Linkin Park fans have a lot to celebrate right now as the band has reunited, adding new singer Emily Armstrong to the lineup in place of the late Chester Bennington. Susan Eubanks, Bennington’s mother, isn’t thrilled with the situation, though.
She aired her grievances in a new piece for Rolling Stone. The piece starts:
“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.”
She then went on to discuss new singer Emily Armstrong, saying she heard about the new addition via Google. She also noted she listened to the band’s livestream, and after hearing Armstrong “screeching her way through a very high note,” she cried. She continued:
“Mike [Shinoda] told Chester one time that he thought singing these songs would be better with a girl, because he often put Chester down. And Chester called me and said, ‘He thinks that they’re going to replace me with a girl.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said Mike told him at rehearsal that, ‘If you decide you’re leaving, we’re going to replace you with a girl.’ And Chester was dumbfounded and hurt.
And the fact is that now they did it. So, of course, all that comes right back into my mind. I had a talk with my son about this. I didn’t think they’d probably do it.”
Read the full piece here.