09/20/2024
Should they have continued on as Linkin Park or formed a new band?
CHESTER BENNINGTONâs mom says she feels âBETRAYEDâ by LINKIN PARK for moving on: âI cried.â
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Benningtonâs mother Susan Eubanks said the band had promised her that they would give her a heads-up when they decided to move on. Instead, she found out at the same time as the rest of the world.
âI feel betrayed. They told me that if they were ever going to do something, they would let me know. They didnât let me know, and they probably knew that I wouldnât going to be very happy. Iâm very upset about it,â Eubanks told the publication.
She continued: âI feel like theyâre trying very hard to erase the past. Theyâre performing songs that Chester sang. And I donât know how the fans are taking it, but I know how I take it. And having [Emily Armstrong] singing my sonâs songs is hurtful.
âThey said they would let the family know if they were going to reunite. They did not. [Benningtonâs first wife] Samantha and [son] Draven didnât know until it was told to the world. It was the same for me and it hurt.
âI 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 didnât have any intention of starting the band back up.
âAnd I saw Mike Shinoda about two years ago. He promised to tell the family what was going on. And he did reach out when they were going to release some songs [with Chester on them] that they had that were new. He let Samantha and Draven know, and then Samantha let me know. He tried very hard to recreate a relationship with Samantha. She was willing to do that. They didnât talk about Chesterâs death; they talked about Chesterâs life. And that was very important that she would call me and let me know what they talked about: Howâs he doing? Howâs his family doing? It was all of us. She told him that she has regular conversations with me and Draven as well. And that if he wanted to tell her something, she would be sure to tell me. And he said, âOK.â
âI found out about Emily Armstrong joining the band on Google. 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, âWe have an announcement.â That whole week, they were at the top if you go enter anything into Google.
âI actually thought maybe the band was going back out, but that Mike would be the singer; Chester did teach Mike how to sing. He sang a song on [2017âs] One More Light that I thought was beautiful until Chester died, then I couldnât listen to it anymore. I thought if they were to go back out, it would just be the band not adding a singer.
âI tuned into the livestream when it happened. Not on purpose. I thought her singing ⌠I donât even remember what it is [she was singing], because I didnât want to hear it. It was just a moment. But it was her, Iâm just going to say it, screeching her way through a very high note. And I got out of there as fast as I could.
âI cried.
âMike 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, âHe thinks that theyâre going to replace me with a girl.â And I said, âWhat do you mean?â And he said Mike told him at rehearsal that, âIf you decide youâre leaving, weâre going to replace you with a girl.â And Chester was dumbfounded and hurt.
âAnd 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 didnât think theyâd probably do it.
âLike I said, I thought Mike would go out and sing the songs, and they just wouldnât sound the same. They wouldnât be as high or as loud, and it would just be very different. And I wouldâve been OK with that, but Iâm not OK with this, to have somebody replace him and try to do what he did. I donât think that thereâs anybody in the world that has the same voice. And when I heard that, I was just so repelled that no, theyâre trying to do exactly what Chester did, but theyâre not succeeding at it.
âIf I could tell the band members anything itâs that I feel betrayed. You made a promise to me that you would let us know and you didnât. If you were going to do this, this is the wrong way to do it. Donât put her out there to sing Chesterâs songs and then act like this was always the way it should have been. Itâs like making him go away, erasing the past. You donât have to worry about going through the old songs and finding new ones, new Chester songs to put out. Now you can just put out new songs. But donât bother to put out Chesterâs songs with Emily singing them.â