Lee was born in Riverside, California. Her parents were John Lee, a disc jockey, and Sara Lee (née Cargill). She was named after the 1970s song "Amie" by Pure Prairie League. Her family moved to many places. They settled in Little Rock, Arkansas when she was 13 years old. She has two sisters, Carrie and Lori, and one brother, Robby. She had a third sister who died 1987. Lee wrote the songs "Hello" and "Like You" for her late sister. She is mostly of Scottish and English heritage. Lee recalls growing up around music and that she and her siblings, took music lessons.
Lee first wanted to become a classical composer. She wrote “Eternity of the Remorse” on piano at the age of eleven. She describes it as a "depressing" and "dramatic" piece. Her first “real” song is “A Single Tear”. It was written for an English assignment for eighth grade. She wrote the song and recorded it on a cassette with a friend who sang back-up vocals.
Lee studied at Pulaski Academy. She identified herself as an "art nerd" or "choir nerd" during her high school years and would listen to alternative and heavy metal music. She joined the school's mixed choir and sang as an alto. She became president of the choir council in her senior year. At age 17, Lee wrote a choir arrangement called "Listen to the Rain". It impressed her choir teacher, who encouraged Lee to direct the choir's performance of the song. Her direction of the choir during her graduation ceremony received a positive reaction from the audience. This experience made her feel more accepted for her skills amongst her peers. The song was also featured in Evanescence's EP "Sound Asleep".
Lee described her school years as a "weird fit for [her]" and was "a loner for while". She believes that this is what inspired her to get into writing, which became an "outlet for all the bad stuff [she] was feeling". Lee was voted to be on homecoming court, but missed the announcement because she didn't expect to get chosen. She graduated from high school in 2000. She briefly attended Middle Tennessee State University to study music theory and composition. She dropped out to focus on her band.
Ben Moody first met Lee at a Christian youth summer camp in 1994 and was impressed by her performance of the Meat Loaf song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Will not Do That)" on the piano. The two started writing songs together and performing at bookstores and coffee houses. After two of their songs were played on local radio stations, they became more popular in their area and were asked to appear in local concerts. The band went on to make two EPs, "Evanescence EP" (1998) "and Sound Asleep/Whisper EP" (1999). The EPs were distributed and sold to concert audiences.
In 2001, the band went to Ardent Studios in Memphis to mix a number of demos. There they met producer Pete Matthews who was impressed by their work and invited the band to move to Memphis and work on more songs while he showcased their demos to a number of labels. After playing the song "My Immortal" to Matthews' friend Diana Meltzer at Wind-Up Records, she became interested in signing the band a record deal. The band moved to Los Angeles once they were signed; however, because they were "still young and needed to be developed", they were enrolled in an artist development program for two years before they were given a producer to work with. During this time, Lee was given classes in stage presence and movement. She also applied to become a waitress before Fallen was released.
Lee was involved in a number of controversial issues with the band. Moody left the band in 2003 because of "creative differences" with Lee. Moody later explained his reason for leaving Evanescence in an interview with MTV "If I stayed, I think Amy and I would have destroyed [Evanescence] because we just weren't heading in the same direction; we were pulling it in two different directions. It was bad". Moody also revealed in an interview with Spin Magazine that he had tried convincing her of leaving the band instead "I had tried before, out of ignorance, pride, and resentment, to convince Amy that she should leave. That we'd be better off and Evanescence didn't need her" and followed this statement with an apology to Lee.
Lee has not spoken to Moody since his departure from the band. She stated in an interview with Blender in 2006 that she doesn't hate Ben, but they "need to just live [their] separate lives". In an interview with MTV, Moody hinted towards his advances for mending their relationship by inviting her for a movie along with David Hodges. Though Lee didn’t respond, a representative told Moody that she was actually considering accepting the invitation.
In 2005, former Evanescence manager Dennis Rider filed a $10 million lawsuit against Lee for breach of contract, which she responded to with a counter-suit for "breach of fiduciary duty" among other claims.
In 2007, she fired guitarist John LeCompt and soon after, drummer Rocky Gray quit the band, making Lee the only original member left in the band. In a blog post, LeCompt claimed that Lee fired him through a phone call without "any warning or negotiations" and "for no good reason". Lee defended her choice, claiming that LeCompt "didn't really care about Evanescence at all, and just stayed around for the money" and that she fired him to save the band from being "driven into the ground". Later, in an interview with Spin Magazine, Lee noted that both LeCompt and Gray's writing "didn't work for Evanescence" and believes they "got bored or frustrated" because of this.
Lee often addresses these issues in interviews. In an interview with MTV, Lee noted that “there's always freaking drama”. However, since the line-up change in 2010, Lee has stated that the band has become "stronger" and more cohesive.
Lee is the main lyricist and composer in the band, being credited as a songwriter in every song since the release of Fallen. She also maintains solo writing credits for songs such as Lithium and Lost in Paradise. Lee claims that during her years as a high school student, she would listen to music that was not necessarily popular at the time. Her lyrics are often associated to themes ranging from hopelessness, introspection and loss to self-respect and empowerment.
Lee is influenced by a variety of artists and genres. Her music is often described as a blend between rock and classical music, possessing an emotional and dark character. During her early years, Lee wanted to be a classical composer after watching the movie Amadeus, which was based on the life of Mozart. She wrote her first classical composition on piano at the age of 11 and describes it as a "very dramatic" piece. She also named “Lacrymosa”, a part of Mozart’s Requiem, her favorite classical music piece.
She credits “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as her “number one biggest influence artistically in every way” and would often sing to “Sally’s Song” when she was younger. She cites Björk as a big influence. In an interviews with Revolver Magazine, Lee noted Björk's influence on her lyrics "The way [Björk] uses the English language, probably because it’s not her first language, she uses it for the way the words sound as much as what the words mean. That always inspired me. When I’m writing lyrics, I think that way, too. I want the meaning to matter, but the way they actually sound coming out your mouth matters, too". She also listed songs such as "Pagan Poetry", "Joga" and "Crystalline" as some of her favorite and most inspirational Björk songs. Additionally, Michael Jackson was one of Lee’s music idols as a teenager and considers him to be highly inspirational. Other influences include: Portishead, Tori Amos, Nirvana, Korn, Marvin Gaye, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and SoundGarden.