Earlier this month, Linkin Park announced they are reuniting after seven years since singer Chester Bennington’s death. They revealed that Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara will sing Chester’s parts at their concerts, and they have made a new album with her. Fans had mixed reactions to this news, but the band did get an emotional Chester gift.
While speaking to Rolling Stone, Chester’s mother, Susan Eubanks, revealed that she was shocked and upset. She said the band promised to let her know if they were going to reunite, but they didn’t. She feels betrayed and hurt that they didn’t talk to the family about this decision.
Susan found out about Emily joining the band by searching online, not from the band members. She mentioned that she had talked with Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn in the past, who promised to keep her updated but didn’t do so about the reunion.
When she watched part of the announcement livestream, she was troubled by how Emily sang Chester’s songs, saying it was painful to hear. Susan recalled a time when Chester told her Mike had said they might replace him with a female singer, which upset Chester. Now that it has actually happened, those memories have come back for her.
Susan said she would have been okay with Mike singing Chester’s parts without trying to replace him, but she feels it’s wrong for someone else to try to do what Chester did. She believes no one can match his unique voice.
In her message to the band, she expressed her feelings of betrayal and disappointment. She thinks they should focus on making new music instead of redoing Chester’s songs with a new singer.
I feel betrayed. They told me that if they were ever going to do something, they would let me know. They didn’t let me know, and they probably knew that I wouldn’t going to be very happy. I’m very upset about it.
I feel like they’re trying very hard to erase the past. They’re performing songs that Chester sang. And I don’t know how the fans are taking it, but I know how I take it. And having [Armstrong] singing my son’s songs is hurtful.
They said they would let the family know if they were going to reunite. They did not. [Bennington’s first wife] Samantha and [son] Draven didn’t know until it was told to the world. It was the same for me and it hurt.
I have seen Joe Hahn a few times since Chester died. The last time was maybe four, five years ago. And he promised that he would let me know what was going on, and he didn’t have any intention of starting the band back up.
And I saw Mike Shinoda about two years ago. He promised to tell the family what was going on. And he did reach out when they were going to release some songs [with Chester on them] that they had that were new. He let Samantha and Draven know, and then Samantha let me know. He tried very hard to recreate a relationship with Samantha. She was willing to do that. They didn’t talk about Chester’s death; they talked about Chester’s life. And that was very important that she would call me and let me know what they talked about: How’s he doing? How’s his family doing? It was all of us. She told him that she has regular conversations with me and Draven as well. And that if he wanted to tell her something, she would be sure to tell me. And he said, “OK.”
I found out about Emily Armstrong joining the band on Google. When I go to Google to look for something, the first thing that often pops up is Linkin Park. And I saw that whole thing of, “We have an announcement.” That whole week, they were at the top if you go enter anything into Google.
I actually thought maybe the band was going back out, but that Mike would be the singer; Chester did teach Mike how to sing. He sang a song on [2017’s] One More Light that I thought was beautiful until Chester died, then I couldn’t listen to it anymore. I thought if they were to go back out, it would just be the band not adding a singer.
I tuned into the livestream when it happened. Not on purpose. I thought her singing … I don’t even remember what it is [she was singing], because I didn’t want to hear it. It was just a moment. But it was her, I’m just going to say it, screeching her way through a very high note. And I got out of there as fast as I could.
Like I said, I thought Mike would go out and sing the songs, and they just wouldn’t sound the same. They wouldn’t be as high or as loud, and it would just be very different. And I would’ve been OK with that, but I’m not OK with this, to have somebody replace him and try to do what he did. I don’t think that there’s anybody in the world that has the same voice. And when I heard that, I was just so repelled that no, they’re trying to do exactly what Chester did, but they’re not succeeding at it.
If I could tell the band members anything it’s that I feel betrayed. You made a promise to me that you would let us know and you didn’t. If you were going to do this, this is the wrong way to do it. Don’t put her out there to sing Chester’s songs and then act like this was always the way it should have been. It’s like making him go away, erasing the past. You don’t have to worry about going through the old songs and finding new ones, new Chester songs to put out. Now you can just put out new songs. But don’t bother to put out Chester’s songs with Emily singing them.”
