Emily Armstrong recently joined LINKIN PARK as their new singer, stepping into a pivotal role following the tragic passing of Chester Bennington.
In a new interview with Apple Music 1, Armstrong acknowledged feeling anxious about taking on this position, given Bennington‘s legacy.
“I mean, there was a lot of feeling,” she said. “I definitely didn’t want to go there and be like, oh, I’m the singer, or I could be the singer. It was just like, what is good for this band as a fan? What would be the ideal voice or energy or what is that fit?”
“I took myself out of the equation and I just looked at it as what could be a good fit? And I held onto that question for a bit as I was going in and singing and stuff.”
“That’s when the thoughts would trickle being like, ‘I mean, this would be really fun. This could work’. And then it’s like, oh my God, holy s**t. When you start to have that moment, it’s like, whoa…”
Armstrong shared that LINKIN PARK‘s debut album Hybrid Theory served as a major influence, pushing her to improve her vocal skills.
“That was the moment where I was like, I want to sing and scream ‘One Step Closer’. I was like, I could do that. And at the time, I wasn’t even a good singer. I was a guitar player in a band, and I just loved being in a band and I was like, I could do that. So of course it gets to this point and just being like, this is crazy.”
When asked how Bennington‘s legacy influences her performance of the band’s older songs, she responded: “In the side of the feelings and the emotions of it, I would love to do him proud.”
The legendary band has thrilled fans with a slew of exciting updates: a new single and video for “The Emptiness Machine,” and the announcement of six arena shows in Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul, and Bogota as part of the “From Zero World Tour.
These announcements mark the lead-up to LINKIN PARK‘s highly anticipated new album, From Zero, set to release on November 15—their first since 2017.
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