Evanescence

Lee and Moody remained the backbone of the band for a long time. All the more remarkable, then, was Moody's departure at the end of 2003, in the middle of a European tour. In 2005, Terry Balsamo took over as guitarist from Moody. It is not entirely clear why Moody left, but according to an interview with Amy in Aardschok, it was because he was at odds with himself. Musical disagreement also played a role (Moody wanted to sell as many CDs as possible, Lee wanted to go more in a creative direction). In the summer of 2006, bassist Will Boyd also stopped. He did not want to tour again. Tim McCord is currently his successor.

On 4 May 2007, the LA Daily Newspaper announced that John LeCompt had been fired by singer Amy Lee, who according to her own account had no good reason for doing so. LeCompt subsequently made it known that drummer Rocky Gray was also quitting Evanescence, as they were putting all their energy into the new band Machina. It remains unclear why LeCompt was dismissed.

Rocky Gray and John LeCompt were replaced by Will Hunt and Troy McLawhorn, both from Dark New Day.

When the band first started, their music was described as Christian rock, but the band has distanced itself from this. They see themselves as a rock band that makes epic, dramatic and dark rock music. Evanescence is often incorrectly placed in the gothic style category. Elements that contribute to the image of a gothic band are the pale complexion of the lead singer, songs with real depth, and the outfits of the band members (including flowing black dresses and corsets, and a preference for dark clothing and black jewellery with steel spikes). The band themselves set the trend in 2003 with the hauntingly beautiful gaze on the album cover of the successful album Fallen. Finally, Evanescence is musically influenced by and related to the nu metal genre.

Their first CD was released in January 1999 and was called Evanescence EP. A few months later, in August 1999, the CD Sound Asleep came out. These CDs are no longer available in music shops, insofar as they ever really were. These CDs were printed in very limited editions under their own supervision and were given away free at concerts, or sold for very low prices. From time to time they still appear on auction sites. Amy Lee and Ben Moody gave permission during a radio interview in 2003 to download the albums released before Fallen.

Their next album, Origin, also gained little recognition. This CD came out in November 2000. The sound on these CDs already evolves very strongly towards their now famous album Fallen. On the three CDs you can hear different versions of songs that eventually made it onto the Fallen CD, but in acoustic versions and demo versions.

The release of their best-known album, Fallen, in 2003, marked their definitive breakthrough. With this they reached a wide audience. The first single from this album was Bring Me To Life, which was also part of the soundtrack to the film Daredevil. In Bring Me To Life, Amy Lee sang together with singer Paul McCoy of 12 Stones. This was followed by the harder track Going Under and the sensitive ballad My Immortal being released as singles. The cynical Everybody's Fool was the final single.

Amy Lee lent her voice to the fantasy film Chronicles of Narnia (2005). She refused, however, to take an acting role.

On 2 October 2006, after three years and with almost a year's delay, their new album The Open Door was released in Europe. The first video clip, Call Me When You're Sober, was released on 7 August 2006. On 18 December 2006, the subsequent video clip and single came out, namely Lithium. In April 2007, the single Sweet Sacrifice was released. On Friday, 30 November, the ballad Good Enough came out. Amy Lee says that making this record has done her a great deal of good, and after all the setbacks of recent months and years, they have finally made it this far. She drew her energy and inspiration for this new record from all these setbacks. There was the break-up of her relationship with the lead singer of Seether, and a brain haemorrhage suffered by their guitarist Terry Balsamo.

On 4 May 2007, it was announced (in LA Daily Newspaper) that John LeCompt had been fired from Evanescence. LeCompt also announced that Rocky Gray had quit the popular band. The men are not sitting still, they are already putting all their energy into the band Machina, founded in 2005. During a press conference on 17 May, Amy Lee announced the new band members: Drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn. Both come from the band Dark New Day. "I'm a big fan of Dark New Day and can't wait for the fans to see what the guys bring to our live show," said Amy Lee.

The first performance with the new band members took place on 19 May 2007 at the Rock on the Range Festival. On 28 May 2007, the band performed at Pinkpop.

The chart positions are from the Dutch album top 20/50/100.

Evanescence 01-1999

Sound Asleep 08-1999

Origin 04-11-2000

Mystary 2003

Fallen 07-03-2003 peak position: 2

Anywhere but Home 23-11-2004 peak position: 18

The Open Door 02-10-2006 peak position: 2