Evanescence

Keyboardist David Hodges joined as a third collaborator before departing in late 2002, having co-written several songs including "Bring Me to Life." Wind-up Records signed the band in 2001 and relocated them to Los Angeles to finish their debut. Fallen arrived in March 2003 and detonated. The lead single "Bring Me to Life," featuring a guest rap vocal from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was initially included on the Daredevil film soundtrack before exploding on radio worldwide — it reached number one in the UK, Australia, Italy, Scotland, and multiple other countries, and was certified multi-platinum in numerous markets. "My Immortal," a piano ballad of aching beauty, became another massive hit. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide and more than four million in the US alone by early 2004, making it one of the best-selling debut rock albums in history. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, the band won Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bring Me to Life."

Ben Moody departed mid-tour in October 2003 amid internal tensions, leaving Lee as the unambiguous center of the band. Rocky Gray, John LeCompt, and bassist Will Boyd, who had been touring members, became full-time. Terry Balsamo, guitarist from the band Cold, stepped in to replace Moody and became Lee's principal collaborator on the second album. The Open Door (2006), co-written entirely by Lee and Balsamo, sold more than six million copies worldwide and produced the singles "Call Me When You're Sober" and "Lithium." Will Boyd departed in 2006, replaced by Tim McCord. LeCompt and Gray followed in 2007, replaced by guitarist Troy McLawhorn and drummer Will Hunt — the lineup that would define the band going forward.

The self-titled Evanescence (2011) marked the first album co-written as a full band and debuted at number one simultaneously on the Billboard 200, Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and Hard Rock Albums charts — five number one debuts in a single week. After the supporting tour cycle the band entered hiatus, eventually parting from Wind-up Records in 2014. They re-emerged in 2015 and released Synthesis (2017), an orchestral and electronic reimagining of their catalog paired with new material, touring with a live orchestra for the first time. The Bitter Truth (2021) was their most aggressive and politically charged record, written during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guitarist Jen Majura, who had joined in 2015 after Terry Balsamo's departure, was replaced by bassist Emma Anzai in 2022 as the lineup continued to evolve around Lee's constant presence.

Amy Lee is the only member to have appeared on every Evanescence recording, and her voice — a soprano of extraordinary power and emotional precision, rooted in nine years of classical piano training and shaped by deep personal loss including the death of her younger sister when Lee was six — is one of the most distinctive and immediately recognizable in rock. Evanescence have won 24 awards from 68 nominations across their career. Wayne Dennon photographed Evanescence as part of an archive that spans rock's most emotionally committed performers. Lee onstage is a singular presence — commanding, fragile, fierce — and the band that surrounds her has always matched the drama of what she brings.