Amy Lee: Society Needs to Understand ‘It’s Okay to Have Differences’

This year has truly pushed a lot of people outside of their own personal boundaries — including Evanescence's Amy Lee, who had always kept quiet about her opinions until recently. Although she's decided to start being vocal about her perspectives, she understands that not everyone will share the same sentiments, and thinks that the rest of society needs to be okay with that as well.

"This is a country at war with itself, and I hate that," the singer told us in a new interview. "I don't want to add to the madness, I don't wanna be in there screaming. I don't think screaming your opinions from on top of a building is actually going to change anybody's mind."

"For me, I just finally got to a point where it's right and wrong, and there's a lot at stake — so much at stake, lives are at stake. People are dying," she added.

Lee had actually started working on Evanescence's latest single "Use My Voice" a couple of years ago, but there couldn't have been a better time to release it than now. The band partnered with the non-partisan organization HeadCount, which used the song in a promotional video to encourage people to vote. As an incentive to register to vote, doing it through UseMyVoice.org grants fans access to the band's private livestream concert this month.

Despite Lee's decision to open up about her beliefs, it doesn't bother her knowing that some of her fans may not share them.

"I have a lot of people in my life that all have different beliefs, opinions, backgrounds. I don't think that should stop us from being able to be friends or talk to each other or be family," the singer acknowledged. "We need to live in a society where it's okay to have differences. We really do, because we all have differences from each other."

"What's important is that we can function together with those differences," she suggested.

With such a polarizing election, it seems more people than ever have made the decision to vote. But with the coronavirus pandemic still sweeping the country, heading to the polls is not the same experience that it used to be. However, the frontwoman believes that voting early, even if the wait is long, will help with any overcrowding issues on Election Day.

This may be the first time a lot of people decide to vote, whether due to their age or that they were simply reluctant in the past. Lee admitted that she wasn't a "strong political force" previously, but noted that paying attention to political figures and elections at the local level going forward is a good way to build awareness for those who are looking to start getting involved.

As for music, Evanescence's upcoming album The Bitter Truth doesn't have a confirmed release date as of yet, but Lee teased that it should be out sometime in early 2021. Until then, another new song should be released by the band within the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

For more on the album and Lee's recent collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon, listen to the full interview above.