Evanescence

1994 - 1999
Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano.

Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit.

Two of Lee and Moody's songs found playtime on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demand for a concert. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area. After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear"). Lee loved the name because "it is mysterious and dark, and places a picture in the listeners' mind."

1999
JAN [3] The self-titled Evanescence EP is released of which about 100 copies were made and distributed at the band's early live performances.

AUG The Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999) is released, which was limited to 50 copies

2000
NOV [4] Their first full-length demo CD, Origin is released. Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs on their debut album, Fallen. For example, the recording of "My Immortal", found on Fallen, can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional string accompaniments. Only 2,500 copies of this record were produced; in response, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet.

The band's signature font was created when Fallen was in development. The label designers used slightly modified versions of each character to make the track titles look unique.

2003
The lineup was completed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom worked on Evanescence's earlier songs

Evanescence signed on with their first major label, Wind-up Records, and began work on their first album, Fallen.

While they were looking to promote Fallen, Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company Nintendo to perform on the "Nintendo Fusion Tour" which they headlined in 2003.

FEB [4] The Daredevil Soundtrack is released and featues two songs by Evanescence (Bring Me to Life and My Immortal)

MAR [4] The debut album Fallen is released. The album spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10; was certified 7x Platinum in the United States; and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, including 7 million in the U.S. The album was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, and it was one of eight albums in the history of the chart to spend at least a year on the Billboard Top 50.

APR [21] Fallen is certified Platinum by the RIAA

[22] The single Bring Me to Life is released

JUNE [26] Fallen is certified Double Platinum by the RIAA

SEP [9] The single "Going Under" is released (#5 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #8 UK Charts)

OCT [17] Fallen is certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA

[22] Moody left the band during the European tour for Fallen, reportedly because of creative differences. In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said: "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record." This became a point of confusion for some people, as Moody and Lee stated on the Fallen album liner notes that they were best friends. Later, Lee said it was almost a relief that he left because of tensions created within the band. Moody was replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold.

Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", which features guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was a global hit for the band and reached #5 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It provided Evanescence with their first UK #1 listing, where it stayed for four weeks from June-July 2003. The song also became the official theme for WWE No Way Out 2003.

DEC [4] Evanescence receives 5 Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, Best Hard Rock Performance ("Bring Me To Life") and Best Rock Song ("Bring Me to Life").

[8] The single "My Immortal" is released and went on to peak at #7 in the U.S. and UK charts

[10] Evanescence wins 2 Billboard Awards for New Group Artist of the Year and Soundtrack Single of the Year for "Bring Me To Life".

"Bring Me to Life" garnered recognition for the band at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, where they won the Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist awards and were nominated for two others.

"Everybody's Fool" (#36 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #23 UK Charts); all were promoted by a music video.

2004
JAN [16] Terry Balsamo from Cold joins Evanescence as a replacement for Ben Moody at the lead guitar

[29] Fallen is certified 4x Platinum byt the RIAA

FEB [8] Evanescence wins the 2004 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance (for "Bring Me To Life").

APR [2] Fallen is certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA

JUNE [7] The single Everybody's Fool is released

NOV [8] Fallen is certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA

[23] Evanescence's new lineup released a DVD/CD compilation entitled Anywhere but Home. The DVD includes a concert in Paris, as well as behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage signing autographs and warming up. The CD contains a previously unreleased song entitled "Missing", which was internationally released as a single and reached #1 in Spain. Also on the CD are the live songs "Breathe No More" (from the Elektra movie soundtrack), "Farther Away", and the band's cover of Korn's "Thoughtless".

DEC [7] Evanescence receives a Grammy nomination in the Best Pop Performance (Duo or Group) category for "My Immortal."

2006
JULY [14] A spokesperson for the band's label confirmed that bassist Will Boyd had left the band for "not wanting to do another big tour" and wanting "to be close to his family." Amy Lee originally broke the news to the fans in a post on an unofficial Evanescence site, EvBoard.com.

AUG [7] Ths song "Call Me When You're Sober", hit modern rock and alternative rock radio

[10] In an interview with MTV, posted on their website, Lee announced that Tim McCord, former Revolution Smile guitarist, would switch instruments and play bass for the band.

[15] The Open Door became available for pre-order on the iTunes Store; the music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was also made available.

SEP [25] The single Call Me When You're Sober is released

[30] The album The Open Door is released in Australia

OCT [2] and [3] The 13-track album The Open Door is released in Canada and the United States and the United Kingdom. The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart, becoming the 700th #1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956.

The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

OCT [5] The tour for The Open Door began in Toronto and included locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe during that year.

2007
JAN [5] This first tour continued and included stops in Canada (alongside band Stone Sour), Japan and Australia (alongside band Shihad) and then returned to the U.S. for a second tour in the spring (alongside bands Chevelle and Finger Eleven).

[8] The single Lithium is released

APR [15] As part of their tour, Evanescence performed on the Argentinan festival Quilmes Rock 07 along with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and other local bands.

MAY [4] John LeCompt announced that he had been fired from Evanescence, and also stated that drummer Rocky Gray had decided to quit.

[17] Wind-up issued a press release, stating that two Dark New Day members, drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn, would be joining the band to replace LeCompt and Gray. It was initially stated that Hunt and McLawhorn would tour with Evanescence until the end of the Family Values Tour in September 2007, but both continued to play with the band through The Open Door tour.

[25] The single Sweet Sacrifice is first released in Germany

They also co-headlined on the Family Values Tour 2007 along with Korn and other bands.

JUNE [26] The group closed their European tour with a sell-out concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel

DEC [9] They finished the album tour on

2009
JUNE In a news posting to the Evanescence website, Amy Lee wrote that the band was in the process of writing new material for a new album proposed for release in 2010. She stated that the music would be an evolution of previous works and be "better, stronger, and more interesting". The band also announced that they will be performing at the Maquinaria Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 8.