Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee has shared some touching advice for a fan that was stung by cruel remarks about her looks. Taking part in an interview with The Guardian where the singer answers questions posed by fans, Amy was unimpressed to hear that one follower with ambitions to become a rock artist was put off her dreams by being called "ugly".
"Show business’s obsession with beauty and sexualization to boost sales horrifies me," the fan states, before asking Amy: "Is there even the slightest chance for an unattractive woman to be a rock singer?"
Amy's reply is typically thoughtful and heartfelt, Evanescence's leader noting that the fan's question made her "feel sad". "First of all, I would hope that whoever told you that you are ugly is not anyone you would call a friend," she replies. "Don’t think of yourself that way and don’t listen to those people. They’re probably just jealous. Beauty is the deep stuff: being an artist, making music. That’s where the gold is, and beauty comes out through the inside, so focus on the inside and making something great for people to experience. Selling your product and being an Instagram star is not the important part. Anybody can make great music if it’s in your soul: that’s the most beautiful thing about you."
Elsewhere in the interview, Amy also suggests she might well still be making music into her 60s. "I turn 45 in December, and 44 definitely doesn’t feel like I’d imagined – it’s better," she says. "Turning 60 is only 15 years away, which doesn’t feel that long. I don’t know if we’ll be touring hard then, but they say use it or lose it, so I’m not ruling it out. It gives you so much life to be able to bring people together and share music, so it breaks my heart to imagine that we can’t do that any more for whatever reason. I’d have to be still making music or creating in some way. It doesn’t make sense to stop."
Evanescence certainly show no sign of stopping right now. Following the release of new album Sanctuary in June, the band will hit the UK and Europe for an arena tour next month, before chalking up dates in the US, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
