Linkin Park announces new female lead vocalist
US rock band Linkin Park has announced that Emily Armstrong will join them as their new singer for their upcoming album and tour.
The group's former lead singer, Chester Bennington, tragically passed away in 2017. Emily Armstrong will now join returning members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix, and Joe Hahn for the band's upcoming projects. Armstrong will share vocal duties with Shinoda, while Colin Brittain steps in as the new drummer. The band revealed their new line-up ahead of the release of their upcoming album, *From Zero*, and a world tour.
Armstrong, a Los Angeles native, is best known as the lead singer of the alt-rock band Dead Sara, which she co-founded with guitarist Siouxsie Medley in 2005. In an interview with *Billboard*, Armstrong reflected on the influence Linkin Park's 2000 album *Hybrid Theory* had on her.
'I was in a band when it came out,' she recalled. '*One Step Closer* was the song for me, and I thought, "That’s what I want to do. As a singer, I want to be able to scream."' She added, 'That album was everything—I’ve listened to it a trillion times. I would skate to it. I would mosh to it.'
In an era dominated by solo artists, Linkin Park remains one of the most successful bands of the streaming age. They are the only band to appear in Spotify's top 10 most-streamed albums of all time, with their greatest hits compilation *Papercuts* garnering over 9 million streams daily.
Linkin Park is not the first band to bring in a new lead singer after the loss of a frontman—Alice in Chains and Sublime have made similar moves in the past. Most notably, Queen has regularly toured with Adam Lambert in recent years, following Freddie Mercury's death in 1991.
In addition to the lineup change, Colin Brittain will take over as the band's drummer, replacing Rob Bourdon. Speaking to *Billboard*, Mike Shinoda explained, 'Rob mentioned a few years ago that he wanted to put some distance between himself and the band. We understood—he was showing up less, staying out of contact, and fans noticed it too. As a friend, that was sad, but I want him to do what makes him happy, and we all wish him the best.'
Colin Brittain, who has previously worked with rock bands Papa Roach and All Time Low, will now join Linkin Park as their drummer. The band's upcoming world tour will make stops in Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, Seoul, and London this month, with a visit to Bogotá in November.
This marks their first series of live performances since the death of Chester Bennington in 2017 at the age of 41. The tour will coincide with the release of their new album, led by the single *The Emptiness Machine*—their first new music since Bennington's passing. The band premiered the song during an hour-long concert broadcast on their social media platforms on Thursday, officially introducing their new.
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