Seven years have passed since Linkin Park tragically lost its frontman, Chester Bennington, and now the band is embarking on a new chapter — with a new female vocalist.
On Thursday, the band announced during a live performance that Emily Armstrong of the band Dead Sara would take over as vocalist alongside founding member and vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, according to Variety. The band also welcomed its new drummer, Colin Brittain, a songwriter and producer for G Flip, Illenium and One OK Rock.
The band debuted their new single, "The Emptiness Machine," their first release in seven years. This track will lead their upcoming album, "From Zero," slated for a Nov. 15 release through Warner Records. It will be their first album since 2017's "One More Light," which came out shortly before Bennington's death.
The band — Shinoda, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, and the two new members — will kick off a six-date arena tour. They'll be performing in Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul, and Bogota.
In a media release, Shinoda, Delson, Farrell and Hahn "quietly began meeting up again in recent years" and "rather than 'trying to restart the band,'" they worked with numerous musicians and "found a special kinship with Armstrong and Brittain."
"Before Linkin Park, our first band name was Xero," Shinoda said in a statement while discussing the new album. "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. 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."
The band also sat down for an interview with Billboard, during which they answered the question fans have been wondering — at what point did they realize the new songs would be part of a Linkin Park album?
"As the songs came into focus, the band's DNA was really thick with this body of work. To call it anything else would be strange and misleading," Shinoda said.
"We teach our kids that when you fall down, you have to get back up and you have to go try again, right? The idea of us doing some other thing, with this group of people and the sound of this music, feels like it would have been a resignation, in a way," he continued. "I hate to say 'cowardly,' but it would feel like hedging a bet."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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