Linkin Park has addressed the backlash that arose after introducing Emily Armstrong as their new vocalist after the 2017 suicide of their late lead singer, Chester Bennington.
Fans were split, with many targeting Armstrong. Reflecting on the backlash in an interview with The Guardian published Friday, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda said he believed it was because they had unveiled a new vocalist who happened to be a woman.
“There were people who lashed out at Emily, and it was really because she wasn’t a guy,” Shinoda said, adding that fans were “used to Linkin Park being six guys” with “the voice of a guy leading this song.”
“They were just so uncomfortable with what it was that they chose a ton of things to complain about,” he continued. “They’re pointing in 10 different directions, saying: ‘This is why I’m mad, this is why the band sucks.'”
The reactions towards Armstrong were indeed divided.
KISS bassist Gene Simmons praised the band for making the decision to introduce a female lead vocalist to the band.
“It’s great. I listened. I saw some videos. The new female singer, great. She fits the band,” he said of Armstrong in an interview with Forbes last year, adding that a female-fronted band “breaks the rules.”
“All these ‘rules’ … ” Simmons said. “Genesis, they lose Peter Gabriel, it’s over. Nope. Once Gabriel left, Genesis became a stadium band with a drummer who came up from the back. All those ‘rules’ — who made the rules, anyway? In rock and roll, there are no rules.”
However, on the opposite end, others made it clear that they were not happy with the band’s latest addition. Among critics was Chester Bennington’s son, Jaime Bennington, who in his Instagram stories last year accused Shinoda of “Quietly eras[ing] my father’s life and legacy in real time” during international suicide prevention month, according to Deadline. Further, he claimed Shinoda refused to acknowledge “the impact of hiring someone like Emily, without so much as a clarifying statement on the variety of victims that make up your core fan base,” the outlet reported.
In a separate post, Jaime Bennington stated that Shinoda “betrayed the trust loaned to you by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself. We trusted you to be the bigger, better person. To be the change. Because you promised us that was your intention. Now you’re just senile and tone deaf,” reported Deadline.
Commenting on the outrage she was met with, Armstrong said she was not prepared for such a strong reaction.
“I was a little bit naive about it, to be honest,” she shared, adding that she avoided social media “for mental health purposes” even before joining the band. Now, she stays away entirely.
“If there was something really, really pressing, I think our PR would talk to us about it. But I’m old enough to know the difference between real life and the internet.”
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