Rumours are circulating that Linkin Park are planning to reunite with an unnamed female singer taking Chester Bennington's place.
The source of the rumour is an interview with Orgy's Jay Gordon on Mike Z’s Wired In The Empire for KCAL 96.7. While discussing his close connection to the Linkin Park crew during their formative stages, Gordon stated "Very, very cool guys and obviously a great band. They’ve been around a long time and they’re still going for it. It’s going to be tough without Chester, but we’ll see. I hear they got a girl singer now. That’s what I heard.” Gordon somewhat walked back his comments later saying “Don’t quote me on that. I’m not sure who the singer is going to be, but I heard it was gonna be female. They might just try to move on like that. That ought to beinteresting".
Given how close Gordon, who took Linkin Park on their first ever tour has been to Linkin Park at certain stages of their career it would seem at least plausible that he'd have the inside-word on any reunion plans. There has yet to be any formal response from the Linkin Park camp regarding Gordon's comments. You can watch the interview below.
Linkin Park recently shared the previously unreleased track Friendly Fire. Recorded during the 2017 sessions for their seventh album One More Light, it features a powerhouse vocal performance from the late Chester Bennington. Cinematic keys and a delicate beat underline emotionally charged verses as humming guitar uplifts the introspective chorus, “We’re pulling apart for no reason, we’re pulling a trigger in a useless war…what are we fighting for.” It embodies the style, soul, and spirit of classic LP.
The song arrived accompanied by an official video, directed and edited by long-time collaborator Mark Fiore which features never-before-seen studio and live footage. Speaking about Friendly Fire guitarist Brad Delson added:
"'Friendly Fire’ was always one of our favourite songs from the One More Light sessions. Something about it wasn’t quite right so as close as it got to the finish line, we chose to set it aside for later. When we started looking for an unreleased track to include on our greatest hits collection, I was blown away by the power of the song, the power of the storytelling, the power of the vocal, and the sonic landscape and I actually thought that it was closer than maybe we had realized at the time. We got together to work on it and connect some of the missing pieces that for whatever reason hadn’t revealed themselves during the recording of One More Light. I can’t wait for people to hear it. It’s such a beautiful, compelling, heartbreaking, hopeful story and it really resonates with me today.”
The track is lifted from the band's first-ever career-spanning greatest hits album Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023) due for release on April 12 via Warner Records. It will be available at all DSPs and in various physical configurations, including CD, Cassette, and double Vinyl.
It offers a comprehensive retrospective of their journey so far in the span of one album highlighted by everything from Crawling and Somewhere I Belong to the sought-after rarity QWERTY.
Mike Shinoda said, “In the making of each Linkin Park album, I want to love and believe in each song completely. I hope that if any one track is heard on its own in the world, it is something I can feel proud of and something that takes root inside the listener and becomes part of the energy that connects us." "Curating the tracks for Papercuts was a joy. Each song in this collection is both a singular moment on our timeline and an evolving story that is as much ours as it is yours. From our first release ‘One Step Closer’ to the brand-new ‘Friendly Fire,’ this tracklist spans all our chapters so far. Thank you for being a part of our journey. We hope you enjoy Papercuts.”
Maniacs is offering an exclusive Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023) T-Shirt Bundle.
Additionally, In The End just achieved a Diamond Certification (10x Million) from the RIAA. It stands out as the band’s most-streamed song with over 1.8 billion Spotify streams and 1.7 billion YouTube views on the music video. This marks their first Diamond Certification for a single. It notably graces the tracklisting of their 12x-platinum Diamond-Certified full-length debut, Hybrid Theory.
Linkin Park officially released the epic 20th-anniversary edition of their game-changing second album Meteora last year. Released in various configurations, including a Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box Set, Deluxe Vinyl Box Set, Deluxe 3-CD, and Digital Download, all of which are available to purchase via Maniacs now, Meteora|20 is as a Linkin Park fans dream. To celebrate the arrival of Meteora|20, Linkin Park ave unleashed the third previously unreleased track from the collection, the visceral More The Victim. Debuted via The Howard Stern Show More The Victim followed Lost and Fighting With Myself as the crown jewels of a highly sought after collection.
Linkin Park guitarist/vocalist Mike Shinoda personally mixed and architected the final product, keeping it true to the initial intention. “What I like about this trio of songs is that they’re all very different from one another,” said Shinoda. “They all showcase a distinct approach from the band at the time.” More The Victim and Meteora|20 arrive at a time when the music and cultural phenomenon of Linkin Park are bridging generations. Lost the lead single from the Meteora|20 collection has taken over rock radio across the globe, while dominating streaming charts by amassing over 100 million streams, and 33 million YouTube views.
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