When Linkin Park returned from a hiatus last September with vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, original member Brad Delson announced he would no longer join the band for live performances. Alex Feder stepped in as the live guitarist, making his debut during a one-hour live stream concert in Los Angeles the same month.
Mike Shinoda addressed Delson’s decision to step back from touring during an interview with the Zach Sang Show.
“In case anybody doesn’t understand the dynamic, our guitarist Brad is our guitarist,” the singer explained. “He’s in the band, but he’s realized that in terms of his—it’s kinda like a mental health thing. He doesn’t love the touring and the live show lifestyle, and so he is our guitarist, but he’s not playing live.”
He added, “So, he found a guy named Alex who’s spectacular, really good guitarist, and they get along great, and Brad chose Alex to play his parts live. But at the time, we hadn’t met Alex, and so we asked Colin. I was like, ‘Brad needs somebody to play guitar, and we need a drummer. You do both equally well. What would you wanna do?’ And he was just like a kid in a candy store. Just like, ‘I can’t believe what you’re asking me, right now.’ So excited.”
Shinoda previously shared that Delson also had doubts about reuniting with Linkin Park in the early stages. On the band’s official podcast, he recalled, “Brad was hesitant. He was a little resistant. I think it was just all of the baggage of everything was hard, and we knew that, and we kept saying to him, gently, ‘The door is so super open to you. We would love to have you on board, we benefit from your point of view.’”
“‘And we have concerns. Our dynamic that we’ve been working with—the three of us, and Emily and Colin is so good, and adding anybody at all might change that. Just come in and see it, and I think you’ll like it.’ And he did, and he gave it a chance. And one of the first things he was saying was ‘I think we could write something heavier, like way heavier.’”
While Delson stepped back from touring, he remained active in the studio, contributing to the band’s first album since ‘One More Light.’ The new record, ‘From Zero,’ was released on November 15 via Warner Records and Machine Shop, featuring singles such as ‘The Emptiness Machine’ and ‘Heavy Is The Crown.’
Looking ahead, Linkin Park has a busy 2025 planned. After concluding their 2024 dates in Saudi Arabia on December 12, they will kick off a world tour in Mexico in late January, running through the year.
