Evanescence's Amy Lee On Her Upcoming Tour With Halestorm, Friendship With Lzzy Hale & How She Feels About "My Immortal" Today
Amy Lee is glad she asked Lzzy Hale to sing on stage together nine years ago: They've been thick as thieves ever since. And come November, their bands, Evanescence and Halestorm, will co-headline a tour again — older, wiser and still tight friends.
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Oct 21, 2021 - 3:04 pm
One day on tour nine years ago, Amy Lee decided she wanted to collaborate with Lzzy Hale — so she shot her shot. The Evanescence and Halestorm frontwomen had been friendly on their co-headlining tour, but hadn't appeared together on stage yet. That changed after Lee knocked on the door of Hale’s bus, asking if she wanted to sing Halestorm's "Break In" together on stage.
"She was like [Rapidly] 'Ohmygodyes!'" Lee recalls to GRAMMY.com over Zoom. "That became our favorite part of every night." Eventually, when it came time to record the tune together, producer Nick Raskulinecz encouraged them to cut it live in the studio. At first, Lee was reticent. But then, they discovered something special. "What I found is that we naturally tune to each other and find each other," she says. "It becomes a new voice."
Granted, Lee may not have a co-leader in Evanescence, who have won two GRAMMYs and been nominated for six. But in a way, this braiding of artistic voices defines their whole existence. Early in the band's tenure, Lee had to "fight" — to be heard, to be seen, to maintain her place in the band. And when "My Immortal" became a monster hit, she felt uncomfortable hearing it piped into every PA in North America, believing it was unrepresentative of the band.
But today, she realizes "My Immortal" isn't theirs anymore. It's their fans'. And, by blending her experience with theirs, she loves the song all over again. In essence, a new voice emerges from the fusion of two.
This November, Evanescence and Halestorm will ride again — with almost a decade of experience and close friendship under their belts. Starting Nov. 5, they're headed on a US co-headlining tour, their first together since 2012. Evanescence is supporting this year's The Bitter Truth; Halestorm is touring on their 2020 EP, Reimagined, which features that version of "Break In."
This run of gigs is a tribute to both bands' indefatigable fans, as well as the two women's friendship. "It's a very essential thing to have good people in your life who are going to tell you the truth and be a real friend to you," Lee says. "I think Lzzy and I are that to each other."
Read on for an in-depth interview with Lee about her friendship with Hale, how the loss of her brother partly inspired The Bitter Truth and how her relationship with her past material has changed with time. (Oh, yes, and she reacts to the YouTube comments on the "My Immortal" music video.)
This interview has been edited for clarity.This is one of the biggest — if not the biggest — female-headlined tours of the year. How does it feel to be part of that? I'm sure that jibes with the message you want to send to your young female fans.
Well, first and foremost, we just want to be the best — so, there's that. But also, it's empowering to empower each other. It's really cool that so many people in the hard rock and metal world right now who are killing it are female. I'm very proud to be one of the people to lift that up and be part of that.
I'm very excited to go on tour with our friends. I love Lzzy; we haven't toured together since 2012. We had one of the best tours ever and always wanted to do it [again] after that — to find a time it would work again.
After this horrible time of not being able to tour and the world [being] on fire, we really appreciate touring and the things we're able to do. We appreciate life. So, if we're going to go out there, we want to go out having a blast, going out with people we respect and have fun with.
So, I'm really excited! I'm excited about the venues; we're playing some really big places. I'm not going to be nervous; I'm just going to speak that out right now and make it true. We've got some practicing to do. A lot of new material!
How did you first cross paths with Lzzy and Halestorm?Well, we met on that 2012 tour. I remember we decided to tour together, then we met the day of or before the first show. We just hit it off immediately. We have so much in common.
As a musician, as a leader, as a frontwoman, all those things, Lzzy is really incredible. Ever since then, we have stayed friends, always. Here and there, we've worked together in different ways.
I remember, on that 2012 tour, knocking on her bus one day and saying "You have this one song that I love! If you ever want me to come do background vocals, I'll do it." And she was like [Rapidly] "Ohmygodyes!" So, we rehearsed it in her dressing room and loved singing together. That became our favorite part of every night — this moment where we would sing "Break In" together.
Fast forward to 2017: They were doing recreations of a lot of their songs and we did our live version of that song in the studio. And we did it live, which was a really cool challenge! That's the other thing about Lzzy we have in common: We really enjoy being challenged and pushed into new territory.
So, our producer — both hers and mine from our new albums, Nick Raskulinecz — did that recording and pushed us to record the vocals live. I remember being like [Playfully], "Why do you have to do that? Why do you have to make it hard? We know what to do. Let's record us one at a time and we'll get every note perfect!"
When he made us do it, he was like "You guys are both great. I know you can handle it. You can do this." I was like, "OK, we'll try, but, safety net: We might do it the other way." When you're standing in the room together, you have to go through it right at the same time to make it. [Laughs.] If someone did it well and the other didn't, it's scrapped. It doesn't work.
But we didn't do it that many times, and what I found is that we naturally tune to each other and find each other, and it becomes a new voice.
It's hard to explain, but I grew up being obsessed with choir. I went to all-region, all-state competitions and all that stuff when I was in junior high and high school. It reminds me of that feeling, where you are absolutely part of that sound, but you are not the sound. It creates something new when you become part of something else.
In all realms of creation, I love that feeling, and that's why I'm in a band. Singing with Lzzy is a real treat because she's an excellent singer. We can challenge [each other] and get in the zone together and create something that neither of us can do exactly on our own.
Whether it's music or banking or whatever, people in the same industry tend to get along because they have work in common. That said, what about your personal dynamic with Lzzy makes it special?She's a real person. She's just a humble, down-to-earth, real person who's not afraid to do what it takes to get the job done. She's a boss, but not in a way that's unkind or unreasonable. She's good at what she does. We both strive to operate on the same level in that way.
I love watching her in that capacity, but as friends, we're regular friends. I don't have a big reason why I click with some people and have them be close friends in my life. It's a very essential thing to have good people in your life who are going to tell you the truth and be a real friend to you. I think Lzzy and I are that to each other.
What can fans expect on stage come November?We are going to play almost the entire new album because we are all so excited to have all this new music that really represents who we are — what we've grown into. Even just lyrically, what we've been going through in this time — who we are in this moment — it feels so good to have that new music after so long.
I still relate to our old music, but it feels good to have something so fresh. So, we're really excited about the new stuff, but there are going to be a lot of old faves, too.
It's going to be kind of a long set [Laughs]. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to do vocal warm-ups on the reg and get myself to a place where I'm sure I can physically get myself to do the stuff we're aiming to do. We'll start rehearsals in a week and really get in there and get in the details.
We've been building a really cool new production, a new set for this tour. We've got these big shows, so we've got to make the production awesome. I'm so excited about it. We're still building it, but it's going to be something really cool.
It's a new moment, you know? We don't make a new album every year, so when we do, we've kind of got to pull out all the stops. So, that's what we're going to be doing.
Evanescence
Feel free to not broach this if you don't want to, but I'm interested in the component of grief in The Bitter Truth. Can you talk about that?That's a huge component of the album. My little brother passed away in 2018. It's actually not my first sibling [I’ve lost], unfortunately. It's interesting because, from that moment, it felt like everything just changed shape.
Having my son — bringing new life into the world and getting to know that person — equally changed my perspective and made things take on a new color around you. You just go forward differently because of both those things. I feel like that about both of those things.
But right from the moment — ground zero of the devastation of that loss — that's not when music-writing started. The creation of this album — where this album is coming from — is from a year and change after that. Starting to go, "OK, I feel like I can get back up again." And you can't get back up again without talking about the pain of what threw you down in the first place.
Even though this album is so inspired by and related to loss and grief and all those deep questions about life — like, "Where are we in the scope of the universe?" — it comes from that stance of how to move forward. The drive and courage to take a step up, get up and move forward again, out of that.
For me, the album is really empowering to listen to. I hear it and hear the strength that I'm so relieved to find in myself. I think, as a band, we all feel that way. Not just relief, but satisfaction. More courage, compounded by each other's courage.
It feels really good to put something out in the world that is, at the heart of it, a positive message. More life will happen. We can go on. But it can't happen without facing the truth, as hard as that is. Getting up and being strong and making a better future — none of that comes from ignoring what's going on and what's wrong in the first place.
What was your brother like in life?Absolutely hilarious. He was the funniest. One of my favorite people. All of ours: He was the favorite of the family. I have a big family — two other sisters. He was definitely the comic relief. He always refused to be defined by his severe epilepsy. Any opportunity to make everybody laugh was his favorite thing.
He loved creatures and was kind to all animals. I remember there was a wasp in the house once and I was ready to smack it. Rob was like, "Aw, come on, man. Just put it outside." I said, "It's a pestilence! This is a beast! I'm killing it. it's just going to sting somebody!" He was like, "Man, I like to keep this house a free space for all living things!" So, we put the wasp outside.
I think about that specific part of him now, after his death. I can see what that means after you face that grief and look the universe in the face and go, "Am I important at all? And how important? What are we? What is an ant?" We all are connected and important in some way and have to respect all life if we want our lives to be respected, and expected to be worth something.
My brother was a really, really rad guy.
Can I ask if it was expected, or if it was a shock?It wasn't expected, but we always knew our time with him was precious. Robby had very severe epilepsy, starting when he was seven. We always knew we were lucky to have him.
We had some very close calls before. Each of us — between my sisters and parents and myself — had close calls that were on our watch and had faced the potential for loss before, but he was such an incredible, strong survivor every time and kept being OK. You learn to take that for granted a little bit and think, "He's got this. He's going to be here forever."
It's never something you completely expect. It was definitely sudden.
In the wake of it, did you feel almost a sense of ambition? Like everything became crystal-clear? I’ve definitely felt that during my own grief experience.In the beginning — I don't even know how to describe it. I definitely couldn't sing. I just felt a lot of pain. It takes you to a weird place of zooming way out. Seeing the whole world and trying to piece something together and make things make sense when they don't make sense, and they aren't fair. You start feeling inspiration for a while, at first, but you just feel the loss.
Evanescence's debut album, Fallen, is going to turn 20 pretty soon. How does that feel?Crazy! But, at the same time, it feels like it was 20 years ago [Laughs]. A lot has happened since then.
It's sweet, though. I'm so much more at peace in my role now — doing what I do and being who I am — than I was making Fallen. I think the album came out when I was 21. I'm the same person, but I've grown a lot and am a different person, too.
I feel amazing being here after this time. There's a level of self-confidence and support. Now, with people, I can harness the nostalgia feels with my own music as well as blow their minds with new music, so it's really the best of both worlds.
What were you feeling while making Fallen? Excitement? Nervousness? Naïveté?A lot of emotions at once. Things were tumultuous behind the scenes back then. I had to fight a lot for my place. I had to fight to be where I was. I had to fight to have a voice. I had to fight, always, for my opinion, and my belief in our music and what I wanted it to be. Just to be a leader.
At the same time, there was lots of excitement — I couldn't believe what was happening. Going to the GRAMMYs and actually winning at the GRAMMYs. This was the dream in so many ways. [Editor's note: Evanescence won or were nominated for Best New Artist, Album Of The Year, Best Rock Album, and Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2003 GRAMMY Awards.]
You don't know if those things are possible, or if people are going to like your art — something you loved and did. Then, it's over the next year. You play in clubs, or whatever it is. You don't know exactly what's going to happen. To see it all go so well, right from the get-go of our first album, was overwhelming in all the ways. Positive and negative, but mostly positive.
At the time, I was constantly nervous and feeling like I was pretending to believe that I belonged there, when, deep down, I probably didn't know anything about what I was doing.
Is that shifting power dynamic what led to all the turnover in the band after Fallen?It was particularly about one guy, [original guitarist] Ben [Moody] — we started the band together. It was our thing. That pertains to him leaving in the middle of that first album's tour.
When you consider the arc of your career ever since, how do you feel you grew as a musician? As a person?I don't know if I can pinpoint what changed the most. More and more and more, I've been on the road to challenge myself to be as open as possible. It's hard to say, because I hear things I did a long time ago and I do hear myself being very honest and raw.
But it's always a challenge for myself to keep doing it, and do it more — to be more honest. To picture myself in the music. Not trying to portray what I want to show, but what I am — what's coming straight from the heart. I feel I've done a better and better job of that since the first album.
We've really grown a lot as a band. We've become a band over the years. I've been with this lineup [for a long time]. [Guitarist] Jen [Majura] joined the band in 2015; the other three guys have been with me for 12 or 13 years.
Are you the kind of musician who can't hear old material — it hits you wrong — or do you love the whole discography?I used to have a hard time with "My Immortal" because it was just everywhere, and I didn't feel like it summed up our band. But I got over it. I'm over it. I love it now. It's back to what I was saying a minute ago, about being honest about nostalgia.
That's the one song I didn't write the lyrics to. I helped a little bit, but they aren't my words. Those are Ben's words. I didn't want to sing it, but also, I just felt like they didn't mean a ton to me. All the other lyrics really mean something to me in my heart.
But, over time, [we realized that song has] such an important and huge piece of our history with our fans — what it means to them and the experiences we've now had. On our first-ever trip to Europe, we played to a huge field of people singing it so loudly I couldn't hear myself. I just let them do it.
That song, for me, has become really meaningful. It's about that. It's about our fans and our relationship. No, I don't have any songs that I hear and I'm just like "Ughhh!". Unless they're pre-Fallen. [Laughs.]
Have you seen the YouTube comments under "My Immortal" in a while? The video has almost 800 million views.No! Are they hilarious?
Most aren't, actually. Can I read you a few?Sure.
Here's one from three days ago: Somebody said "Take the pain and turn it into strength. Wisdom. Be the sunlight you never had..."Aww.
"...For you. For others. I'm proud of you."God, that's gorgeous.
Here's another one: "I held his hand and I never let go. When he died, they had to drag me out of the room. Love really knows no boundaries."[Hushed] Wow.
There's a lot I don't want to repeat, actually. Stories of people losing kids and stuff.Yeah, yeah. That's what I mean. It's about something so much bigger. It's not just a song on our album. It's about something else. It's about them. It's about what we can feel and understand together.
We've talked deeper on this call than I thought we would. But when you've gone through something really, really heavy — when you're talking about losing somebody — there's something you can't quite describe with words.
Music has been the place for me, always. It's been the one way to describe a deep place we can share. Being able to share it with people and communicate through music, to express how we feel and find out we're not alone in those feelings — that's magic. It's absolute magic. I'm so grateful to be a part of that and have it be part of my job.
This comment section has become like a bereavement forum. Someone's mom died; someone's boyfriend died. They're all commiserating. And it's been happening for more than a decade; the last comment was from yesterday.That's incredible. It feels awesome.
Is there anything we didn't touch on regarding the new album and tour?Man, I feel like we covered it. I'm just grateful, with how hard everything still is. I'm really grateful.
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