Susan Eubanks, the mother of the late Chester Bennington, has expressed feelings of betrayal regarding Linkin Park’s decision to reunite with a new vocalist without notifying her. Bennington, the band’s iconic singer, died by suicide in 2017. Earlier this month, Linkin Park announced they would be reuniting for a new album and tour featuring singer Emily Armstrong.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Eubanks accused the band of “trying very hard to erase the past.” She stated that the band members had previously assured her they would inform her if they ever planned to reform. “I feel betrayed,” she said. “They told me 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 [wasn’t] going to be very happy. I’m very upset about it.”
Eubanks had been in contact with songwriter and co-vocalist Mike Shinoda regarding the release of archived songs featuring her son’s vocals, but she was caught off guard by the reunion announcement. “I found out about Emily Armstrong joining the band on Google,” she explained. “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.”
She also recalled a conversation in which Shinoda had mentioned that Linkin Park would sound better with a female singer, a sentiment her son had echoed, suggesting that if he were to leave the band, they would likely replace him with a woman. “I don’t think that there’s anybody in the world that has the same voice,” Eubanks said. “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.”
