{"id":647186,"date":"2026-08-20T12:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/647186\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:09:28","slug":"evanescences-amy-lee-reflects-on-sanctuary-and-world-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/647186\/","title":{"rendered":"Evanescence’s Amy Lee Reflects on \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 And World Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHome in Nashville after the first North American leg of touring to promote Evanescence<\/a>\u2018s latest album, Sanctuary, Amy Lee<\/a> has been decompressing and busy getting her 12-year-old son back into school mode.<\/p>\n

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\n\tShe\u2019s also had time to reflect on the band\u2019s 2026 so far \u2014 and can\u2019t help but be pleased with what she says been \u201ca really good year, and an emotional one\u201d in the best of ways.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis 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\u2019t expecting at this phase in my life,\u201d Lee tells Billboard via Zoom. \u201cIt just feels like it\u2019s 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\u2019t seen so much and felt so much.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a lot to sum up, but it\u2019s 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\u2019s been a really special thing so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe empirical data certain bears that out. Sanctuary, Evanescence\u2019s sixth studio effort, debuted in the top 10 of Billboard\u2019s Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts after its June 5 release. It contains the band\u2019s first two No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay hits \u2014 \u201cWho Will You Follow,\u201d and \u201cAfterlife\u201d from last year\u2019s Netflix animated series Devil May Dry. Lee was also part of \u201cEnd of You,\u201d a collaboration with Poppy and Courtney LaPLante of Spiritbox.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor 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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think that it gets deeper the longer that you survive together, us and the fans,\u201d she explains. \u201cI think now that we\u2019re past the 20-year mark I feel this incredible new depth that has to do with that, with the time. It\u2019s not just about the new music and proving this next thing is great; there\u2019s also this nostalgia power, a life we already have in the past, together. You have a connection because of the things you\u2019ve been through together, and the fact is that this music \u2014 \u201cBring Me to Life,\u201d Fallen and beyond \u2014 has existed for such a long that it has a place in people\u2019s hearts, and whatever we do now is just adding to that, and also bringing in some new people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBring Me (Back) To Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tEvanescence\u2019s 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 \u201cto find out who I was and what was next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that point Evanescence had released three albums \u2014 the diamond-certified breakthrough Fallen in 2003, the double-platinum The Open Door in 2006 and a self-titled effort in 2011. The latter two also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Yet the group was encountering business issues, suing Wind-up Records for unpaid royalties (which was settled out of court) while the label was selling its catalog to what became Concord Bicycle Music. \u201cThere was a lot of business clean-up that had to be done,\u201d acknowledges Jordan Berliant of Revelation Management, who\u2019s been with Evanescence since that time.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd there was the matter of engineering Evanescence\u2019s return, including some lineup changes and a new deal with BMG.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAmy was ready to get back into music but was working on a lot of different directions in her mind,\u201d Berliant recalls. \u201cThere were a lot of things she wanted to accomplish both as an individual, and then as a member or the leader of Evanescence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe former came first.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Evanescence returned to live duty and put together The Ultimate Collection vinyl box set, the rarities compilation Lost Whispers and a demo CD Origin, Lee released a children\u2019s album, Dream Too Much, in 2016 and a single, \u201cSpeak to Me,\u201d for the 2017 film Voice From the Stone. The band then recorded Synthesis, a top 10 effort featuring orchestral versions of its songs, arranged by David Campbell and featuring a collaboration with Lindsey Stirling.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was a very, very cool way to reintroduce people to the band,\u201d Berliant explains, \u201cand also kind of extricate the definition of Evanescence from being in kind of nu-metal prison and showing the world, and her, it could be more than that, that the songs themselves have a life beyond that era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSince then Evanescence projects, including 2021\u2019s The Bitter Truth, have alternated with Lee efforts such as a teaming with Eurythmics\u2019 Dave Stewart, Body Count, Bring Me the Horizon and Stirling, as well as a duet with Halsey for the 2025 action film Ballerina and the \u201cEnd of You\u201d collaboration. The prominent use of \u201cBring Me to Life\u201d in HBO\u2019s The Rehearsal breathed new life into the song and put some jet fuel behind Evanescence, as did tours with Korn and Muse.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat really set the stage for elevating the touring,\u201d Berliant says, culminating in Evanescence\u2019s first stadium headline date before 40,000 fans on Oct. 21, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazin. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff you can\u2019t plan but it tends to happen when you put yourself out there and you\u2019re succeeding,\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe efforts were not lost on Lee, either.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrom the management to our agents to the promoters, this has definitely felt like a moment when everyone really just gave us their best and truly wanted the best for this album and this moment for the band,\u201d Lee says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more grateful. It\u2019s beautifully humbling to be part of such a big thing I love so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Open Door<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhat Lee brought into Sanctuary was an urge for collaboration, started by working with co-writer Alex Seaver on \u201cAfterlife.\u201d \u201cWe were working on this minute-and-a-half piece of music for the (Devil May Cry) scene and had to hurry, hurry, hurry \u2019cause Netflix needed it,\u201d she remembers. \u201cBut afterwards everybody was like, \u2018This should be a full-on Evanescence song. It really sounds like it wants to be, so let\u2019s finish it,\u2019 and (Seaver) was like, \u2018Yeah.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I took the song in with the band and Nick (Raskulinecz, producer), and it felt like such beautiful fuel for (the album). It felt like a gift. And it turned out so well that we were like, \u2018Why don\u2019t we work with some cool people who say they want to work with us all the time?\u201d (laughs)<\/p>\n

\n\tRaskulinecz, who also produced The Bitter Truth, helmed five of Sanctuary\u2019s 12 tracks, with the team of Jordan Fish and Zakk Cervini helming the rest, including co-writing with the band. \u201cWho Will You Follow,\u201d in fact, was the first song they worked on, and Lee notes that \u201cwe ended up really just catching lightning with them. It was like, \u2018I love what you do, you love what I do. Let\u2019s make some noise and see what happens.\u2019 We had this special moment during the album creation where we had six days in L.A. with just the four of us, and it felt like the crux of the album happened in that time.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s really, really inspiring and rare that you make those connections with other people, when you feel like they get you and you get them and at the same time you\u2019re each bringing something into the equation. It\u2019s really special to be chasing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFish and Cervini, according to Lee, also brought a fanboy element into their perspective towards Evanescence that also helped steer the album\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey were both fully aware of and interested in and inspired by our music, the early stuff, in a way that\u2019s different than somebody who\u2019s a little older and liked it, but was already a professional at the time,\u201d Lee explains. \u201cThey were influenced by us when they were starting out, so it was like a shared understanding of things I kind of forgot about a little bit, because I\u2019m so busy having to criticize us. They helped us realize all those things that were beautiful in our music that maybe you forgot about.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt felt like a very independent record for me, personally, in taking chances, doing things I wasn\u2019t allowed to before but still doing my best to maintain the heart of the spirit of what it originally was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLee jokes about \u201cworld domination\u201d on the horizon, but Evanescence really is headed to the rest of the world now. The quintet begins its first-ever arena tour<\/a> in the U.K. and Europe on Sept. 8 in England and has a couple more U.S. dates during October \u2014 including the Sick New World Texas 2026 festival in Fort Worth and Red Rocks Amphitheatre \u2014 before heading to Malaysia for a stadium date in November and Japan in December. Australia and New Zealand are set for next March<\/a>, with other international touring, including festival appearances, on tap for 2027 as well.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis album cycle is really special to me,\u201d Lee says. \u201cThis production has been a really fun and fulfilling adventure, and my mind is on different things we\u2019re gonna do with it and bring it to life \u2014 maybe documenting the show (on film), which we\u2019re planning to do the right way, and also art with the songs, like music videos. My mind\u2019s definitely been rolling around with imagery and themes and things like that, how and who to collaborate with on that. All those gears are definitely winding right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNew music is a far-flung thought, although Lee says that \u201cI\u2019ve hummed at least one idea to myself and recorded in my voice notes already, because I\u2019m feeling inspired and fulfilled and all those good things.\u201d But she anticipates it will be a minute before she\u2019s ready to move on.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt usually comes about a year in, when the music starts feeling kinda routine,\u201d Lee says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like that yet. But I do feel very inspired, and I think I\u2019m committed to being better about striking immediately when an idea\u2019s hitting, rather than leaving it in the background for years, so it`ll come at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home in Nashville after the first North American leg of touring to promote Evanescence\u2018s latest album, Sanctuary, Amy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[268],"tags":[22217,434,18,117,19,17],"class_list":["post-647186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bbnews","tag-celebrities","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117127765595026922","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}