EVANESCENCE Singer Says Guitarist's Return Was 'Family Reunion'

According to The Pulse Of Radio, EVANESCENCE caused controversy earlier this year when the band first denied, then admitted, that guitarist Troy McLawhorn had rejoined the group after a four-year absence, during which he recorded and toured with SEETHER. The latter band is led by EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee's former boyfriend, Shaun Morgan, with whom she had a contentious breakup in late 2005 and who was not happy about McLawhorn's seemingly abrupt defection.

But Lee herself avoided the topic of SEETHER entirely when The Pulse Of Radio asked her about McLawhorn's return. "It was so cool when Troy ended up coming back and it became a complete family reunion, because we already had everybody else that was the exact same lineup from when we were touring [in 2007]," she said. "So when we were all getting back together, of course, Troy was busy and had other things going on, so we didn't even approach him about it. And then when he came back, you know, it worked out to where he was like, 'Hey, this is what's happening, I love you guys, I'd love to play with you guys again.' I was just beside myself."

Shortly after McLawhorn's departure from SEETHER, Morgan tweeted, "Interesting news about our old guitarist. Can anyone guess? No, he's not coming back. He went to another band. Little anti-Shaun club."

EVANESCENCE will release its self-titled third major label album on Tuesday (October 11),five years after the group issued its last effort, 2006's "The Open Door". The first single from the new disc is called "What You Want".

The five-piece group will kick off a 15-city North American run on October 10 in Oakland, California.