It is 23 years since Evanescence released one of the defining debut singles of the 2000s, Bring Me to Life, frontperson Amy Lee’s account of escaping an abusive relationship. Since then, the Arkansas band – essentially Lee’s project – have become a towering force in rock, selling millions of records, winning Grammy awards and reshaping how the genre can sound thanks to their inclusion of classical music and piano-led balladry.
In June, the band released their sixth album, Sanctuary, produced by former Bring Me the Horizon member and now metal super-producer Jordan Fish. The album, Lee has said, confronts the political turmoil of her country, and stands “against tyranny, against human rights violations, against blowing people up”. The record arrives on vinyl for the first time in September (after its digital release in the summer) and heralds an in-demand UK tour.
You can ask Lee about that, or anything else, when she sits for the Guardian’s Film & Music reader interview. Perhaps you want to know about the band’s 90s origins – she started the band as a teenager – or what inspired her to fuse classical music with metal; her experience of peak-MTV fame and her distaste at her label forcing a rap on to Bring Me to Life to keep pace with the nu metal of the period; being a trailblazer in what was an extremely male space and her successors – Evanescence took Nova Twins and Poppy on tour last year– or what it takes to keep a band going for three decades.
Post your questions in the comments by 10am BST on 17 August and Lee’s answers will appear in a future edition of the reader interview.
