Evanescence biography of amy lee. Amy Lee (Amy Lynn Harzler)

It is difficult to find a person who has never heard of the group Evanescence, which has existed for over 20 years. The team performs songs different genres one way or another related to rock. But there is something in this group that fascinates, forcing you to listen to their songs again and again. It is unique, powerful and indescribable beautiful voice soloists Amy Lee. Who is this mysterious girl?

Biography

Amy Lynn Hartzler was born December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California, America. The girl grew up in a musical family. Constantly moving with her parents, Amy traveled to Florida and Illinois, and then stayed in Arkansas. Here, in the town of Little Rock, Amy spent her childhood and youth.

John Lee, the girl's father, worked as a radio DJ. Also, Amy Lee's biography says that she had a brother and two sisters. One of them died at the age of three due to an unknown disease. Fans have probably heard the piercing song Hello, which seems to break the soul into pieces, and Like You. Amy dedicated these texts to her sister. In general, the sadness of loss is felt in many tracks of the singer. But only Hello she never sings at concerts.

Amy is a professional pianist and has been playing the guitar since she was 9 years old. She studied at the Baptist school at the monastery, where she studied art, kept diaries and served as choir director. As a child I was strange child and even somewhat frightened her parents: she did not like happy tales, she was more fond of playing tragic scenes. Perhaps the death of her sister influenced her in this way, because the girl was then quite small. At school and university, the girl studied very well, especially in high school. After graduation, Amy moved to Los Angeles.

Amy Lee's personal life

In 2007, the singer married psychotherapist Josh Hartzler and took his last name. At the end of July 2014, Amy gave birth to an heir, whom the couple named Jack Lyon.

As part of the Evanescence group

“Music is one of the most important things in my life. I firmly believe that creativity is the best therapy for your soul, which is why I encourage my fans to be creative. When you create something, this is real life. And when you create something as real as music, you feel worthy, fulfilled, ”says Amy.

Lee met Ben Moody at a children's summer camp in 1994. Then the guy was literally delighted with how the girl plays the piano. They met, even met for some time, but in the future these relations moved exclusively into a creative framework.

As Amy herself admits, initially she wanted to become classical composer. Everything was changed by a meeting with Ben - her like-minded person. At that moment, she felt a desire to be directly related to heavy music, to deal with it.

Ben said: “She shocked me even more with the song she wrote. It seemed to me that I was in paradise when she sang ... "

In 1995, the first tracks of the group were recorded. By the way, young people called her Evanescence. Amy Lee and Ben Moody released their first mini-album already in 1998, some of the songs hit the radio, which ensured their popularity long before concert activity. The first songs were much "lighter" than the next, they traced elements of gothic. The following year, David Hodges, a backing vocalist and keyboardist, joined them, with whom the guys released their first full-length album in 2000, later recognized as a rare edition.

Later, several more members joined the group - a guitarist, bassist and drummer. The team was even popular in the market for some time " christian rock". Later, Hodges, who supported the religious concept, completely refused to participate in the group and left it. Moody, in turn, categorically rejected the label of religious music.

As part of Evanescence, Amy Lee and Ben Moody released the album Fallen, which included the band's first hit Bring Me to Life, as well as the piano game My Immortal and other songs that were popular at the time. Released in 2003, Fallen spent 100 weeks in the top 10 in the US and 60 weeks in the UK, peaking at number one. By the end of the same year, the album went triple platinum.

In the same year, the group, together with the 12Stones, toured the United States, visiting many prestigious festivals, and at the very end of 2003 they ended up in Europe. During the tour from composition of Evanescence disappeared one of its founders - Ben. As Moody later commented on his departure, he left the group due to internal disagreements. His place was soon taken and the guy continued solo career. Ben can be heard on the recordings of Avril Lavigne and Anastacia.

As part of a group singer Amy Lee released albums Anywhere but Home, The Open Door and many other compilations that are popular to this day. Evanescence filmed a lot of clips, their tracks often became the soundtrack of various films.

Solo albums

In 2014 and 2016 Amy has released several compilations. Her first solo album was created with the participation of Dave Eggar and was called Aftermath. The other two are Recover, Vol. 1 and Dream Too Much - she released in 2016.

Amy Lee - talented singer, songwriter, pianist and composer who performs vigorous activity in the field of music and cinema - she writes soundtracks for films. Her voice is characterized as mezzo-soprano. Amy is fluent in piano, harp, organ and guitar. Prefers to perform in the style of rock, alternative rock and metal, gothic rock.

Collaboration with other performers

With the aforementioned David Hodges in 2000, Amy recorded the songs Breathe and Fall Into You. In 2003, together with Big Dismal - the track Missing You. Broken was recorded in 2004 with Seether and Freak on a Leash in 2007 with Korn.

Amy Lynn Hartzler is a unique person with a unique voice

In addition to fantastic vocals, the girl's fans distinguish in her such features as the lack of "stardom". Amy, unlike many other stars, leads a kind of "solitary" life and doesn't flaunt what should be personal like most do. She sincerely believes that only the soul should be naked for the singer. Behind the standard of rock music, the gothic image and the goddess of vocals, there is an intelligent, gentle, good-natured, sympathetic and extremely talented woman.

Amy's brother has epilepsy, and her sister has set up a fund to support people suffering from the condition. Man with big heart, she sponsors this foundation and pays special attention to this problem. Amy believes that seizures can be treated with Mozart's music. Of course, it has not been proven that this can lead to a complete cure, but significant improvements have been noted, and this is a good result.

“Music is one of the most important things in my life. I firmly believe that creativity is the best therapy for your soul, which is why I encourage my fans to be creative. When you create something, this is real life. And when you create something as real as music, you feel worthy, fulfilled.”

Personality, energy, creativity

Insanely talented, exuding megahertz of her frantic energy, from which fans go into ecstasy at concerts, a girl of unusual beauty - this is all about the permanent vocalist of the Evanescence band, Amy Lee ...

The essence of the music of Evanescence and its vocalist Amy lies in the fine line between melodic piano overflows and a sharp transition to resonating guitar basses. Aggressive playing of the band, accompanied by Amy's strong and passionate vocals, combined with deep lyrics, imbued with the struggle in inner world man, make the group unique and recognizable by listeners around the globe.

This woman really deserves to be called the owner great soul. Behind the stereotype, the icon of rock music, the goddess of powerful vocals and gothic images, the idol of millions of teenagers, stands a tender, clever woman who made a fortune out of her talent. However, fans love her precisely because, without going into commercialism, Amy remains true to her principles and her soul, remaining primarily a musician, and secondarily a business woman. She is so unique that her name is already written in the history of modern music.

Amy Lee's childhood was by no means calm - the family constantly moved from their native Little Rock (Little Rock, Arkansas) in California to Florida or Illinois, a noisy family with five children, early death her sisters Bonnie at the age of three unknown disease- all this influenced the development of little Amy. However musical family helped her to start realizing all her talents since early childhood, and the music consumed Li's entire being. Already at the age of three, she began to learn to play the piano and did this for nine years. In parallel, her father, John Lee (John Lee), a DJ on the radio, taught her to play the guitar. Amy never took professional vocal lessons, unlike piano lessons.

In the end, the Lee family settled in their native Little Rock, where the band Evanescence was founded. After graduating from Pulaski Academy (a monastery Baptist school) in 2000, Amy entered Middle Tennessee State University. She loved studying, especially since she was always interested in art, which was what her former school specialized in.

Throughout Amy's work and lyrics, there is a longing for her dead sister. The touching song “Hello” from the album “Fallen” is dedicated to this event in her life.

According to Lee, the first songs she wrote herself at age 11 were called "Eternity of the Remorse" and "A Single Tear". At one time she dreamed of being a classical composer. But over time, having met like-minded people on future group, she felt drawn to heavier music.

naked soul

In this person, first of all, she admires how far she is from the bustle of show business, especially now, having become a person of world fame, the fire of the soul, humanity, kindness, and lust for life still burns in her eyes. Amy Lee fans love her not only for her powerful music, but also for her views on show business. Namely: Lee does not hit into commerce, does not think only about how to make money from his talent. She simply does her favorite thing, not getting lost in the turmoil of the modern rhythm of life, where everyone, trying to earn as much as possible, forgets about why he started making music at all.

For example, in music video In the video for "Everybodys Fool", Amy wanted to show that most celebrities, by using sexual imagery, are just selling their "lies" to the masses. Amy refuses to compete with her colleagues in the use of sexuality in music, leaving only a naked soul on stage.

Hobbies

Most of the sketches for the concert costumes Lee does on his own. Usually she wears corsets, nets, long skirts and leather boots. Amy's lack of style can be seen by looking at some shapeless outfits. However, what is a sense of style compared to devotion to her views, the uniqueness of the image and the way she presents herself? It is impossible not to fall in love with a person who loves his job so much, and who has such boundless charm and talent to captivate the audience at concerts, once having become a witness to all this.

In addition to his main occupation - working with a group, Lee has other hobbies. Few people know that she is fond of painting. According to the singer, her whole house is lined with paintings in the spirit of fantasy or abstract art, but so far she has not thought to put them on public display. However, he does not give up the idea of ​​​​realizing this in the future by organizing an art show.

Out of the Shadows

Amy Lee is the founder and regular sponsor international fund support for people with epilepsy, including Out of the Shadows. At younger brother Lee, Robbie, was diagnosed with this disease, which prompted Amy to do charity work. Out of the Shadows is committed to spreading knowledge about the disease of epilepsy, to convey to people as much information as possible about it, and to eliminate prejudice against people with this disease.

On the official website of the Out of the Shadows Foundation, on behalf of Amy, the following is written:

“I love my job, and I'm glad that my music resonates in the hearts of people. I only write songs about what I have experienced in life, and if my fans really appreciate my work, then it was all worth it. But don't forget that I... a common person. I don't have extraordinary powers. All of us ordinary people We live and are part of each other's lives. And this applies to people with epilepsy, including. When you look at me behind the scenes, you won't be able to tell me apart from other people. The same is true for patients with epilepsy. When you see them outside of their attacks, they act and live like we do - they are also part of our life, and we are part of them.

Amy Lee claims that epilepsy attacks can be alleviated with the help of Mozart's music. It was he who was chosen from six proposed composers such as Joseph Haydn and Franz Liszt to conduct experiments. Although music has not been proven to lead to a complete cure for the disease, there are obvious improvements in the state of seizures. In 2002, in the April issue of the journal Epilepsy & Behavior, it was stated that when listening to Mozart, the signs of an attack alleviated.

At the end of the article, here are Amy's words, which have, perhaps, the most positive and creative message to all her fans, and to every person, regardless of musical, social, racial, religious and any other conditional affiliations:

“Music is one of the most important things in my life. She helps me with everything. She helps me to be understood. She makes me cry, angry, happy, anything. I firmly believe that creativity is the best therapy for your soul, which is why I encourage my fans to be creative. When you create something, for example, music, this is real life. And when you create something so real, you feel like a truly worthy, realized person "...

From the very beginning, rock music was an exclusively male affair and women were not allowed into it. But over time, this trend "lost ground" and now we can enjoy the music of many rock bands of the most different directions, whose soloists are fragile and charming girls.

One of these groups is the famous American rock band Evanescence, founded in 1995 by vocalist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody, who achieved great popularity in early 2003 with the release of the album Fallen, which sold about 15 million copies and brought the band two Grammy awards.

Amy Lynn Hartzler (née Lee), better known as Amy Lee, was born December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California, USA.

Amy is the best eldest daughter in the family of John Patrick Lee and Sarah (Cargill) Lee. Amy has two sisters named Carrie and Lori, and a younger brother, Robbie. Amy also had another sister who died in 1987 at the age of three from an unspecified illness, which, according to Amy herself, greatly influenced her work. In particular, songs such as "Hello" and "Like You" are dedicated to this tragic event in her family's life, which is why Amy never performs them at her concerts.

Music has always played a special role in the Lee family. Amy got her name from a popular song from the 70s. Amie. John Lee, in his 20s, played in a local group The The Hard Luck Band, who played cover songs, is now better known as a DJ on local radio K106.3 in Little Rock. He passed on his love of music to his children, each of whom sings and plays on various musical instruments. Amy herself began to learn to play the guitar at the age of 9, and then devoted about 15 years to studying in music school. She studied at Pulaski Academy until 2000, where she led the choir during her studies.

After graduating from the Academy, Amy entered Middle Tennessee State University, where she was going to study musical theory and composition. However, Amy left the university to focus on the group, and never regretted it.

Since childhood, Amy has been accustomed to moving. The Lee family moved several times, first from Riverside to West Palm Beach (Florida, USA), then to Rockford (Illinois, USA) and, finally, the Lees settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA .

It was here, in a small town, under the shadow of which the hardcore scene flourished, that the fateful meeting of two young people, Amy Lee and Ben Moody, took place, which grew into friendship, love, and then into joint creativity. The first songs Amy wrote for Evanescence were joint project The guys were Solitude and Give Unto Me. Ben is the author of such super hits of the group as "My Immortal" and "Haunted".

In the later work of Evanescence, including the recording of the Fallen album, Amy Lee and Ben Moody were equally involved. But after the huge success of the Fallen album, its million-selling sales and two Grammy awards, Ben and Amy's long and fruitful friendship ended unexpectedly.

On October 22, 2003, Ben Moody left his offspring, which became, without exaggeration, turning point not only in the life of the band, but also in the life of Amy Lee. So, Ben left further development the creative process of Evanescence, and gave Amy complete freedom.

Despite the fact that the band was left without a co-founder and guitarist, the band continued to exist. The vacated guitarist position was filled by Terry Balsamo, who helped bring the tour in support of Fallen to a safe conclusion.

The second one came out in 2006. studio album group - "The Open Door", which was the result of the joint work of Amy, Terry, John LeCompt and Rocky Gray. Most music and all the lyrics were created by Amy, fueled by the support and creative ideas Terry, as well as the events of his personal life.

The release of the album was accompanied by a full-scale tour, the release of singles and videos. The record was warmly received and still enjoys considerable commercial success.

As for Amy Lee's personal life, the singer has never hidden the fact that most of her songs are written about personal experiences.

"I'm an artist, so I'm energetic, focused on my feelings. When I write songs, I pour out everything that I need to take off my soul. [It's] part of what helps me to be happy man because that way I can free myself."

Since 2007, Amy has been happily married to psychotherapist Josh Hartzler. Josh - old friend Amy. It was his personality, according to Lee, that became the inspiration for the most famous song groups -"Bring me to life" . Also, Josh is dedicated to the song"Good Enough" from The Open Door.

Amy Lynn Harzler(born December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California, USA) is one of the founding members and vocalist of the band Evanescence. Her family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, then to Illinois, and finally settled in Little Rock, Arkansas.

After graduating from Pulaski Academy (a monastery Baptist school) in 2000, Amy entered Middle Tennessee State University. After graduating from the academy, she moved to Los Angeles.

Throughout Amy's work and lyrics, there is a longing for her dead sister. The touching song “Hello” from the album “Fallen” is dedicated to this event in her life. According to Lee, the first songs she wrote herself at age 11 were called "Eternity of the Remorse" and "A Single Tear". At one time she dreamed of being a classical composer. But over time, having met like-minded people in the future group, she felt a craving for heavier music.

Moody met Ben at a summer camp when she was 13 years old. He heard her playing the piano, was delighted and approached to meet. At first they met, then it was just creative union. The first mentions of Evanescence date back to the late 1990s. Songs like "Give unto Me" and "Understanding" and then "My Immortal" and "Haunted" were written at that time, the last two by Ben.

Amy Lee is the founder and longtime sponsor of an international foundation to support people with epilepsy, including Out of the Shadows. Lee's younger brother, Robbie, was diagnosed with this disease, which prompted Amy to do charity work. Out of the Shadows is committed to spreading knowledge about the disease of epilepsy, to convey to people as much information as possible about it, and to eliminate prejudice against people with this disease.

Amy loves pets and has donated $100,000 to an animal shelter. Loves classical music, favorite classic- Mozart's Requiem. From music she also likes to listen to Tori Amos, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Korn.

Additional facts:

• Green eyes, blond hair (dyed black), height: 163 cm.
• Describes herself in three words: unique, benevolent, hard to understand.
• Life motto - "Love yourself."
• She was a sharp critic of US political actions in Iraq.
• Co-author of the soundtrack for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and wardrobe(not included in the film), Elektra, Daredevil, The Punisher, Underworld.
• Amy designs most of her clothes herself.
• As a child, Amy liked to pretend to be dead.
• Amy's mother's name is Sarah. Every year she makes a strawberry pie for her daughter's birthday.

Where was Amy Lee? She enjoyed life with her husband, friends, did cooking, learned to play the harp and found time for herself. Behind the stereotype, the icon of rock music, the heroine gothic image- stands a vulnerable, a little strange, but smart woman who has made a fortune out of her talent. At the same time, Amy does not fall into commercialism. After all, her priority is music, in which there is a meaning ...

“Music is one of the most important things in my life. I firmly believe that creativity is the best therapy for your soul ... "

Amy cannot boast of cloudless happy childhood. Constant moving, the early death of her sister Bonnie ... All this one way or another later reflected on Amy's work.

“I have always been a drama queen. I remember that as a child I played dead often and wanted my mother to believe it and call the police. But she never believed, and I was very upset and cried.

“I cry a lot. I don't know how, but it helps me. I cry for bad things and for good things. Sometimes sadness can be beautiful…”

But the musical family helped her realize all her talents from early childhood. Already at the age of three, she began to learn to play the piano and did this for nine years. In parallel, her father taught her to play the guitar. In the end, the Lee family settled in their native Little Rock, where the band Evanescence was founded.

At one time she dreamed of being a classical composer. But over time, having met like-minded people in the future group, she felt a craving for heavier music.

“If we sang about how happy we are, we would just be fooling ourselves. People try to get away from problems by taking drugs, getting drunk, going to parties and discos. What really helps me is to sit down and think it over, face the fact, only then can you solve your problems and be happy.”

“Many fans often tell me, “This song changed my life. What made you write it?" or "This song saved me from a divorce." Such words cannot but rejoice!

Amy Lee is still working in the band Evanescence. But with Ben Moody, with whom they started together, the relationship did not work out. The reasons for this are different - from personal disagreements to creative ones. Maybe it was just jealousy...

"Our former guitarist Ben Moody was always offended that people paid more attention to me than to him. They even threw more bras at the concert!”

Lee makes most of his concert costumes himself. She usually wears corsets, nets, long skirts and leather boots to perform. Although sometimes you might think that Amy has no sense of style. But she had a certain image.

“People tell me that I can't dress like a fairy. And I usually say, I'm in a rock band, I can do whatever I want!

“In my clothes I like to mix several styles: something from rock, like chains, metal and stuff and things from Victorian era and fairy tales. I'm just using my imagination"

Creative individuals can be very far from such things as fashion, style, general beauty standards. About Amy herself, rarely anyone will say that she is beautiful. And you can't call her slim either. But Amy doesn't seem to care.

“I don’t see anything sexual in people who have one skin and bones. They'd better not wear tight clothes."

Brian Molko and Amy:

Vanessa Hudgens and Amy Lee:

Another unexpected photo — Justin Timberlake and Amy Lee:

Amy and Kelly Osbourne:

In addition to music, Lee has other hobbies. For example, she is fond of painting. According to the singer, her whole house is lined with paintings in the spirit of fantasy or abstract art, but so far she has not thought to put them on public display.

Now, after a long break due to marriage (her husband was Josh Harzler), Amy Lee is back to work. Last fall, an album was released that Amy is very proud of.