Ben Moody

But first, we must a quick recap of where they came from.

It was originally a creative project between Amy Lee and Ben Moody, signed to a Christian-adjacent label.

They were one of the few acts to successfully play to both mainstream and Christian radio.

It was really only them and Stacy Orrico, who we talked about a few weeks ago.

And despite making, you would think, not particularly mainstream music, they managed top 10 hits across the world, and even won the Best New Artist Grammy, beating 50 Cent, who let his displeasure be known by joining them on stage and standing silently behind them in disapproval.

Their early tracks written together by Lee and Moody, but this is a collaboration between Amy Lee and her new guitarist, Terry Balsamo.

Ben Moody had left the band during their European tour for their debut album.

Amy Lee has said of him leaving Ben, "Was very controlling and very judgmental.

Interesting factoid.

The band originally formed in the mid-90s in Little Rock, Arkansas, founded by Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody.

They were just teenagers when they started writing together.

Teenagers.

Let's see what happens here.

This gothy alt metal band got their start in Little Rock, Arkansas back in 1994 with founding members Amy Lee and Ben Moody.

I think the big hint there is Amy Lee.

Evanescence? Evanescence!

Fallen.

Singer-pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody, the band's only two actual members as of the release of their debut, met at a Christian summer camp in 1994 when they were respectively 13 and 14 years old.

Aw,

adorable! And this was in Little Rock, Arkansas, the town where I spent most of my formative grade school years.

That a girl little method.

Uh, the zombie that gets a knife thrown into his head on top of the building with the girl jumps off is, uh, X, uh, the, uh, good ex guitarist for Evanescence, Ben Moody.

Oh, okay.

Uh, Former Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray is one of the undead on the mob that stormed the rooftop right before the missile hits.

Nobody was doing their best work in 2003, okay? Well, almost nobody.

So moving on from that topic, the Evanescence origin story, the myth, the lightly disputed myth, is that Amy Lee, singer, songwriter, piano player, guitarist, and Ben Moody, guitarist, songwriter, Amy and Ben meet as teenagers in 1994 at a Christian youth camp in Little Rock, Arkansas.

They first meet, specifically, allegedly, when Ben hears Amy playing a Meat Loaf song on the piano.

See if you can guess which piano-driven Meat Loaf song Amy might have been playing on piano in 1994.

And "I would do anything for love, I'd run right into hell and back" is a core Evanescence lyrical principle, but right away we got some tension.

Put it this way.

In interviews, Ben Moody brings up Meat Loaf way more often than Amy Lee brings up Meat Loaf.

Here is Amy Lee in 2004 talking to the immortal Canadian journalist and deep dive interview specialist Nardwuar.