While fans will have to wait until tomorrow (August 28th) to find out what Linkin Park’s big announcement is, there’s one thing we can say for sure: Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley will not be joining the nu-metal greats as their new vocalist. Due to an unfortunate bit of social media timing/crossover, and rampant fan speculation, the Canadian pop-punker felt he had to set the record straight.
It has been a wild couple of days on social media, with Linkin Park’s currently-ticking, ultra-mysterious countdown clock frothing fans into a frenzy over whether or not they’re about to reunite with a new singer. All we know is that the official news hits tomorrow morning.
But when Sum 41 similarly hit Twitter yesterday (August 26th) to note that Whibley also has a “big announcement” set for tomorrow, rock-lovin’ conspiracy theorists started wondering whether the two announcements were connected. Specifically, a lot of people started suggesting Whibley was about to hit the mic as Linkin Park’s new singer.
It would make sense on a certain level. Whibley had previously performed a version of “The Catalyst” with Linkin Park at the Hollywood Bowl in 2017, while Linkin’s guitarist-vocalist Mike Shinoda returned the favor by jamming on “Faint” with Sum 41 at the U.K.’s Reading Festival in 2018.
But, no, Whibley is not joining Linkin Park. He clarified in a new post today (August 27th) that he’s got a tour and book announcement coming up. Everything else — including whether he may be joining the newly reunited Oasis — is just a rumor.
“I feel the need to dispel some current rumors,” he wrote. “It’s been brought to my attention that many people think I could be joining a reuniting band. But I just want to say, despite popular belief… I am not joining Oasis, or Linkin Park. Or any other band for that matter.”
Despite the confirmation, you can wonder about what could have been by watching the aforementioned Linkin Park/Sum 41 live collaborations down below.
Sum 41 are currently promoting their 2024 album, Heaven x Hell, and are on a short break from their final tour. The dates resume September 3rd at San Francisco’s Masonic venue, and you can find the rest of their tour schedule here.