Amy Lee

December 13, 1981 — Riverside, California, USA

Amy Lynn Hartzler (known professionally as Amy Lee) is the lead singer of the band Evanescence. She was born on December 13, 1981 to John Lee, a disc jockey and TV personality, and Sara Cargill. They moved from California to Florida to Illinois, and then finally to Arkansas. She is a classically trained pianist. She spent 9 years studying classical piano in her youth. Amy met young guitarist Ben Moody at a summer camp in 1994 while playing on the piano. He was astounded by her talents as a singer and pianist, so he convinced her to form a band with him. They went through several names, including Childish Intentions and Stricken, before settling for Evanescence. They were signed by Big-Wig Enterprises in 2000 and released a collection of demos called "Origin". Later in 2002, they got a record deal with Wind-Up Records along with former band member David Hodges and created their debut "Fallen," a 7x platinum selling album, which led to the international success that they are today. "Fallen" was followed by the release of "The Open Door" in 2006 and the self-titled album "Evanescence" in 2011.