Last year, Linkin Park released their first new studio album since frontman Chester Bennington passed away in 2017. Their comeback also came with a change in lineup, tapping singer Emily Armstrong to take over Bennington’s role in the band.
Currently in the midst of a world tour, Linkin Park’s return has been largely successful. Now, in a new interview with The Guardian, the band’s co-lead singer Mike Shinoda revealed that they made the conscious decision to leave a few select songs off of their live setlist, saying that they thought it would “feel weird playing” them following Bennington’s death.
This includes the title track from their 2017 album “One More Light” – which was their last with Bennington.
“[It was originally written] for a woman at the label that we worked with who passed away,” Shinoda explained. “Then after Chester passed, the world decided that it was about him. And so that’s just too sad to play.”
Shinoda added that the band deliberately wanted to cultivate a show that was nothing but fun for the fans.
“I think we all wanted our show to be really good vibes,” he said. “I want you walking away feeling like, this was such a wonderful, special, fun night.”
