Amy Lee is finally at peace with “Bring Me to Life”, Evanescence’s biggest hit

The biggest hit of Evanescence brings a conflicting memory to Amy Lee. Present in the album Fallen (2003), music “Bring Me to Life” features a special participation by Paul McCoyvocalist of 12 Stoneswhich was not exactly desired by the singer and songwriter.

Lee She ended up giving in because, according to her, the Wind-up label’s desire was for “eight of the 11 songs on the album” to have rap vocals performed by a man, taking advantage of the success of nu metal at the time. In the other seven, there are none — only in the one that would become the band’s big hit.

In a 2023 interview with Kerrang! (via website Igor Miranda), Amy He described the stress at that time as “horrible”. However, after so long denying the recorded version of “Bring Me to Life”she says she is at peace with the song.

If I still like ‘Bring Me to Life’? I really like it. It’s beautiful. The progression at the beginning, the way the chord goes back and forth with just the middle note changing, that’s so me. I always find myself going back to that vibe. So yeah, I still love this song, the lyrics, all of it. The energy that post-bridge rap brings is really special.”

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a “least favorite” moment in the hit song. If the post-chorus with McCoy is approved, the interactions during the chorus are underappreciated. They just don’t make her uncomfortable.

I don’t love the ‘wake me up’ part in the chorus as much, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I was already uncomfortable because I thought ‘this isn’t us’, but I don’t feel, 20 years later, that I have to say that again. In fact, if there were eight rap musicians in Fallenthen I don’t think I would have survived.”

Evanescence’s challenge at the beginning

In the view of Amy Leethe battle to maintain the sonic identity of Evanescence always proved to be a big dilemma. She comments:

Fighting on the business side to get what we wanted was always very difficult. I always felt like it was my mission to fight for this. I was the one who thought: ‘if you make small changes, that’s fine, but if this whole idea changes, I don’t want that’. The whole point, for me, was to do something that I loved and believed in.”

Despite everything, it worked. Released in March 2003, the band’s debut album Evanescence, Fallenwas a smashing success. He performed hits like “Bring Me to Life”, “Going Under” and “My Immortal” and sold millions of copies worldwide — today, more than 10 million units are sold in the United States alone.

Furthermore, it exposed the mainstream to a movement that fused gothic influences with a palatable rock/metal approach — to the point of making other groups with such inspirations (and also with female singers) reach stardom. And, of course, it served to provide security so that the Evanescence continue your career doing whatever you want.