Evanescence

Evanescence is an alternative rock band from Little Rock, Arkansas, consisting of:

History

The band is named after the word evanescence which is usually defined as "the act or state of vanishing," a fact which detractors take great delight in. Before deciding on Evanescence, they went through several names, including Childish Intentions and Stricken. Originally considered by many to be part of the Christian rock scene — and for a short time promoted in Christian stores — the band, however, made it explicitly clear they do not want to be considered a Christian rock band. Shortly thereafter, Christian stores removed Evanescence from their shelves.

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Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life" was a global hit for the band and reached number five on the American Billboard Hot 100. It was included in the soundtrack for the action movie Daredevil, along with their even more popular "My Immortal" (peaking at number seven in the United States) and garnered recognition for the band at the Grammy Awards of 2004: the single was awarded Best Hard Rock Performance, and Evanescence was awarded Best New Artist.

Related Topics:
Bring Me to Life - Billboard Hot 100 - Daredevil - My Immortal - Grammy Awards of 2004 - Best Hard Rock Performance - Best New Artist

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Their first full length album, Origin (released in 2000), is relatively unknown. The band also released two EPs, the selftitled Evanescence EP (1998) of which about 100 copies were made and the Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999) limited to 50 copies, which are difficult to find, and thus highly sought after by collectors. Not atypical, Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs on their first major label album. In fact, the recording of "My Immortal" found on Fallen can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional instrumental accompaniments. However, Lee herself does not consider the record to be an actual album; rather, she considers it merely a bundle of demo songs (some of which she says are not done properly) that was sent to record companies. Only 2500 copies of this record were ever made, and it is thus not generally available in record stores. In response, Lee encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet during an interview.

Related Topics:
Origin - 2000 - Evanescence EP - 1998 - Sound Asleep EP - 1999 - Fallen

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The group was founded by Lee and former lead guitarist Ben Moody. The two met at a youth camp in Arkansas, where Moody heard Lee playing I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) by Meat Loaf on the piano. They discovered they shared a love of Jimi Hendrix and Björk, and they began to write songs together (first was "Solitude", by Amy Lee, followed by "Understanding", by Ben Moody, "Give Unto Me", by Amy Lee, and the fourth song ever written by them was "My Immortal"). The songs were altered lyrically and musically by both Lee and Moody, which is the reason for having the names of both of them in the credits for writing them. For some time they were unable to find other musicians to play with, and did not have the funds to pay for professional assistance, thus they were unable to play live shows. However, two songs of theirs, "Understanding" and "Give Unto Me", found their way onto local music charts, and demand for a live show increased. When the band finally did make an appearance, they became one of the most popular acts in the area.

Related Topics:
Arkansas - I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) - Meat Loaf - Piano - Jimi Hendrix - Björk

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In October 2003, Moody left the band abruptly in the middle of a European tour. The reasons for his departure were reportedly due to "creative differences." In an interview several months later http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/08/1073437399128.html, 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." Since then, Lee has said it was almost a relief that he left because of tensions created within the band. Terry Balsamo from Cold joined the band, replacing Moody. Recently, Ben confessed he suffers from a bipolar disorder, and he was on crisis the day he left Evanescence.

Related Topics:
Cold - Bipolar disorder

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Evanescence is currently working on their second album. Recently, Lee stated on EvBoard that Evanescence's second album will be released in March 2006.

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Rumors of songs "Prisoner for a Long Day" and "The Last Song I'm Wasting on You" were confirmed fake by Lee on EvBoard. However, Lee has stated that all the the songs on the album will be new.

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