Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda has defended the band’s new singer, Emily Armstrong, following complaints about her appointment from the late Chester Bennington’s family.
Following the death of former frontman Bennington in 2017, Linkin Park decided they couldn’t carry on without him and split. However, throughout this year, rumours began to speculate that they were plotting a comeback with a new female singer, which was made official by the group earlier this month.
Linkin Park not only announced the arrival of Dead Sara vocalist Armstrong, but also detailed their new album, From Zero, which is set for release on November 15th. They are currently playing select arena dates around the globe, which stops at London’s O2 Arena on September 24th.
Upon announcing From Zero, Shinoda said: “Before Linkin Park, our first band name was Xero. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently undertaking. Sonically and emotionally, it is about past, present, and future—embracing our signature sound, but new and full of life.”
The guitarist added: “It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and longtime bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans. We are proud of what Linkin Park has become over the years, and excited about the journey ahead.”
Why is controversy surrounding Linkin Park’s new singer?
Initially, Bennington’s son, Jaime, was the first to speak out against Armstrong and cited her alleged connections to the Church of Scientology. Furthermore, Bennington claimed he wouldn’t feel comfortable attending a Linkin Park show due to Armstrong.
“There are a lot of people who do not like me. There are a lot of people saying some really awful shit right now to me.” Bennington continued, “To be honest, I don’t think I feel safe going to the show under general admission because I don’t know who I’m around.”
Furthermore, Cedric Bixler-Zavala of At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta condemned Armstrong’s involvement due to her ties to convicted rapist Danny Masterson, who abused Bixler-Zavala’s wife, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler. Additionally, taking to social media to express her views, Carnell-Bixler wrote: “[Linkin Park’s] new lead singer is a hardcore Scientologist who supported convicted serial rapist both in and out of court.”
While Armstrong has since condemned Masterson, she has not addressed the allegations of her ties to the Church of Scientology.
Additionally, Bennington’s mother, Susan Eubanks, has also condemned Linkin Park for not informing her of their decision to continue, telling Rolling Stone: “I feel betrayed. They told me that if they were ever going to do something, they would let me know. They didn’t let me know, and they probably knew that I wouldn’t going to be very happy. I’m very upset about it.”
Mike Shinoda’s defence of Emily Armstrong
On September 23rd, ahead of Linkin Park’s appearance at the O2 Arena, Shinoda told BBC Radio 1 that From Zero is “intended to be a new chapter for the band” rather than a bid to erase Bennington from the history books. He added: “The old chapter was a great chapter and we loved that chapter. It ran its course and now we were faced with a challenge of: ‘well OK, if you start from scratch with another voice, what do you do?’”
Shinoda explained that he first began writing music with Armstrong in 2019 without the intention to “start the band up again”. However, he eventually came round to the idea, stating, “We talked about putting her voice on things we’d already written that only had my voice on them. Once we did that, we were like, ‘that sounds really good, we should try that on even more songs’.”
Notably, Shinoda did not respond to the remarks made by the Bennington family about feeling unsafe and betrayed by the new iteration of Linkin Park. Nevertheless, he reaffirmed his view that Armstrong is not attempting to replace Bennington, adding, “When she sings, it’s like the passion and she’s just 100% her, that’s the best part. She’s not trying to be Chester, she’s not trying to be anybody else. She’s her and that’s why it works.”
