The countdown has officially come to a close, and Linkin Park are officially back. Today (September 5th), following a few months of speculation, the nu-metal trailblazers formally announced that they’re getting the band back together but with a new singer: Emily Armstrong of grunge rockers Dead Sara. Linkin Park also offered up the single “The Emptiness Machine,” the band’s first brand-new music in seven years, which showcases Armstrong’s powerhouse vocals.
The song is the lead single off Linkin Park’s upcoming album, FROM ZERO, which is the group’s first studio full-length since 2017. The record features the band’s new lineup comprised of longtime members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and Joe Hahn, alongside new recruits Armstrong and Colin Brittain (songwriter-producer for G Flip, Illenium, One Ok Rock) on drums.
In addition to the new members, new song and new album, Linkin Park have also offered up a livestream performance (which you can view below, and which will be available only for 24 hours), and announced six arena shows in L.A., New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul and Bogota as part of the “From Zero World Tour.” LP Underground fan club exclusive pre-sales start September 6th and general on-sales September 7th. For more info, visit LinkinPark.com.
Linkin Park’s comeback album, FROM ZERO, is due November 15th via Warner Records and is available for pre-order and pre-save here. Check out the cover art and tracklisting below.
Speaking on the band’s return, Shinoda commented, “Before Linkin Park, our first band name was Xero. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently undertaking. Sonically and emotionally, it is about past, present, and future — embracing our signature sound, but new and full of life. It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and longtime bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans. We are proud of what Linkin Park has become over the years, and excited about the journey ahead.”
Of the band’s new members, he added: “The more we worked with Emily and Colin, the more we enjoyed their world-class talents, their company, and the things we created. 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 touch points we’ve been known for and still exploring new ones.”
Today’s announcement comes after an oddly tense and speculative handful of days on social media, which kicked off last week after Linkin Park launched a countdown clock on their site. While fans were expecting a big reveal on August 28th, once the original countdown wound to a close, the clock began ticking back upwards. An artistic glitch occurred as the number “09:05” crossed the screen, signifying the date of the actual announcement.
Even before the countdown clock drama, Linkin Park’s resurrection follows a few months of rumors and speculation, sparked back in the spring when Orgy vocalist Jay Gordon suggested in a podcast interview that the band were rehearsing with “a girl singer,” though Gordon quickly retracted that statement.
From there, fans began wondering out loud whether Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee would take on vocals from the late Chester Bennington, but she likewise dismissed the idea. Adding to the rumor mill, though, a Billboard article from late April quoted an unnamed source who said that Shinoda, Delson and Farrell and their booking agency, WME, were reportedly in talks about reuniting for a series of festival dates, and that the band were “hoping to find a female vocalist” for these performances.
Things took an even more surreal turn earlier last week after Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley began teasing an announcement of his own. Considering Sum 41 and Linkin Park members had collaborated with each other in-concert multiple times over the past few years, fans began assuming that the Canadian pop-punk icon was due to join Linkin Park, though Whibley quickly denied this was the case. He confirmed in a second post on X that “despite popular belief… [he was] not joining Oasis, or Linkin Park. Or any other band for that matter.” Instead, his announcement was about his forthcoming book, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell.
Most recently, Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale shared an intimate piano cover of Linkin Park’s “Crawling” on Instagram, leading some fans to speculate that she might be Linkin Park’s new singer. But this rumor, too, proved to be false.
Linkin Park’s announcement follows the release of their first-ever best-of album, Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), which included the single “Friendly Fire,” featuring one of Bennington’s last recorded vocals.
Linkin Park 2024 tour dates:
September 11, 2024 | Kia Forum – Los Angeles, CA
September 16, 2024 | Barclays Center – New York, NY
September 22, 2024 | Barclays Arena – Hamburg, Germany
September 24, 2024 | The O2 – London, UK
September 28, 2024 | INSPIRE Arena – Seoul, South Korea
November 11, 2024 | Coliseo Medplus – Bogota, Colombia
FROM ZERO tracklist:
From Zero (Intro)
The Emptiness Machine
Cut the Bridge
Heavy Is the Crown
Over Each Other
Casualty
Overflow
Two Faced
Stained
IGYEIH
Good Things Go