Linkin Park hailed as 'the greatest trolls in music' after 100-hour countdown leads to new timer

What could it all mean?!

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 29th Aug 2024

Linkin Park have been hailed as “the biggest trolls in music” after their mysterious 100-hour countdown led to a new timer.

Over the weekend, Linkin Park began a cryptic countdown on their official website pointing to a big announcement.

Excited fans and initially speculated that it was a reunion with Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley on vocals as he was due to make an announcement at the same time, however Whibley later refuted the rumours.

With many still hoping for a reunion with a new vocalist in place of the late-great Chester Bennington, millions of Linkin Park fans across the globe were on tenterhooks on Wednesday (28th August) as the countdown finally ticked to zero.

Befuddlingly, when the countdown ended, Linkin Park merely started a fresh timer that counted up instead of down.

Teasing their fans yet further, the timer was accompanied by the words: “It’s only a matter of time…”

Many fans took to social media to praise and jokingly lambast Linkin Park as “the biggest trolls in music.”

One wrote: “Every time you guess the new Linkin Park singer incorrectly another 100 hours gets added to the timer.”

Another simply said: “Linkin Park just trolled the entire music scene...”

A pun-tastic fan comment read: “in the end the Linkin Park countdown didn't even matter.”

We’ll wait with bated breath for the new countdown to end!

25 musicians before they were famous:

Rod Stewart

Roderick David Stewart aged 8 in 1953.

Charlie Watts

Charles Robert Watts – Rolling Stones legend Charlie Watts - aged 2 with his mother Lillian and father Charles in Trafalgar Square in 1943.

Sting

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner – aka Sting – aged 10 at his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1961.

Mick Jagger

A school photo of a 9-year-old Mick Jagger in 1951 at Wentworth Junior County Primary School in his home town Dartford

Ronnie Wood

Ronald David Wood (Ronnie Wood) aged 4 in 1951, taken at his home in Whitehorn Avenue, Yiewsley, West London.

Bob Dylan

A childhood photo of Robert Allen Zimmerman – Bob Dylan – aged 2 in 1943.

Iggy Pop

Punk legend James Newell Osterberg Jr. – Iggy Pop – aged 18 months in 1948.

Paul McCartney

Future Beatles icon James Paul McCartney, nowadays known as Paul, aged 8 in Liverpool in 1950.

Janis Joplin

Late-great rock icon Janis Joplin aged 9 in 1952. She died just 18 years later.

David Bowie

A seven-year-old David Jones, soon to be known as David Bowie, in Bromley, London in 1954.

Neil Young

Feted rocker Neil Young as a young boy, aged 11 in 1956.

Jim Morrison

The Doors' Jim Morrison, aged 15, in his high school yearbook photo in 1958.

Bono

A one-year-old Paul David Hewson – future U2 frontman Bono – at his home in Dublin in 1961.

Billy Idol

William Michael Albert Broad – aka Billy Idol – aged 10 in 1965.

Bruce Springsteen

16-year-old Bruce Springsteen in his high school yearbook photo in 1965.

Chrissie Hynde

The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde aged 17 in her high school yearbook in 1968.

Larry Mullen Jr

U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr aged 13 in 1974.

Freddie Mercury

An eight-month-old Farrokh Bulsara – future Queen frontman Freddie Mercury – at his home in Zanzibar.

Debbie Harry

Blondie's Debbie Harry aged 17 in her high school yearbook photo in 1962.

Lars Ulrich

Lars Ulrich, the son of Danish tennis player Torben Ulrich, accompanies his father to Wimbledon in June 1966. Lars was two-and-a-half at the time.

Tina Turner

17-year-old Anna Mae Bullock, rock icon Tina Turner, in her high school yearbook photo in 1956.

Jack Black

Tenacious D rocker and acting legend, Jack Black, aged 16 in 1985.

Tom Petty

17-year-old Tom Petty as seen in his 1967 Gainesville High School yearbook photo. © Alamy

Elvis Presley

The King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley, aged 5 in 1940.

Jimi Hendrix

A three-year-old Johnny Allen Hendrix with his dad Al in late 1945. When he was four in 1946 – a year after the above photo was taken – Johnny was renamed James 'Jimmy' Marshall Hendrix after his dad and Al's late brother Leon Marshall Hendrix.

John Lydon

The Sex Pistols' John Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – aged 7 in 1964.

Sid Vicious

Simon John Ritchie - aka future Sex Pistols star Sid Vicious - aged 12 in 1969.

Ian Curtis

A five-year-old Ian Curtis in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1961.

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