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Seven years after the death of frontman Chester Bennington, Linkin Park is back with new music featuring a new co-lead singer.
The bestselling group announced in a news release on Sept. 5 that Emily Armstrong of the band Dead Sara has joined Linkin Park to be a co-vocalist with band veteran Mike Shinoda.
They also announced an upcoming tour and released their first single since 2017, a song called "The Emptiness Machine" that features vocals by Armstrong.
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The single is part of their forthcoming album titled "From Zero," which will be released Nov. 15. It comes on the heels of their spring release of "Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023)” featuring the band's greatest hits.
Drummer Colin Brittain is also joining the band, which includes original members Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Phoenix and Brad Delson. Brittain has been a songwriter and producer for G Flip, Illenium and One OK Rock.
“The more we worked with Emily and Colin, the more we enjoyed their world-class talents, their company, and the things we created," Shinoda said in the news release. "We feel really empowered with this new lineup and the vibrant and energized new music we’ve made together. We’re weaving together the sonic touchpoints we’ve been known for and still exploring new ones.”
Armstrong made her debut onstage in a one-hour global livestream of a concert in Los Angeles on Sept. 5 featuring the new version of Linkin Park. They performed "The Emptiness Machine" as well as their hits "Somewhere I Belong," "Numb," "Faint," "Bleed It Out," "One Step Closer, "What I've Done" and "In the End."
"Ladies and gentlemen, that is Emily Armstrong, make some noise," Shinoda said to introduce Armstrong onstage after performing their new single.
“When I started to hear Emily’s voice on things, it was like the first time that my brain would accept it as a Linkin Park song,” Shinoda told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in a band interview posted Sept. 6. “And then all of a sudden we’re here and it’s very real, and it’s really big.”
Armstrong also spoke in the interview with Lowe about stepping in for Bennington.
"Obviously on the side of like the feelings and the emotions of it, I would love to do him proud," she said.
She opened up about singing Linkin Park hits that featured Bennington.
"It's never a thought where it's like I need to make this song my own," she said. "It's like, 'How do I make this song have the same impact, as much as possible, with my voice?'"
"There was a huge leap of faith that we had to say, 'I think she's the one,'" Shinoda said in the interview.
The remaining members of the group had been meeting up in recent years "without expectations" of trying to "restart the band," but while collaborating with other artists, they "found a special kinship with Armstrong and Brittain," according to the news release.
Ahead of playing the band's hit "Crawling" at the Los Angeles concert, Shinoda referenced Bennington. The singer died by suicide at 41 in 2017 shortly after the group released its album "One More Light."
"And in the role of Chester Bennington this afternoon is each of you," he told the crowd. "Are you ready to sing with us?"
Linkin Park 'From Zero World Tour' dates
The group has scheduled six upcoming shows on its "From Zero World Tour," starting on Sept. 11 at Kia Forum in Los Angeles and also hitting venues in New York City, Germany, London, South Korea and Colombia.
Presale tickets for the tour are available for the band's LP Underground fan club Sept. 6 and then for the general public on Sept. 7.
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