Home in Nashville after the first North American leg of touring to promote Evanescence ‘s latest album, Sanctuary , Amy Lee has been decompressing and busy getting her 12-year-old son back into school mode. Explore Amy Lee Evanescence See latest videos, charts and news
She’s also had time to reflect on the band’s 2026 so far — and can’t help but be pleased with what she says been “a really good year, and an emotional one” in the best of ways. Related 'Shabang' Scores Drake a 4th Rhythmic Airplay No. 1 From 'ICEMAN' 2Pac's Sister Says Her Family 'Never Had Any Expectations' Justice Would Be Served for Rapper's Murder Betty Who Was 'The Sickest I've Ever Been' While Battling Nasty E. coli Infection
“This album and this moment, and all of the support that has come together at the same time just feels like something bigger than myself, and that I wasn’t expecting at this phase in my life,” Lee tells Billboard via Zoom. “It just feels like it’s that good moment. Life is full of so many ups and downs and mediums, and this is definitely an up, and it means more than anything could have in my first couple years coming out, when I still a kid and hadn’t seen so much and felt so much.
“It’s a lot to sum up, but it’s been emotional in a very beautiful, connected way. I feel grounded and lifted, spiritually, through my band, my team, the fans, the music, the tour. It’s been a really special thing so far.”
The empirical data certain bears that out. Sanctuary , Evanescence’s sixth studio effort, debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts after its June 5 release. It contains the band’s first two No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay hits — “Who Will You Follow,” and “Afterlife” from last year’s Netflix animated series Devil May Dry . Lee was also part of “End of You,” a collaboration with Poppy and Courtney LaPLante of Spiritbox.
For Lee, the sole remaining member of the group that formed during 1994 in Little Rock, Ark., the success is about both the moment of Sanctuary as well as the 22 years that preceded it, which includes sales of more than 32 million albums and a pair of Grammy Awards.
“I think that it gets deeper the longer that you survive together, us and the fans,” she explains. “I think now that we’re past the 20-year mark I feel this incredible new depth that has to do with that, with the time. It’s not just about the new music and proving this next thing is great; there’s also this nostalgia power, a life we already have in the past, together. You have a connection because of the things you’ve been through together, and the fact is that this music — “Bring Me to Life,” Fallen and beyond — has existed for such a long that it has a place in people’s hearts, and whatever we do now is just adding to that, and also bringing in some new people.”
Evanescence’s current run is also something of a culmination of work, side projects and other life-changing moments during the past decade. Lee released a solo album, Aftermath , in 2014, then brought back the band the following year, and took to start a family. That busy period enabled her “to find out who I was and what was next.”
To that poi…