  Anywhere but Home. The DVD includes a concert in Paris, as well as behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage signing autographs and warming up. Also on the CD are the live songs "Breathe No More" (from the  Elektra  movie soundtrack), "Farther Away", and the band's  cover  of  Korn 's " Thoughtless ". The album has sold more than a million copies worldwide. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-evbio_27-0" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.2px;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[27]

Discography

 * Fallen(2003)
 * The Open Door(2006)
 * Evanescence(2011)

Current members

 * Amy Lee—lead vocals, piano, keyboards, harp(1995–present)
 * Tim McOrd—bass guitar(2006–present)
 * Wild Hunt—drums(2010–present; live member 2007)
 * Troy McLawhorn—ryhthm guitar, backing vocals(2011–present; live member 2007)
 * Jen Majura—lead guitar(2015–present)

Former Members

 * Ben Moody—lead guitar, bass guitar, drums(1995-2003)
 * David Hodges—keyboards, piano, drums, backing vocals(1999-2002)
 * Will Boyd—bass guitar(2003-2006)
 * John LeCompt—rhythm guitar, backing vocals(2003-2007; live member 2002-2003)
 * Rocky Gray—drums, precussion(2003-2007; live member 2002-2003)
 * Terry Balsamo—lead guitar(2003-2015)

Touring Members

 * Francesco DiCosmo—bass guitar(2003; appears on Falen)
 * Josh Freese—drums, precussion(2003; appears on Fallen)

Videos

 * Audio Only Videos
 * Lyrics Videos
 * Music Videos
 * Live Performances
 * Interviews