Linkin Park's Emily Armstrong comments on the 'pressure' of replacing Chester Bennington

Linkin Park’s new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong has spoken about the seemingly impossible task of stepping into the late-great Chester Bennington’s shoes.

After titillating fans with a series of countdowns in recent weeks, Linkin Park officially unveiled their new line-up on Thursday night (5th September) at a livestreamed concert at RED Studios in Hollywood, California.

38-year-old Emily Armstrong of the alternative rock band Dead Sara is Linkin Park’s new singer, while Colin Brittain replaces drummer Rob Bourdon following the co-founding member’s shock exit.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard, Armstrong was asked whether she feels any “pressure” singing Bennington’s parts.

“There is so much to this band — this is a very, very important band to this world,” Armstrong replied. “And the integrity of the band was really helpful in keeping me grounded.

“There were so many of those moments where it was like, “Holy s–t,” when you talk about the size of the shows, stuff like that. I’m on cloud nine, but then it hits you that there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“And going into these (older) songs, by a singular voice that’s beloved by so many people — it’s like, ‘How do I be myself in this, but also carry on the emotion and what he brought in this band?’ That was the work that I had to do. The feeling, the energy, was already there as we were doing the album, so it’s just incorporating that feeling.

“(I had) to identify what the song meant to me as a singer, not just as someone listening to it. You got to marry the technical part and the emotion. It’s Chester’s voice, and it’s mine, but I want it to still feel the way I feel when I listen to the song, because that’s what the fans love. There is a passion to it that I’m hoping I can fill.”

Elsewhere in the interview, bassist Dave Farrell shed some light on why Linkin Park picked Armstrong as their new co-vocalist.

Explaining he was a fan of her work and voice with Dead Sara, Farrell said: As we got to work with Emily more, it wasn’t just the fact that she’s super talented vocally, or that she’s a great person who I love hanging out with — when she sings, I connect with it. For me, that’s what’s always felt like Linkin Park: being able to connect with what Mike’s doing, what Chester was doing, on an emotional level, and be able to absorb that and feel that for myself.

“As we worked more, and as we got to see what Emily was capable of and the different things that she could bring to the music, it just felt like such a natural, easy, powerful fit. It’s hard to describe, other than just that sense of ‘This works.’”

The new incarnation of Linkin Park will unleash their first album in more than seven years, ‘From Zero’, on Friday 15th November 2024 and it’s preceded by the lead single ‘The Emptiness Machine.’

The sextet have also announced the first six dates of the From Zero World Tour, which visits Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul, and Bogota.

The London concert takes place at The O2 on Tuesday 24th September 2024, and tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 13th September.

See stunning photos of Linkin Park's first concert with new line-up:

Listen to Everything That Rocks on Kerrang! Radio. Download our Rayo app, on DAB+, listen online and via your smart speaker (“play Kerrang! Radio”).

• Linkin Park