Ex-SALIVA Singer JOSEY SCOTT Says He Was Originally Supposed To Record Guest Rap On EVANESCENCE's 'Bring Me To Life'

In a brand new interview with The Metal Summit, former SALIVA vocalist Josey Scott revealed that he was originally approached to sing the guest rap on EVANESCENCE's breakthrough 2003 hit "Bring Me To Life", a part which eventually went to 12 STONES' Paul McCoy.

"I was asked to do the 'Bring Me To Life' song," Josey said. "And our schedules were mixed up or something, and I didn't get to do it. So the kid from 12 STONES did it.

When one of The Metal Summit interviewers noted that the rap section in "Bring Me To Life" stylistically "very" Josey, the singer responded: "I definitely have a chill go up my spine every time I hear that song."

EVANESCENCE's 2017 album "Synthesis" included a re-imagining of "Bring Me To Life" without the guest rap by McCoy.

"God bless the rap, it's part of what got us on the radio, I guess," EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee told News.com.au six years ago. "At least according to all the rules of radio that I don't agree with or understand. The rap wasn't part of our original idea or sound, it was a compromise in many ways. So to be able to go back to the original vision for the song was great."

According to Amy, "The recording of a song that ends being the one you hear the most through history is usually when the song was just freshly written. You're still learning it yourself and getting used to what the notes are and how the parts go," she said. "That's true for 'Bring Me To Life', for sure. After doing it live for so long, there's different vocal choices I've made and different things we got to use in this version."

Two decades after "Bring Me To Life" was released, Lee said she "forgets" the rap's there in the original version of the song. "At the time it was a big issue, it was our first single," she said. "I wanted people to understand who we were. That's a struggle you always fight as an artist. If we only had the one hit, if no one ever heard from us again, then nobody would understand who we were. We've made it past that point, so the rap doesn't make me angry anymore. I'm so glad to put a new version out there without the rap, though."

In March 2021, Lee told Alternative Press that EVANESCENCE's original record label Wind Up threatened not to release the group's debut album, "Fallen", if she and her bandmates didn't add a male voice to lead single "Bring Me To Life" to make it more palatable for radio.

In August 2022, "Bring Me To Life" experienced a resurgence 19 years after its original release. The song, which initially reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was EVANESCENCE's first U.K. No. 1 single, climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart.

In February 2022, EVANESCENCE's music video for "Bring Me To Life" surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The Philipp Stölzl-directed clip, which was uploaded to YouTube in December of 2009, was filmed in Romania in January 2003. It features singer Amy in a night gown and barefoot, in her room, inside a tall building in the city at night. The rest of the band is playing on a higher floor of the building.

The album version of "Bring Me to Life" was included on the soundtrack of superhero film "Daredevil".

"Fallen" sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and won two Grammys, including "Best Rock Performance" for "Bring Me To Life".

EVANESCENCE's latest album, "The Bitter Truth", arrived in March 2021 via BMG. It was EVANESCENCE's first album of original music in ten years.