Guitarist And Drummer Leave Evanescence And Diss Amy Lee

Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray have left Evanescence under less than friendly terms, but singer Amy Lee vows that the goth-rock band will continue on without them.

"Without any warning or negotiations for my future, I was fired for no good reason," LeCompt wrote in a blog entry on his MySpace page. "We have not always seen eye to eye on everything, but who does.

"Our common goal was always the same. To make Evanescence the best rock band it could ever be. I have always given blood, sweat and tears to make that happen but apparently that is not enough. I have now become just another of the people fallen by the wayside on the revolving door of her [Lee's] life."

Evanescence guitarist/songwriter Ben Moody left the band in 2003 and was replaced by Terry Balsamo. Bassist Will Boyd was replaced by Tim McCord last year, and now LeCompt and Gray can count themselves as the latest ex-Evanescence members.

"Amy Lee's management emailed me last night to tell me that, in their view, the contract I signed to record, perform and tour with the group says I'm not allowed to have any free speech in regard to Evanescence," wrote Gray on his MySpace blog on Sunday. "The way they spin it, I'm not even allowed to say I quit the group, I guess.

"But the news is out there, so, there ya' go. I need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when and how I can tell you all 'the REAL FANS' what really went down, if I ever can, haha."

Lee released her own statement on the same situation, and said that Evanescence will honour commitments to play the Rock On The Range music festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 19 and tour Europe after that.

"Evanescence is alive and well. John and Rocky were in Evanescence for four years and we shared some great times together playing live, but they were ready to move on and so we have parted ways. Evanescence is something I have loved and nurtured since I was fourteen, and I will continue to protect and fight for it as I always have.

"Terry, Tim and I are very excited to play live with some amazing new musicians and we will rock harder than ever. Stay tuned for more news on that front. And don't worry about the tour, guys. Nothing will be cancelled and we will see you soon!"

Gray was a member of Christian metal band Soul Embraced before joining Evanescence, and will now dedicate more of his time to that group. He'll also play with LeCompt in his other rock band, Machina.