Amy Lee, the co-founder and lead singer of Evanescence, recently reflected on the band winning Best New Artist over the “In Da Club” hitmaker 50 Cent at the 2004 Grammy Awards following their 2003 debut Fallen. The band’s album triumphed over the rapper’s own first release Get Rich or Die Tryin‘ — and the rapper walked on stage as she delivered their acceptance speech.
“[Fifty] Cent hates my guts. It’s just one of those things … I mean, truthfully, we thought he was going to win, too. It was such a wild night. People are like, What was it like to win a Grammy? I’m like, stressful! I mean, it’s wonderful now, to have them, but it was surreal … I just remember thinking, ‘I don’t even think anybody in this room knows who we are,’” she told the Daily Beast.
She pointed out that 50 Cent didn’t do anything “bad” when he interrupted her speech but noted he still talks about “how he was robbed.”
“He didn’t do anything, he didn’t grab the mic, it wasn’t that bad. He just sort of like, made an appearance. 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 added.
When the rapper was awarded his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2020, the hip-hop star ranted about the snub 16 years earlier.
“You got the largest debut hip-hop album [but] you don’t got [sic] no Best New Artist trophy. The Best New Artist, they gave that to Evanescence. Can you find Evanescence? I ain’t seen Evanescence since that night. Since that night they gave them the trophy,” he said during his speech.
