What Evanescence' Amy Lee has to say

About women in rock music

Looking back, popular music had these strong females fronting commercially successful, but still hard-rocking, bands: Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, Joan Jett. Why do you think the strong female rock figure doesn’t really exist today? (Asked by Aly Comingore for the Santa Barbara Independent)

Amy Lee: It’s the hardest question for me to answer, and I don’t know the answer. … I think it’s one of those things that’s either random, or generally, I think when you see women in music people assume it’s just not them being the group. Because so much of the pop industry is what we see. … It’s just a girl, and that’s the gimmick, and there’s some mastermind man behind the scenes doing all the actual work. So it’s harder for people to buy a chick in a rock band. And that was really the only seriously big challenge for me, being a woman in the industry. I didn’t think it was anything specifically hard, except for the fact that I had to prove that I was real, and that I’m actually a writer first and a singer and performer second.

But I totally didn’t answer your question. Where’s Joan Jett? I dunno. I wish they’d all come back. I think there are female-fronted rock bands out there that are good, they’re just not big, and we need to support ’em.

To read more go to: the Santa Barbara Independent