In a recent interview with Chile’s Futuro, LINKIN PARK’s Mike Shinoda opened up about the band’s new chapter with Emily Armstrong joining as lead vocalist in 2024 — seven years after the tragic passing of Chester Bennington in 2017.
Shinoda reflected on the fan response and the band’s gradual return from hiatus, describing the experience as nothing short of revitalizing. “ It’s just a very exciting time. It’s kind of a rebirth of the band,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “We had kind of started getting back together a few years ago, and it was a very slow and organic build. When it started, we didn’t say, like, ‘We’re going to bring the band back.’ We didn’t say, ‘We’re going to go tour.’ We just kind of got together and wanted to see what it would be like to get together and write music and spend time together again. And we hoped we would end up here, but a lot of things had to go right in order for that to happen. And they did. So we’re very grateful for that, the opportunity, and thrilled with the new music and the tour and the way the fans have responded to it.”
LINKIN PARK unveiled its new lineup—featuring Armstrong and producer/songwriter Colin Brittain (known for work with G FLIP, ILLENIUM, and ONE OK ROCK)—alongside founding members Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, and Joe Hahn at a live event in September 2024. At the same event, they released their new single, “The Emptiness Machine,” and announced their first album in seven years, From Zero.
From Zero marks LINKIN PARK‘s first studio album since One More Light (2017), marking the longest gap between studio releases in the band’s history. It also marks band’s first album following the passing of vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017 and the departure of drummer Rob Bourdon in 2018.
Mike discussed what it’s been like to work alongside Emily and Colin, saying: “It’s been awesome. When they were coming into this era, this chapter, they were already so prepared, they were so ready for it. They just hadn’t done it. I mean, Emily has played for — I don’t know how many [years], like 10 years or more with DEAD SARA. Colin was in multiple bands before he got into producing and writing with other people. And when I met Colin, I could tell that we had a lot of similar ways of looking at music and similar ways of thinking. I was just writing and producing stuff with him, and all of a sudden he got behind the drum kit and I was, like, ‘Oh my God. He’s an amazing drummer.’ And as it turned out, Rob [Bourdon], our previous drummer, he didn’t wanna keep playing. So that was almost just like good luck for us that we knew a guy already that that was so great. Emily is a total phenomenon. For us to find a once-in-a-generation voice like Chester and then to find another one like Emily is crazy. It doesn’t make any sense.”
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