Evanescence put out the album Sanctuary in June. On the North American leg of its 2026 world tour, the band also raised almost a quarter million dollars for two charities. PLUS1 joined the group to send that money to Direct Relief and Help Hope Live.
Direct Relief works to improve the health and lives of people hit by poverty or emergencies. Help Hope Live backs families who struggle with unpaid medical bills and the costs that come with them.
Amy Lee, the band’s singer, spoke about the album at the Sick New World Texas festival in Fort Worth. She said the band feels inspired. “It’s been a really inspired time. The past few years really have just been like this fire was lit,” Lee said in an interview posted on YouTube.
Lee wants rock music to speak about the world. “In my heart, [I] just [have] a lot to say about the state of the world, and I feel like rock is the place for that. I mean, my rage has gotta go somewhere,” she said in the interview, according to Blunt Magazine.
Bigger live shows are coming, too. “Go for the pyro. Make a killer music video. Do another one. We’re just on a roll. So we’re just making our own space,” Lee added in the interview.
She sees echoes of the band’s early days in this moment. Evanescence put out its debut album, Fallen, in 2003, while the single “Bring Me To Life” was released before the album. “I couldn’t appreciate that then the way that I appreciate it now, for a million different reasons,” Lee said.
“Bring Me To Life” recently earned diamond certification from the RIAA, according to Louder Sound. Only 13 songs before it from a diamond album had reached that mark, which makes it the 14th.
“Who Will You Follow” turned into the fastest-rising rock radio single of the band’s career. It cracked the Top 10 at U.S. rock radio in under four weeks. The song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. and Canadian Mainstream Rock charts and on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. It gave the band its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, as well, per Billboard.
September brought the official video for “Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough.” Eric Richter directed the clip, which the band shot during the North American leg of the tour. Zakk Cervini and Jordan Fish co-wrote and produced the song.
Fans can pick up the album as a download, a standard CD, a deluxe CD, or a limited-edition box set. A double vinyl came out on Sept. 4. The deluxe CD is sold only in the Evanescence store. It includes a Blu-ray with a “Live In São Paulo” concert, a documentary from the band’s 2023 South America tour, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the “Who Will You Follow” video was made. The deluxe vinyl is an online exclusive, too.
