Linkin Park fans are speculating Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley could be filling in for the late Chester Bennington as Linkin Park’s new lead vocalist.
Deryck Whibley joining Linkin Park?
On Monday, August 26, Sum 41 dropped a cryptic post on social media which led to fans getting convinced that Deryck Whibley is going to be the new singer of Linkin Park. The post simply said: “Tune in Wednesday morning, August 28, for a Deryck Whibley announcement.”
Wednesday 8/28 – AM PST pic.twitter.com/cPsofXF5MS
— Sum 41 (@Sum41) August 26, 2024
The timing of the message has got fans wondering as it comes days after Linkin Park shared a 100-hour countdown timer on their website, and the timer appears to be counting down until Wednesday at 11:15am PST. Chester’s widow has also teased an announcement.
Whibley has a strong connection to Linkin Park. He performed at Bennington’s tribute concert in October 2017, and later, Mike Shinoda joined Sum 41 on stage at the 2018 Reading Festival to cover Linkin Park’s “Faint.”
Fans loved Whibley’s amazing vocals for ‘Catalyst’ at the tribute show but some fans noted that Deryck was recently said on a podcast a few weeks ago that he is happy with the band. Other fans have also speculated that Linkin Park might go on a tour with Deryck Whibley tour or have an EP similar to Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington.
In 2022, Whibley was asked about potentially replacing Bennington. On The Jasta Show, he remarked: “I think that’s an impossible task… I think those are impossible shoes to fill. I don’t know if [Linkin Park is] ever gonna do anything. I have no idea what that’s gonna look like, or who that could be.”
When asked if he would join the band if the opportunity emerged, he added, “That is such a non-possibility that it’s too weird to even, like, sort of joke-think about it.”
“I don’t know how someone could fill those shoes, I think it would be tough,” he added.
Whibley recently announced his memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, set to be released on Oct. 8 via Gallery Books. The memoir captures the rocker’s journey through the ups and downs of his life including the personal aspect as well as with Sum 41.
In addition to his memoir, Whibley and Sum 41 are currently on their final tour, Tour of the Setting Sum, which started earlier this year. The band is set to perform their largest show to date in Paris this November, followed by their final hometown shows in Toronto in January 2025.
Their latest and final double album, Heaven :x: Hell, has been a commercial success and fans have widely received it. The album features singles like “Landmines,” which topped Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, marking the band’s first No. 1 single since “Fat Lip” in 2001.
Meanwhile, Linkin Park remains one of the most successful rock groups from the 2000s, having sold more than 29.4 million albums in the United States. The band has charted 24 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including three top 10 hits: “In the End” in 2003, “What I’ve Done” in 2007 and “New Divide” in 2009.
However, since Chester Bennington passed away in 2017, the band has been without a full-time lead vocalist and went on a hiatus. Fans speculated that the band could bring in a female lead vocalist to replace Chester Bennington.
Orgy’s Jay Gordon further fueled the rumors earlier this year when he mentioned that he’s hearing that the band might be bringing on a female singer. However, Gordon later clarified that his comments had been taken out of context. Evanescence’s Amy Lee was thought to be the late Chester Bennington’s successor, but she quickly debunked those rumors as well.
While Deryck Whibley is not a female vocalist, it can’t be ruled out that he won’t join the band.
