Amanda Lee (born March 13[2]), also known as AmaLee, is an American singer, voice actress, YouTuber, and virtual YouTuber (VTuber) under the name Monarch.[3] She is known for her English covers of anime and video game songs on YouTube,[4] which have been viewed over 1 billion times and has acquired her over 2 million subscribers.[5] As a voice actress, Lee has provided her voice in several titles such as Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Rio: Rainbow Gate!, SSSS.Dynazenon, Kageki Shojo!!, Girls' Frontline, Otherside Picnic, Adachi and Shimamura, My Dress-Up Darling, Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue, One Piece Film: Red, and Honkai: Star Rail.
AmaLee | ||||||||||
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| Background information | ||||||||||
| Birth name | Amanda Lee | |||||||||
| Also known as |
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| Born | March 13 | |||||||||
| Genres | ||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | ||||||||||
| Instrument(s) | Vocals | |||||||||
| Years active | 2006–present | |||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 2.23 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 1.089 billion[1] | |||||||||
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Twitch information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2021–present | |||||||||
| Genre | Gaming | |||||||||
| Followers | 345 thousand | |||||||||
Last updated: November 10, 2023 | ||||||||||
Lee has also provided vocals for many independent video game soundtracks and theme songs – including a collaboration with Porter Robinson on "Fellow Feeling".[6] In early 2017, she released her debut album, Nostalgia, which brought together English-language versions of 12 songs beloved by gaming and anime fans. The album charted at No. 6 on Billboard Heatseekers Albums,[7] No. 27 on Billboard Independent Albums,[8] No. 43 on Billboard Top Rock Albums,[9] and No. 12 on UK Independent Album Breakers.[10]
Career
In 2006, AmaLee began posting homemade videos of her covers of tunes popular with anime followers and gamers. Later in 2010, she and her friend Annalie created YouTube channel called LeeandLie.[11] According to AmaLee, their channel name is a combination of "Lee" from her name, and "Lie" from her friend Annalie's name.[11] On December 14, 2010, LeeandLie uploaded their first video, a cover of the song "Scarlet" from the anime Ayashi no Ceres, translated and performed by AmaLee.
In 2011, AmaLee joined AX Idol, a singing competition hosted by Bang Zoom! Entertainment and Viz Media, affiliated with Anime Expo, a convention for anime fans held annually in Los Angeles and won the grand prize.[4][12] Since then, she has also had the occupation of providing her voice to shows and titles such as Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, One Piece, Yandere Simulator, Gosick, Rio: Rainbow Gate!, K-On!!, and Show by Rock!!, among others.[13][14] Amanda has also provided vocals for many independent video game soundtracks and theme songs – including a collaboration with Porter Robinson.[6] She is also known for singing the English version of "Lagrima", the eleventh ending theme of Dragon Ball Super.
On September 2, 2012, they uploaded their most viewed video, a cover of the song "Crossing Field" from the anime Sword Art Online, with over 23 million views as of July 2022.[15] In 2014, Annalie left the channel, leaving it the sole property of AmaLee, though the channel name remains "LeeandLie".[16]
On January 7, 2017, she released her first album, Nostalgia, which brought together English-language versions of 12 songs beloved[17] by gaming and anime fans.[18] The album charted at No. 6 on Billboard Heatseekers Albums,[7] No. 27 on Billboard Independent Albums,[8] and No. 43 on Billboard Top Rock Albums.[9] On September 22, 2017, she released an EP titled Hourglass which contains five original songs.[19][20]
In July 2017, Lee performed in Los Angeles Convention Center as part of the 2017 Anime Expo.[21] On August 22, 2017, it was announced that AmaLee would be joining YouTube stars NateWantsToBattle and MandoPony on "The Cool and Good Tour" across America.[22] AmaLee provides vocals and lyrics on multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends 2019 Ranked Season trailer.[23]
On December 11, 2021, AmaLee became a VTuber under the name "Monarch". Because of her interest based on discovering VTubers, she decided to become one herself. AmaLee's VTuber debut as Monarch was set for December 11 (Saturday) at 5:00 PM PST / 8:00 PM EST on Twitch.
"[...] I have a small obsession with VTubers right now. I don't know, they possess me, like, all my money, take it. [I] saw the the Hololive booth here earlier and I was like, "oh God, all the merch, please make it mine.If you guys follow me on Twitter, I've actually been hyping up – I have a VTuber model coming out next month. She's really hot. I love her a lot.Her name is Monarch and I made her like a villainess, and she's really fun, which is kind of the origin story for my videos. In all my videos, I have character art of like a persona, like an anime version of me; and in every show, she takes on a different form to fit in with the show.So, like for like Demon Slayer, I'll have her have like a cool power, and like for Naruto, I made her like a ninja; and so, Monarch actually creates clones of herself. [...] She's like the mother of, like, you know she's like the OG, but yeah but that'll be like a VTuber and [...] really have an origin story.That's the next thing – and I have an original album coming out that's about her. [...] You know, it all circles back. [...]"-AmaLee[24]
Discography
Studio albums
Cover albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [25] | US Ind [26] | US Rock [27] | ||
| Total Coverage, Vol. 1 |
| — | — | — |
| Total Coverage, Vol. 2 |
| — | — | — |
| Nostalgia |
| 6 | 27 | 43 |
| Total Coverage, Vol. 3 |
| — | — | — |
| Nostalgia II |
| — | — | — |
| Nostalgia III |
| — | — | — |
| Total Coverage, Vol. 4 |
| — | — | — |
| Nostalgia IV |
| — | — | — |
| Nostalgia V |
| 9 | 36 | — |
| Nostalgia VI |
| 20 | — | — |
| Nostalgia VII |
| 9 | — | — |
| Unity |
| — | — | — |
| Total Coverage, Vol. 5 |
| — | — | — |
| Total Coverage, Vol. 6 |
| — | — | — |
| The Remixes |
| — | — | — |
| Equivalence |
| — | — | — |
Original album
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [25] | US Ind [26] | US Rock [27] | ||
| Rise of the Monarch |
| — | — | — |
Extended plays
Original EP
| Title | EP details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [25] | US Ind [26] | US Rock [27] | ||
| Hourglass |
| — | — | — |
Cover EP
| Title | EP details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [25] | US Ind [26] | US Rock [27] | ||
| Link Start |
| 12 | 39 | — |
Filmography
Anime
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hells | Rinne Amagane | [62] | |
| 2022 | One Piece Film: Red | Uta | [63] | |
| 2023 | Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night | Liten | [64] | |
| 2024 | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom | Ingrid Tradoll | [65] |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Burn Your Fat with Me!! V4.0 | Sana Yamada | Voice over & theme song performer "Equation of Happiness" (English ver) | [66] |
| 2013 | Battle High 2 | Michelle Walter | [67] | |
| 2016 | Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 | Time Patroller | Female Voice 12 | [68] |
| ACE Academy | Mei Satomi, herself | Voice over | ||
| 2017 | Project Nimbus | Yuliana Alexandrova | ||
| The Letter | Isabella Santos | Voice over & theme song performer "Letters Goodbye" | ||
| Crystalline | Leanna Dawn | Voice over & theme song performer "Crystal Skies" | ||
| 2018 | Project Nimbus: Code Mirai | Yuliana Alexandrova | ||
| 2019 | Love Esquire | Beatrice Du Cae | ||
| Indivisible | Leilani | |||
| 2020 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | Additional Voices | ||
| 2021 | Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier | Female Voice #B | ||
| Cookie Run: Kingdom | Parfait Cookie | Voice over & theme song performer "Everything You Need" | [13] | |
| World's End Club | Vanilla | |||
| Pokémon Masters EX | Lana | [69] | ||
| Aquadine | Elisabeth Rhodes | |||
| Dark Deity | Bianca | |||
| Rival Threads: Last Class Heroes | Rara Goddard | |||
| Mary Skelter: Nightmares | Pyre | [70] | ||
| 2022 | Fire Emblem Heroes | Elimine | [69] | |
| AI: The Somnium Files – Nirvana Initiative | Kizuna | [13] | ||
| Goddess of Victory: Nikke | Rupee, Viper | [71] | ||
| RWBY: Arrowfell | Ivy Thickety | |||
| 2023 | Octopath Traveler II | Dolcinaea | [13] | |
| 2023 | Honkai: Star Rail | Jingliu | ||
| 2024 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak | Agnès Claudel | [72] |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work/Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards | Best Voice Artist Performance (English) | Marin Kitagawa (My Dress-Up Darling) | Nominated | [73] |
| The Vtuber Awards | Miss Vtuber | AmaLee | Nominated | [74] |
References
External links
- Official website
- AmaLee at IMDb
- AmaLee at AllMusic
- AmaLee discography at Discogs
- AmaLee discography on Apple Music
- Amanda Lee at Anime News Network's encyclopedia