Linkin Park announces reunion with female singer
After teasing fans over recent days, nu-metal legends Linkin Park have announced a reunion with female singer Emily Armstrong, taking over from the late Chester Bennington.
This comes following rumblings of the group reuniting with a female vocalist earlier in the year, which stemmed from Jay Gordon of Orgy revealing on a radio interview that they were going to press on with a new vocalist before retracting his statement.
During their recent reunion concert, former Linkin Park members Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, and ‘Phoenix’ Farrell. However, original drummer Rob Bourdon was not present for the reunion, replaced by Collin Brittan, along with Alex Fetter filling in for Brad Delson.
Following the announcement, the metal legends have also announced a new album, entitled From Zero, arriving on November 15th. The 11-track album is the first album following the last album with Bennington, One More Light, in 2017, and was led off with their latest single, ‘The Emptiness Machine’.
Armstrong has been known for her work in the LA-based rock outfit Dead Sara. The group had started with their debut album in 2012 but had not released anything since their 2021 album Ain’t It Tragic.
While many had suspected that Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee was going to take over Bennington’s duties, she previously shut down any claims she would be replacing him.
However, the ‘Bring Me to Life’ singer did admit she would be open to collaborating in some capacity, telling iHeart Radio, “No, I have not been contacted or anything like that. But [I] feel like our worlds, our fanbases are a lot of the same people. They should ask me about that. I don’t have a ton of free time, but I might do it part-time.”
When a countdown clock began on Linkin Park’s website alluding to an announcement, Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley was also suspected of being the future Linkin Park frontman. Though the pop-punk act have decided to call it a day after their latest album, Heaven and Hell, Whibley also denied the suggestion.
What have Linkin Park done since Chester Bennington’s death?
Following the announcement of Bennington’s passing in July 2017, the band held a tribute show in his memory. The concert featured a round-robin of different singers respecting his memory, including an eclectic mix of stars varying from Alanis Morrissette performing ‘Rest’ to Oli Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon coming out to sing ‘Crawling’.
Though the group have been on indefinite hiatus since Bennington departed, the members have continued to maintain Linkin Park’s legacy. They have overseen various re-releases of the band’s material, including the greatest hits album, Papercuts, as well as reissued editions of their albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora, both of which featured new singles with unreleased vocals from Bennington.
Additionally, co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda made the 2018 solo record, Post Traumatic, in response to Bennington’s death. Shinoda then followed his debut up with the multi-album project Dropped Frames, he has also been working behind the production chair for Amber Lee and Demi Lovato, as well as producing the album Evergreen by pop rock band Prvis.
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