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Chester Bennington's mom Susan Eubanks is the latest family member to speak out about Linkin Park's decision to reunite with a new singer.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Eubanks revealed that the band told her they would let her know “if they were ever going to do something;" however, she found out about Linkin Park reuniting with Emily Armstrong on vocals through Google, even though she had seen Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn over the years.
“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 said. “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.”
She went on to divulge that Shinoda “often put Chester down” and once told him that “these songs would be better with a girl,” which made their decision to reunite with Dead Sara's former singer even more hurtful.
“Chester called me and said, ‘He thinks that they’re going to replace me with a girl.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?'” she recalled. “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.”
Eubanks never thought Linkin Park would replace her son and instead would've had Shinoda take over all vocal duties. “I would’ve been OK with that, but I’m not OK with this, to have somebody replace him and try to do what he did,” she explained. “I don’t think that there’s anybody in the world that has the same voice. 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.”
Her comments come after Chester's son Jaime Bennington, whom he shared with former partner Elka Brand, slammed Shinoda for his role in hiring Armstrong due to her ties with Scientology and actor Danny Masterson, who was convicted of rape.“You have betrayed the trust loaned to you by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself," he wrote on Instagram. "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.” Conversely, Chester's widow Talinda seemingly showed support for the singer by responding to one of her Instagram posts with a series of fire emojis.
Armstrong joins classic members Shinoda (co-vocalist, multi-instrumentalist), Hahn (turntablist), Brad Delson (guitar), and Phoenix (bass), along with new drummer Colin Brittain (original drummer Rob Bourdon is not involved in the reunion). Together, they're releasing a new album called From Zero on November 15 and will be heading out on a worldwide tour later this month, playing the United States, Germany, England, South Korea, and Colombia.