Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda recently talked about Emily Armstrong, who is the newly recruited vocalist of the band.
Mike Shinoda opens up on Emily Armstrong
The band recently reunited after the tragic passing of Chester Bennington, in 2017. They released a new single titled “The Emptiness Machine” from their upcoming album From Zero which marks the band’s first release of new music in several years.
Linkin Park recruited former Dead Sara singer Emily Armstrong to replace the late frontman Chester Bennington. The addition of Emily to the band garnered mixed reactions from the fans and Mike Shinoda has also addressed the same.
Shinoda joined in for an interview with BBC and said: “When Emily sings the thing, her passion… she’s 100% her, that’s the best part. She’s not trying to be Chester, she’s not trying to be anybody else, she’s her. And that’s why it works.”
He further added:
“We rehearsed more for this than we ever rehearsed for anything else in our lives. These shows are us figuring each other intuitively, the way we move and play on stage, and still making it even more effortless and even more ‘muscle memory.’”
Meanwhile, Emily has received support from Chester’s widow, Talinda Bennington. She seemingly approved of the band’s choice to replace Chester. But, Chester’s son, Jamie Bennington expressed his distaste.
On the other hand, Chester’s mother revealed that she was “upset” over Linkin Park’s decision to replace Chester with Emily. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Susan Eubanks claimed that Linkin Park had previously assured her that she would be notified about any future changes should its members continue performing as a group. However, Eubanks felt “betrayed” as the band, hired Emily as Bennington’s replacement.
