Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Dead By Sunrise recently appeared on the Linkin Park Live Archive YouTube channel to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their band’s only studio album, ‘Out of Ashes.’ During the interview, they also discussed the opinions surrounding Linkin Park’s new vocalist, Emily Armstrong.
Shuck expressed his support for Armstrong, stating, “I think Emily is a great choice. I don’t know her personally, but I have personal close friends that have been in bands with her. I definitely knew vocally she could do this stuff. I think that, as she gets more and more shows under her belt as well, it’s just gonna become more and more like all of the old music is gonna be mix with the new music and have her feeling, and it’s gonna be awesome.”
He went on to address some of the criticism regarding Armstrong’s appointment, “I saw a lot of polarizing stuff about them trying to replace Chester, and yes, I heard Jamie Bennington and Chester’s mother say a lot of really, really misguided and super nasty and completely untrue sh*t. I can say that those people don’t have any inside track or knowledge about anything. I considered making a full-on video to deal with this stuff because the stuff they’re doing and saying and people they’re appealing to, it’s not good.”
While Chester Bennington’s widow, Talinda, and others have supported Armstrong’s addition to the band, his mother, Susan, and his son, Jamie, have criticized the move, accusing Linkin Park of trying to erase Chester’s legacy.
Derakh then mentioned, “Jamie was saying we’re going out and gonna play Dead By Sunrise like with a new singer or something.” But the group only did a few tribute shows since Bennington’s passing.
“None of this is true,” Shuck added. “We just gotta say that if you’re listening to what that guy is saying or what either one of them are saying, they are not speaking from any place of truth. There’s absolutely no truth, and I’m holding back right now. No, none of that is true. So, he’s completely made videos saying completely false things, he doesn’t know anything about anything. Regardless, it’s good for me to say that I think that Chester would be completely stoked with this choice.”
Linkin Park announced Emily Armstrong as their new frontwoman with the release of their first single in seven years, ‘The Emptiness Machine.’ In response, Susan Bennington told Rolling Stone that hearing Armstrong sing her son’s songs was hurtful and she couldn’t stay to listen.
Jamie Bennington also criticized the band, accusing them of secretly plotting a comeback and claiming Armstrong was a poor choice due to her connection to Scientology. Mike Shinoda denied all of the claims that came from Bennington’s family.
Linkin Park is currently touring in support of their upcoming album ‘From Zero,’ set to release on November 15 via Warner Records.
