Since 2017, over 7 years after Chester Bennington’s passing, Linkin Park is back and introducing a new member: singer Emily Armstrong. Armstrong took an interest in music when she was given a guitar on her 12th birthday. She eventually dropped out of high school to pursue her passion for music with the support of her parents. Emily Armstrong is the rhythm guitarist and former lead singer of the rock band, Dead Sara, which she co-founded with her childhood friend Siouxsie Medley and drummer Sean Friday. Dead Sara broke out with their debut when they released their single “Weatherman”. The band released 3 albums since their debut, their latest one being “Ain’t It Tragic” released on September 17th in 2021. The band seems to have disbanded since then with their bassist, Chris Null leaving and Armstrong joining Linkin Park onstage on September 5th this year. At first, Armstrong was invited to a 3-day try-out for Linkin Park in 2019 but as of September 2024, she has officially joined the band. Armstrong, now Linkin Park’s lead vocalist alongside Mike Shinoda, will be part of producing the band’s 8th studio album, their latest album since their 2017 release: “One More Light”. In an interview this year with Apple Music and Linkin Park, Shinoda stated “When I started to hear Emily’s voice on things, my brain, it was like the first time that my brain would accept it as a Linkin Park song.” Shinoda appears to openly accept Armstrong into the band regarding his statement with certainty that her voice fits the role of Linkin Park’s co-singer.
There’s controversy surrounding Emily Armstrong which many criticized Linkin Park for when they allowed her to join the band. Allegedly she has ties to Scientology that she has not addressed yet. She did–however–address the other controversy about her being friends with Danny Masterson. Masterson is a former actor of That 70s Show and has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison in 2023 for sexually assaulting 2 women. Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, an actress who called out Linkin Park in her Instagram stories, has also accused Masterson of sexual assault but he has not been found guilty of that allegation yet. Carnell-Blixer had also accused Armstrong of being a “hardcore Scientologist” who supports Masterson. Armstrong responded to the allegations about Masterson on September 6th in an Instagram story writing: “Hi, I’m Emily. I’m new to so many of you, and I wanted to clear the air about something that happened a while back. Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance, and went to one early hearing as an observer. Soon after, I realized I shouldn’t have. I always try to see the good in people, and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since. Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty. To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes.” Armstrong should have better educated herself on the details of Masterson’s conviction before supporting him and attending the hearing but it seems as though she realized her mistake and reflected on it. I admire her courage to explain herself and take accountability for her actions to clarify the controversy. It’s safe to say she should stop being flamed because she deserves a second chance after she established she does not support Masterson nor does she condone any sort of behavior and crimes related to his.
Last Thursday, to kick off their From Zero World Tour Armstrong performed some of Linkin Park’s top hits with the band. With her crunchy voice she sang “In The End”, “Numb” (my favorite LP song), “Crawling”, and more. I only watched some videos of the songs she performed as I did not attend the Los Angeles concert myself. Nevertheless, I will be sharing my personal opinion on the new member’s performance.
The first performance I watched was “Bleed It Out”. To say the least, she performed this song very well. I adored her growling in this song. I think it aligned with Chester’s vocals and you could feel her energy while she was performing, which we LP fans miss from his stage presence. I love it when she stood on the drumset like a QUEEN with her head hanging low, she was head banging while repeatedly shouting “I BLEED IT OUT DIGGING DEEPER JUST TO THROW IT AWAY !!”. She performed this on Thursday with her first appearance after joining the band and she showed her vocal talent with this song.
The next song I watched her perform was “Numb” which was the encore. So… with performing “Numb” she could have performed a little better. Her less rock-sounding vocals seem to need a little practice as she sounded off-key in this song. You can still feel the power and emotion in her voice though. I know how hard it can be to keep a steady tone in your voice while holding out a note but it caught me off guard when her voice cracked “you” (2:20 in the video). I just don’t like that she added her twist on the song because it doesn’t sound right with raspy vocals and I hear a country accent with some of the words she sang, for example: “me” sounded like “may”. I think adding her twist to the songs they record in their new album could work well as it’s her unique sound, but incorporating it in the songs Chester sang doesn’t do it for me.
Elekes Andor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“Crawling”? Amazing. Her performance was simply amazing. She sang this song with perfect female opposition to Chester’s vocals. Listening to her sing was like I could feel Chester’s presence with emotion and powerful expression through her voice. Being another one of my favorite songs I loved seeing her perform it as if she was a female reincarnation of Chester.
Watching Armstrong perform “Lost”; I shed a tear. Oh em gee her performance was so emotional. This song always targets some deeply rooted feelings inside me and hearing her sing it was almost healing of. The power in the tone of her voice makes me forgive her “Numb” vocals. I hope to hear more of this version of her voice on a song or two in their next album, more than two songs like this would cause me to cry a river though.
Another performance well done! Armstrong showed us once again that she would be a great fit as Linkin Park’s new co-vocalist when she sang “What I’ve Done”. I’m starting to trust her with the role as well. Her live vocals were mind-blowing and she seemed to restrict her raspiness to only the parts of the song that Chester once applied his to, which gave her performance his original touch.
Remember what I said about Armstrong’s vocals being a counterpart to Chester’s? Well, in her “In The End” performance you can hear it again with each line she sang. She must have felt so much pressure to make a good impression on fans performing Linkin Park’s number one song. She really proved herself with this performance showing her true talent to replicate “In The End”’s energy. She evoked emotion from me as I’ve been listening to Linkin Park since I was little and it’s crazy to hear someone sing Chester’s part of this song as if it was him singing it live on stage.
Hearing the “Faint” intro play sent me SHIVERS. I was faithful that she was going to perform this just as well as “In The End”. Her vocals started out great with the growling in the chorus indistinguishable from Chester’s in the original song. “NO HEAR ME OUT NOW” sent even more shivers down my spine! Until her voice cracked when singing another “NOW” (2:36 in the video). She quickly recovered to sing the last chorus of the song, roaring “I CAN’T FEEL THE WAY I DID BEFORE”! She finished off the song strongly leaving the stage with “I WON’T [BE IGNORED]”. With her voice cracks, I can only feel empathy towards Armstrong because I know it takes talent to growl like that and avoid voice cracks while doing so—and after performing the whole night her voice must’ve felt strained. It’s not like she didn’t know that her voice cracked and it more than likely left her feeling worried about the impression she made on fans. We should be forgiving and allow her the chance to improve her voice for her future with Linkin Park.
The first song to be released from Linkin Park’s upcoming album, “The Emptiness Machine”, was the last performance I watched. This was my first time hearing the song and my jaw dropped to the floor! The current events in my life allow me to relate to the lyrics in the chorus that Armstrong sang: “I LET YOU CUT ME OPEN JUST TO WATCH ME BLEED!” I felt this song on another level and it was like my pain was fueling the power in Armstrong’s voice throughout this song. “The Emptiness Machine” gives us an insight into how the rest of this unknown album might sound with the addition of Armstrong’s vocals–and it’s promising. This song conspires such excitement in me that I trust this album will be AOTY (Album Of The Year). This new release was a head-banger and will surely pave the way for the 2000s era of rock to come back; In Linkin Park we trust!
Overall I think Emily Armstrong will lead Linkin Park to a strong comeback and I’m so anxious to listen to “From Zero” in its entirety when it’s released! I have to mention, that Armstrong performing and rehashing the band’s older music that expresses Chester’s trauma and struggles isn’t her rightful place so when the band releases the new album with her it won’t feel so awkward. Besides her controversy and singing about trauma that isn’t hers to sing about, I have no hatred for Armstrong. I can’t wait to see how her journey continues with the band and hear how her voice improves at live performances—and when I get the opportunity to attend a live concert. I usually hate change but Armstrong’s addition to the band visualizes One More Light for Linkin Park—that change can be good. Armstrong is not replacing Chester Bennington–but honoring him through the perseverance and preservation of the band–which is what he would’ve wanted.
News sites/websites:
- https://variety.com/2024/music/news/linkin-park-emily-armstrong-new-singer-from-zero-album-tour-1236120238/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/credy50z4j1o
- https://www.vulture.com/article/linkin-park-new-singer-emily-armstrong-scientology.html
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/09/12/linkin-park-tour-2024-new-singer-emily-armstrong-chester-bennington/75146366007/
Performance youtube videos/apple music interview:
Bleed It Out: https://youtu.be/-OJjj_5mt2c?si=LIu3tRyEfy_NsZup
Numb: https://youtu.be/9jbemAUNYfg?si=agHeeM1QeNLNltMq
Crawling: https://youtu.be/1ABmQ2YNzWU?si=X65aBwLWNJaMT4sT
Lost & What I’ve Done: https://youtu.be/dwMY8dk94rE?si=zOIayIT8t-VvUJaT
In The End: https://youtu.be/IMN5QBYppSg?si=DgGb3TRrhDOyO5up
Faint: https://youtu.be/M77iSRcSVXk?si=06b02cc_4DP1v9w4
The Emptiness Machine: https://youtu.be/7F5MKaJMxDc?si=gVAoSqc5VbeYDty4
Apple Music Interview with Linkin Park: https://music.apple.com/is/music-video/linkin-park-the-zane-lowe-interview-2024/1766797505
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