Linkin Park talks Emily Armstrong backlash, the Chester Bennington song they won't play
The Grammy-winning alt-rock group, previously fronted by lead singer Chester Bennington, opened up about its latest lineup with co-lead singer Emily Armstrong in an interview with The Guardian published Friday, July 18. The Dead Sara frontwoman was enlisted by Linkin Park after the band ended its indefinite hiatus following Bennington's 2017 death.
However, Linkin's changing of the guard was not without controversy. The group's selection of Armstrong sparked backlash among fans, in part due to Armstrong's alleged ties to the Church of Scientology and convicted "That '70s Show" actor Danny Masterson. Even Bennington's family, namely mother Susan Eubanks and son Jaime Bennington, criticized the lineup change.
"I was a little bit naive about it, to be honest," Armstrong, 39, told the British outlet of the controversy. "But I'm old enough to know the difference between real life and the internet."
Offering his take on the backlash, co-lead singer and rhythm guitarist Mike Shinoda suggested that the selection of a female vocalist may have drawn the ire of fans because listeners were "used to Linkin Park being six guys and the voice of a guy leading this song."
"There were people who lashed out at Emily, and it was really because she wasn't a guy," Shinoda, 48, said. "They were just so uncomfortable with what it was that they chose a ton of things to complain about. They're pointing in 10 different directions, saying: 'This is why I'm mad, this is why the band sucks.'"
"From Zero," Linkin Park's first album with Armstrong, was released in November and peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart. The band is currently playing on the From Zero World Tour, which is expected to return to North America on July 29 with a show in Brooklyn, New York.
Linkin Park album review: Rockers roar back as they start 'From Zero' with singer Emily Armstrong
Why Linkin Park won't play 'One More Light' on tour
Linkin Park is honoring its musical legacy on the road, but there are some boundaries.
The band, whose early hits "In the End," "Crawling," "Numb" and "Breaking the Habit" helped define 2000s alternative rock, pays tribute to its iconic catalog in the setlist for the From Zero World Tour.
"We all wanted our show to be really good vibes," Shinoda told The Guardian. "I want you walking away feeling like, this was such a wonderful, special, fun night."
Chester Bennington's mom 'repelled' by Linkin Park performing with new singer
To that end, the band is refraining from performing a handful of songs that Shinoda explained would "feel weird playing" onstage, such as "One More Light." The song serves as the title track for Bennington's final album with the band (Bennington died by suicide two months after the album's May 2017 release).
Shinoda said the song was originally written "for a woman at the label that we worked with who passed away," but fans have since dedicated it as a tribute to Bennington.
"After Chester passed, the world decided that it was about him," Shinoda said. "And so, that's just too sad to play."
Contributing: KiMi Robinson and Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY
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