LINKIN Park have unveiled their new lead singer as they announce their comeback, seven years after the tragic death of frontman Chester Bennington.
The noughties indie band will now feature the vocal talents of Emily Armstrong from the LA rock band, Dead Sara.
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Original members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phenix” Farrell and Joe Hahn will also return and songwriter and producer Colin Brittain will join the band as the drummer.
News of the reunion was followed by the release of their new single- The Emptiness Machine and their new album From Zero will arrive in November, their first since the 2017 anthem, One More Light.
They have also confirmed the details of a six-date world tour, which will include appearances at the Kia Forum in LA on September 11th, the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany on September 22, The O2 in London on September 24, the Inspire Arena in Seoul, South Korea and the Coliseo Medplus in Bogata, Colombia on November 11.
Loyal fans were the first to know about the reunion, after being invited to a secret concert where Linkin Park performed live for the first time with their new lead vocalist.
The event marked their first foray onto the stage since former frontman Chester Bennington’s sudden death in 2017.
Earlier this year, rumours began to circulate that Linkin Park were planning to return with a new lead vocalist, after 90s rocker, Jay Gordon leaked the information in an interview.
He said he heard that Linkin Park were “still going” adding, “I head they got a girl singer now.”
It seems that the a reunion may be timely as 2025 will mark 25 years since the release of their most celebrated album, Hybrid Theory.
Their music has seen a resurgence with the younger generation in recent years, through the medium of social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram.
No doubt there may be some disquiet among die hard fans not keen to see Chester Bennington, whose often regarded as one of the greatest rock singers, replaced.
But it seems that the original members are keen to respect his legacy as much as possible, while moving onto a new chapter to create the music that resonates with so many fans.
Co-founder and songwriter, Mike Shinoda said: “The more we worked with Emily and Colin, the more we enjoyed their world-class talents, their company, and the things we created.
We feel really empowered with this new line-up and the vibrant and energized new music we’ve made together.”
Linkin Park shot to stardom at the turn of the millennium with their debut album Hybrid theory, featuring the rock anthems, Paper Cut and In the End.
Early success was followed by Meteora before their third album Minutes to Midnight, all of which made them the biggest band in the world selling around 100 million records.
But then in 2017 tragedy struck when singer Chester took his own life aged just 41. The father of six died by suicide just months after his close friend and fellow rocker Chris Cornell died the same way.
In the aftermath, Chester’ widow Talinda said: “One week ago, I lost my soulmate and my children lost their hero – their Daddy. We had a fairytale life and now it has turned into some sick Shakespearean tragedy.”
Following Chesterton’s death, the band have been on hiatus, but in 2019, Mike Shinoda told an interviewer that they are open to a reunion.
He said: “I think it has to happen naturally. And if we find somebody that’s a great person that we think is a good personality fit and a good stylistic fit, then I could see trying to do some stuff with somebody.
Not for the sake of replacing… I wouldn’t wanna ever feel like we were replacing Chester.”
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