Linkin Park is back.
The influential rap-rock band announced Thursday that it is reuniting, seven years after the 2017 death of frontman Chester Bennington, and plans to tour and release a studio album this fall.
The group's new singer is Emily Armstrong, formerly known as a member of the Los Angeles rock band Dead Sara; Linkin Park also has a new drummer, Colin Brittain, who replaces the band's Rob Bourdon. The group's remaining members are rapper and producer Mike Shinoda, guitarist Brad Delson, DJ Joe Hahn and bassist Phoenix, all of whom founded the band in Agoura Hills in 1996.
Linkin Park will release a new 11-song album, “From Zero,” on Nov. 15, their first since 2017’s “One More Light,” which came out just two months before Bennington died by suicide at his home in Palos Verdes Estates. The LP’s lead single, “The Emptiness Machine,” was released Thursday.
In a statement, the four surviving founders (who called their band Xero before Bennington joined and renamed it Linkin Park) said they had started hanging out over the past few years in an attempt to “reconnect with the creativity and camaraderie” of their early days. The title “From Zero,” Shinoda said, “refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently on. Sonically and emotionally, it’s about the past, present, and future — embracing our signature sound, yet new and full of life. It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and former bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans.
“We’re proud of what Linkin Park has become over the years,” he added, “and excited about the road ahead.”
Next week, Linkin Park will kick off a six-day run of concerts in cities around the world with a show at Inglewood's Kia Forum on Sept. 11; the other stops on the band's itinerary include New York; Hamburg, Germany; London; Seoul; and Bogotá, Colombia.
In 2017, members of Linkin Park paid tribute to Bennington with a show at the Hollywood Bowl where they performed with members of Blink-182, No Doubt, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, Bring Me the Horizon, and System of a Down, among other acts.
