Amy Lee Joins Body Count On New Song, “When I’m Gone”
Evanescence is slowly getting back into the music world. As they work on their long-awaited new album this year, fans will also be kept satisfied with some new collaborations frontwoman Amy Lee has recorded. First up is a song with Body Count on their brand new album Carnivore, out today. Amy appears on the song “When I’m Gone,” and fans can now hear the track in full.
“When I’m Gone” was written about the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot and killed on March 31, 2019. The song begins with a 20-second spoken intro from Ice-T describing his reaction to Nipsey’s murder.
Ice-T speaks over sparse guitar before it launches into a shouting verse set against chugging chords. He sings, “Don’t wait to tell me that you love me,” calling for people to express themselves while our loved ones are still alive. On the chorus, Amy Lee takes over, with Ice-T harmonizing and interjecting the titular message. The third verse spotlights Amy as she questions how she can get back the time she wasted. She challenges, “How would it make you feel, knowing you had the chance and let it slip away?”
It’s a powerful song that reminds us life is too short and that we must make the most of the time we do have.
Listen to “When I’m Gone” below:
“When I’m Gone” appears on Body Count’s new album, Carnivore, out now. You can stream or buy the album from all the major music providers here.
See the full album tracklisting below:
- Carnivore
- Bum Rush
- Thee Critical Beatdown
- Ace Of Spades
- Another Level
- Colors
- When I’m Gone (feat. Amy Lee)
- They Point The Finger
- No Remorse
- The Hate Is Real
More About “When I’m Gone”
In a recent interview with Toni Gonzalez of Loudwire, Amy Lee described how the song came together:
I am so excited for this collaboration; I felt like I had to fight for it. It was one of these things, that like, somebody told somebody else told somebody else that it’d be cool if I might be on it. And I was like, “What? Give me the track!” It’s one of those things!
I love the idea of collaboration, especially when it’s something really different from what I do. Because to me, those are the collaborations I love, when you see two artists come together that are not the same, and by fusing the two of them, it creates a new sound. But that’s also something that doesn’t always work. You can’t just mash any two things up.
So I was like, “Let me hear the song,” knowing that it’s very very possible that I’m not gonna be able to find myself within it and it’s not going to work. But I heard the song and I loved the song and immediately had an idea.
The meaning really really spoke to me. It’s something that I feel deeply and talk about deeply. It’s about loss and not wasting time with the people that you love, and that just means so much to me.
Anyway, I had an idea, but they were in a hurry. It was like the end of tour and I’m like, “I’m almost home!” It was just one of those things like, “Hey, we already ran out of time.” And I was like, “Please! I’m just gonna send you what I was gonna do.” And then they got really excited about it, and it actually ended up working out. Just because I didn’t take “no” for an answer.
Listen to the full Loudwire interview below. Amy talks about “When I’m Gone” at the 10:35 mark.
In a new interview with Revolver, Body Count leader Ice-T also spoke about how the collaboration came together:
Vince [Vincent Price, Body Count’s bassist] – he said, “I got Amy Lee to sing on it.” I’m like, “How the f–k did you meet Amy Lee?” Like, “Don’t worry about. Got this s–t.” And she killed it! So she took the song from what I thought was 100 to a 200. And then she wrote me a beautiful email saying that she lost somebody too soon. So both of us sung that song from our heart, which is a very rare moment, when two people are really singing from their heart about similar experiences. So that’s a hot song.
Watch the full interview with Ice-T below. He talks about “When I’m Gone” and Amy Lee at about 30:05.
Amy’s Solo Work & Collaborations
Amy Lee has released a fair amount music without Evanescence in the last decade. In 2014, Amy shared her first solo album, Aftermath; it was comprised of music she wrote for the indie film, War Story. In September 2016, Amy released her second solo record, a children’s album called Dream Too Much. It featured both original compositions and covers that Amy recorded it with her family for her young son, Jack. Speaking of covers, Amy also released a 4-song EP of covers featuring songs by Portishead, U2, Led Zeppelin, and Chris Isaak.
In early 2017, Amy shared her solo song, “Love Exists,” a reworking of “L’amore esiste” by the Italian singer Francesca Michielin. Also that spring, Amy released her original solo song, “Speak To Me,” for the film Voice From The Stone.
Amy’s most recent collaboration was with violinist Lindsey Stirling’s on her new album, Artemis. Amy sings on the song “Love Goes On And On,” released last September.
In addition to the newly released “When I’m Gone” with Body Count, Amy also has an upcoming collaboration recorded with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. They recorded it last October, and as of this January, it is already recorded and mastered. Now it’s just a question of when we’ll hear it!
2020 Return Of Evanescence
Evanescence has been making a comeback over the last few years. In early 2017, the band released a boxset of their three studio albums and b-sides, and later that year we got their electronic-meets-symphonic album, Synthesis. After plenty of touring, they put out Synthesis Live in fall 2018.
The band also has a major tour coming up with the band Within Temptation. Their World Collide tour will take the two bands across Europe in April 2020. Find dates and tickets now so you can see them this spring.
Now, Evanescence is working on their long-awaited 4th studio album. They started writing and demoing last year, and they’re now in the process of recording. They plan to work with a number of producers and will put out songs as they record them. Last week, Amy revealed that they plan to release their first new single before the upcoming tour, which starts April 4th. So it won’t be long now!
Evanescence’s album should be out by the end of this year. For now, you can enjoy their new cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”
Enjoy Amy Lee and Body Count’s new song, “When I’m Gone,” and be sure to hear the rest of the new album, Carnivore. Keep checking back here for all the latest music news.
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