In an interview with Forbes‘ Derek Scancarelli, KISS bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons was asked about LINKIN PARK‘s recent announcement that the band is reuniting with a new singer, Emily Armstrong.
Gene said: “I listened. I saw some videos. The new female singer, great! She fits the band. She sounds great and good luck to them.
“Life is short. Go out there and live it up, enjoy it. LINKIN PARK got fans. They want to hear the songs and the music. Why not? There are bands that tour, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, lots of bands that barely have any original members or no original members. People want to hear those songs.”
Commenting on LINKIN PARK‘s decision to choose Armstrong, a female vocalist, rather than seeking another male singer to replicate the late Chester Bennington‘s voice, Gene said: “I love it. It breaks the rules because when you think about the rules — AC/DC, we took them out on their first tour, [people said] they couldn’t survive without Bon [Scott]. That’s the voice! Well, actually they did survive and they got bigger. ‘Well, once you get your new lead singer, you can’t get rid of him!’ No, actually, Axl [Rose] did a terrific job. If he was in AC/DC or GUNS N’ ROSES, they would both be great because it was convincing.
“VAN HALEN — a band I supposedly discovered or found; they had signed to me and all that — and I personally preferred the [David Lee] Roth-era VAN HALEN. It was great. There was nobody like him, it changed what lead singers were. Once Roth left, ‘Oh boy, that’s the end of it.’ No, actually they literally got bigger with Sammy Hagar.
“All these ‘rules.’ GENESIS, they lose Peter Gabriel, ‘It’s over!’ Nope. Once Gabriel left, GENESIS became a stadium band with a drummer who came up from the back. All those ‘rules’ — who made the rules anyway? In rock and roll, there are no rules.”
When Scancarelli mentioned that Armstrong‘s announcement as LINKIN PARK‘s new singer received mixed reactions, with some fans upset over her connections to Scientology, Gene responded: “I know all about Scientology. I studied L. Ron Hubbard — the thetans and the energy leftover when the universe was created, that we all have ‘theta’ within us. I get it. I understand and have read deeply into that. I’m not a follower, but good luck!. Life is short. Believe whatever you want, worship a rock or an alien, whatever floats your boat.
“If they go on tour, the real answer is, ‘Of the people, for the people, by the people.’ No matter what the Internet says, no matter what these ‘thousands’ of people who bark the loudest — the smallest dog barks the loudest. The great silent majority — I don’t mean politically — the people who make things happen, buy tickets. So, if they — and they will — sell lots of tickets, LINKIN PARK, then the public has spoken. End of story. And they will do great.”
LINKIN PARK recently dropped a new single titled “The Emptiness Machine” and revealed that their upcoming album, From Zero, is set to be released on November 15 through Warner. This will be the band’s first full-length album since 2017’s One More Light, which was the final album featuring late lead vocalist Chester Bennington.
The band also launched its comeback mini-tour on Wednesday night (September 11) at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The show featured LINKIN PARK performing a two-hour set in a rare rectangular stage setup, offering a unique production and allowing for a higher-than-usual number of tickets to be sold at the venue.
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