Amy Lee Jokes '50 Cent Hates My Guts' Since Losing Best New Artist Grammy to Evanescence in 2004
"I mean, truthfully, we thought he was going to win too," said the Evanescence frontwoman of the "In da Club" rapper in a new interview
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Amy Lee and 50 CentEvanescence doesn't have a fan in 50 Cent, claims frontwoman Amy Lee.
In a new Daily Beast interview, the 41-year-old "Bring Me to Life" vocalist recalled when the rock band won best new artist at the 2004 Grammys over 50 Cent, 44, alleging that he's held a grudge ever since.
"50 Cent hates my guts," Lee joked to the outlet. "It’s just one of those things… I mean, truthfully, we thought he was going to win too."
Related: Amy Lee Reveals How New Evanescence Album 'The Bitter Truth' Helped Her Heal After Brother's Death
The 2004 Grammy Awards honored music released between October 2002 and September 2003 — during which both 50 Cent and Evanescence saw massive successes. The rock band released its now-diamond-certified debut album Fallen, which spawned the massive hits "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal," while the rapper's first album Get Rich or Die Tryin' was released and featured two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits: "In da Club" and "21 Questions."
At the ceremony, Evanescence was nominated in four categories and won both best new artist as well as best hard rock performance for "Bring Me to Life." 50 Cent also earned four nominations but did not win any awards.
Despite the band's popularity at the time, Lee didn't expect the Grammy wins. "It was such a wild night. People are like, ‘What was it like to win a Grammy?’ and I’m like, ‘Stressful!’ I mean, it’s wonderful now, to have them, but it was surreal," she told Daily Beast. "I just remember thinking, ‘I don’t even think anybody in this room knows who we are.’"
Related: Ed Sheeran Joins 50 Cent on Stage in London for Surprise 'Shape of You' Performance
While Evanescence delivered a speech upon winning best new artist, 50 Cent walked on stage to join the band members — but he didn't say anything, leaving the crowd puzzled.
"You know when you’re just in shock? He didn’t do anything, he didn’t grab the mic, it wasn’t that bad. He just sort of like, made an appearance," said Lee, looking back on the moment. "It was like Zoolander when he thought he won."
Since the moment went down nearly 20 years ago, Lee and 50 Cent haven't spoken to one another. "No, he never said anything to me, but he likes to talk about me and how he was robbed. I don’t want to start a beef with him," she said, before reflecting further on the onstage moment. "Everything around me was chaos, and I was like, 'I’m going to stand here and see if this is real later, if I wake up or not.'”
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50 Cent in Atlanta in August 2023Related: 50 Cent Avoids Criminal Charge for Mic-Throwing Case: Report
50 Cent — who later earned a Grammy Award for "Crack a Bottle" with Eminem and Dr. Dre in 2010 — spoke about his perceived snub while accepting his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2020.
"You got the largest debut hip hop album [but] you don’t got no best new artist trophy," said the Expend4bles star at the time. "The best new artist, they gave that s--- to Evanescence. Can you find f---ing Evanescence? I ain’t seen Evanescence since that night — since that night they gave them the trophy."
Evanescence has remained active since the release of Fallen, earning two more Grammy nominations in 2008 and 2010. The band's most recent album, The Bitter Truth, dropped in 2021, and they wrapped a world tour earlier this year.
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