“Heavy Is the Crown” by Linkin Park, Thursday, October 10, 2024
There were a few big rock stories that I’ve failed to cover in the last month or so. Oasis needs money, so brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher put aside their differences to do a world tour. Dave Grohl has been canceled for fathering a child outside of his marriage putting the Foo Fighters on indefinite hiatus following the backlash, and Jane’s Addiction will go on hiatus after lead singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro in the middle of a song on stage. Linkin Park announced a new lead singer, a new album, and a world tour, and the reactions are divided. Seven years after the suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington, Linkin Park live-streamed an announcement that they had chosen Emily Armstrong, of the band Dead Sara as their new lead singer. The band’s defacto leader Mike Shinoda told BBC1 One: “This is intended to be a new chapter of Linkin Park.” The band hoped to celebrate the band’s hits and move forward in a new direction.
THIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED FOR… After Chester Bennington died in 2017, Linkin Park canceled the tour promoting their seventh album One More Light. Tributes for Bennington poured in and Mike Shinoda and the bandmates organized an event in which Linkin Park played a show of the band’s greatest hits at the Hollywood Bowl, with other singers performing in the absence of Bennington. The band then went on hiatus, though the band members, according to Shinoda, wanted to continue touring and making music. However, the practicality of band members matching Bennington's distinctive voice was not feasible. Shinoda wrote music and released solo projects. Linkin Park kept out of the spotlight until the anniversaries of the band’s first two albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora made the band dig into their archives and finish tracks that didn’t make the albums’ final cuts. More than a typical twentieth-anniversary album, fans could hear unreleased tracks by the deceased lead singer. Behind the scenes, in 2023, the band had been meeting with Emily Armstrong who impressed the band. According to the band’s DJ, Joe Hahn, he first asked her to scream. He said, “For me, that did it.”
IT’S POURIN’ IN. It wasn’t long after Linkin Park announced Emily Armstrong as their lead singer that backlash hit the band. Rumors of the band replacing the late Chester Bennington have been fueled for years with many names like Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley and Evanescence’s Amy Lee being a few. Whomever the band found to replace their iconic lead singer would have backlash. However, the controversy with Armstrong was three-fold. The first had more to do with strong reactions from Bennington’s family. Although Bennington’s widow Talinda voiced her blessing of the band continuing with Armstrong, Chester’s son Jamie and mother Susan Eubanks have spoken out against the band’s recent choice. Jamie stated on Instagram that Mike Shinoda had “quietly erased my father's life and legacy in real time” and Eubanks stated that she felt “betrayed” by the decision. Then there was the matter of Armstrong’s personal controversies, the first about her rumored Scientology faith. Some listeners have pointed out the religion’s beliefs in mental illness and suicide. Bennington struggled with mental health his whole life and eventually took his life. Interestingly, Armstrong identifies as queer, which is said to be against the religion’s doctrine. Finally, Armstrong was a notable witness for disgraced TV star and fellow Scientologist Danny Masterson, speaking on his behalf as a character witness when the That ‘70s Show actor faced three counts of rape. Armstrong never denied accusations of her faith; however, she did disavow Masterson and apologize for her support of the actor, stating that more facts had been revealed about the case now and that she no longer supports the actor.
WE BOTH KNOW THE STORY ENDS. Nobody who loves Linkin Park will ever forget Chester Bennington; his story, his lyrics, his pain, and his voice are the story of Linkin Park. However, Linkin Park is a collective of five other musicians with fans and their own stories to tell. Replacing Bennington with a female vocalist gives the songs a new perspective in a way that a male vocalist couldn’t. Family members of Bennington are still grieving and they have a right to feel that the band has forsaken them. Linkin Park’s new singles from their upcoming album From Zero are not bad. Emily Armstrong’s vocals fit nicely with the band and “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy Is the Crown,” while lyrically feeling a little derivative of the band’s earlier work, musically showing a band that is not afraid to try new things. The songs have charted well in the United States and in Europe. “Heavy Is the Crown” was also chosen to be the theme song for the League of Legends World Championship with the game’s animators creating the band’s music video. Linkin Park’s next chapter is interesting and messy. Will the band start a 2-5 year album cycle with Armstrong? Or will this just be fan service?
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