#jaime bennington

[cheese2087]

Jaime Bennington has not been well mentally for a very long time. He believes that Chester was murdered and that Mike was having an affair with Talinda. Both her and Mike had do get restraining orders against him because he would not stop harassing them. The rest of his family have also distanced themselves and hes super into qanon stuff. Nothing he says can be trusted. Talinda herself supports Emily and I trust her and the rest of the band way more than him.

[ireallydontcare5]

I'm still gonna listen to Linkin Park's new album as a long time fan, I still like The Emptiness Machine and I still think Emily did her thing as the new singer at the live event. Nonetheless, I'll still hold Emily accountable for her problematic past and hope that she has really cut ties with Danny Masterson.

I know scientology is evil and speaking publicly about them can cause problems so I don't expect her to publicly talk about that or denounce them. Honestly, that part isn't my business.

[spike-minoda]

Jaime said on insta that he feels like his own family want him to kill himself. My heart is breaking at that very thought. He’s such a kind soul, so brilliant and smart… I just don’t get it. Why be so cruel to him?

[chester-benningtons]

Apparently Jaime Bennington is getting told to go kill himself, getting mocked and all other horrible things all because he rightfully spoke out against Mike's awful decision to hire a damn Scientologist in place of Chester. (Which is a huge slap in the face to his legacy) I don't care if Jaime is a conspiracy theorist, I don't care if he's been fighting with Linkin Park for a long time or any of the other drama surrounding him. He's still hurting and spiralling even after 7 years. His mental health is fragile and needs help, love and support.

If Jaime ends up killing himself, I do not want any tears coming from the people who told him to do it. You do not get to say you love and miss Chester while also wishing death on his son.

[crmsndragonwngss]

“People aren’t having a difficult time wrapping their head around the prospect of LINKIN PARK reinventing itself,” [Jaime Bennington] wrote. He went on to point out that the issues he and fans of the band have are Armstrong’s “history in the church,” referring to Scientology, and support of Masterson. Bennington goes on to say that the band has “quietly erased [his] father’s life and legacy in real time…during International Suicide Prevention Month.”

Bennington goes on to call out the band for not acknowledging controversies and points out that Shinoda and the rest of Linkin Park “have betrayed the trust loaned to [them] by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself.”

He continues: “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. Insane.”

[sutrala]

Chester Bennington's Son Jaime Calls Out Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda For Betraying Fans & Replacing Late Father With Emily Armstrong

[alexluvsskittlez]

I cant stop making these gifs and I WILL make more

[slowthunders]

m*ke shinoda owes a huge apology to jaime bennington

[downtherabbitholewithauntieblegh]

Linkin Park/Emily Armstrong Controversy

Y'all paying way too much attention to this Linkin Park business. Move on. Rock and metal are suffering from drama. We're forgetting the music and why we pack into venues and festivals. We're forgetting that band members have families they're away from for months at a time. We're forgetting that suicide, depression, mental illness and addiction are rampant in our business because of the stress. STFU about Linkin Park and let those people move forward. Go to a show, buy a t-shirt, hit the pit and tell all your friends about it.

#inuswetrust always. Peace.

~ AJ Channer (Lead Singer of Fire From the Gods)

So, let's talk about Linkin Park, Emily Armstrong and this controversy. Almost a week ago, Linkin Park premiered a new song along with their new co-singer, Emily Armstrong. Emily is the front woman of the band Dead Sara. The controversy was almost immediate with a huge amount of backlash.

The first round came from Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta) and his wife, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler. The husband-and-wife duo did not hold back with their disdain for Armstrong, her ties to Scientology and her alleged support of convicted rapist, actor Danny Masterson. According to one article, Carnell was a victim of Masterson. Bixler and Carnell are former Scientologists themselves and left years ago.

Armstrong has since come out and apologized for her actions in supporting Masterson, explaining that she went to one court appearance and supported him as an observer to later realize her mistake. Some people, including Bixler and Carnell, say that the apology isn't enough.

Bixler and Carnell released a statement after Armstrong's apology and did not accept it, stating, "If you're not going to speak out against the human and child trafficking cult in which you are a part of and in which you enable by remaining silent on crimes you know about then you have no right to fill the shoes of Chester Bennington, a true advocate."

Mike Shinoda, original founding member, as well as Joe Hahn, have both released statements. Both stated that they support Armstrong and know that having her a part of their band would be a "hard pill to swallow" for most people.

"To say it as clearly as possible, I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes," Shinoda said as a part of his statement.

That wasn't good enough for Chester's son, Jaime Bennington. Bennington released a scathing statement, denouncing Shinoda and the other original members that are still in the band. Bennington released his statement via Instagram on September 9th. Ever since Bennington made his feelings known, he has been getting death threats from Linkin Park fans.

Some folks are even questioning him and whether he truly understands what his dad would want if Chester were alive today. Bennington highlighted the hypocritical comments, saying if they really understood how his father died, they would realize that their comments are inappropriate and crass.

Bennington was very outspoken with his disdain and blasting Shinoda for betraying their fans by choosing Armstrong as their new singer, especially during International Suicide Awareness month. Bennington addressed Armstrong's alleged ties to Scientology and support for Masterson.

Bixler-Zavala resurfaced some messages, one that showed Armstrong did indeed attend the 2020 preliminary hearing of Masterson. That did hit fans hard, as Chester had openly discussed surviving sexual abuse in the past. Chester passed away back in 2017.

With the drama weighing heavily on everyone involved, Shinoda, Hahn and the others are sticking by Armstrong and their decision to have her as their singer. We cannot take away the noticeable missing original drummer, Rob Bourdon. Bourdon made the choice to not reunite with the band for this new venture.

It just came out that original lead guitarist, Brad Delson, will not be touring with the band moving forward. In a statement by Shinoda, Delson has made the choice to just record with them in the studio and not take part in live performances in the future. Colin Brittain has replaced Bourdon on the drums. Brittain is known for playing with Oh No Fiasco.

Alex Feder has been announced as Delson's replacement for the upcoming tour to support their new album, From Zero.

With all this information provided, people are still divided on whether Linkin Park making a comeback, 2.0 as some people have called it, is a good thing. What people are failing to realize is how hurtful their comments are. Shinoda has stated that they will not be getting rid of Armstrong.

Some fans are saying they should change their name. Something a lot of people agree with. Some are saying they should just not continue on with Linkin Park without Chester. At this point, everyone just needs to take AJ Channer of Fire from the Gods advice. We are forgetting the music. We are forgetting that these musicians have families at home. We are forgetting that suicide, depression, mental illness and addiction run rampant in the music industry.

We are forgetting that they are people like we are. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. If you want to listen to Linkin Park, by all means, listen to Linkin Park. If you don't want to support them, don't. That's the end of that story. How do expect people to heal and move forward when people constantly bring up the past, negative or not?

Everyone's feelings in this situation are real and valid. Don't negate someone's feelings if they don't align with yours. We as a society, we must do better. In the end, it does really matter....

[athetos]

Welp, some people seemed to buy Emily Armstrong’s apology and promise that she changed, but Jaime Bennington (Chester’s son) put out some very pointed accusations towards both Emily and Mike Shinoda, and even implied that they met through Danny Masterson, that this album has possibly been in the works since the year Chester died, that Mike grooms his fans, and that Emily intimidated Danny Masterson’s victims, and so on and so forth. You can read more by clicking this link.

I have no idea how they’ll respond to this, but right now I certainly don’t feel optimistic. Way to honor Chester’s legacy during suicide prevention month, good job team, I’m sure this is exactly what he would have wanted. What a fucking shitshow, there’s no salvaging this.

[klowndykebar]

Ok fuck this new “linkin park” and mike shinoda who clearly is in need of humbling from the ginormous ego he seems to have developed. I remember all that weird crypto currency shit he kept trying to peddle. Chesters son came out in a statement against it and it’s entirely clear Mike wanted this more than anyone and for what? Insulting to linkin park and their fans

[spike-minoda]

From Jaime's Insta story.

I also find this book situation crazy and strange. They're trying to distract us from the Scientology shit show the band has become by suddenly making this book known. And why only focus on Chester's addiction/depression? It feels like they're going "See? He was crazy!!!" or some shit, which I don't like.

They're erasing Chester, refusing to acknowledge him, but yet at the same time, they're conveniently using him as a prop to sell shit.

[chonky-goth]

https://www.nme.com/news/music/chester-benningtons-son-jaime-hits-out-at-mike-shinoda-for-betraying-trust-of-linkin-park-fans-with-emily-armstrong-3791931

His own son agrees this is fucked. More proof you're either evil or too stupid for words.

1. Okay and??? His son had nothing to do with the band so why does his opinion matter? I thought Chester had a shit ton of kids too so like... so what if one of them is pissed?

2. I'm not quiet about my mental health struggles and I think you should go look up the symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, specifically the symptoms relating to thought disorders. Feels really not okay for you to call me stupid if you know about those symptoms. So obviously you don't know about it. Just educate yourself when you've got time.

3. I literally don't give a fuck and I'm not sure why you keep sending me anons about this.

4. Maybe you should occupy your time better? Peglin just came out and it's a nice game. I'm kinda obsessed with it. It's like $5 on mobile and Steam.

[briamichellewrites]

6

1999. Chester Bennington was the missing puzzle piece the band needed. Jeff scouted him and invited him to LA to audition. He jumped at the chance, quitting his job and moving to LA. While in Phoenix, he had been a part of a few bands that weren’t successful. The band thought he was exactly what they were looking for! He was introduced to Bria when she came into the studio. They became instant friends. Since Dave was touring with his former band, they hired Mark Wakefield to take his place.

She, Mike, and Brad had spent several months writing and recording demos. It was experimental country pop. That was the only way to describe it. They submitted some of the demos to Warner Music, who did not agree with the direction they were going. They wanted something that would be popular on the radio. At the moment, pop music was taking over as grunge was fading away.

Everyone wanted music for the new millennium. Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, ‘N SYNC, and Destiny’s Child were all popular. She was more rock and roll than bubblegum pop. Jon encouraged her to make music she wanted to make. Together, they worked on music long distance. It’s going to be fucking awesome! He laughed. Did he still talk to Dave? Oh, yeah. They called each other occasionally. He was planning on seeing him again the next time he and his band were in LA.

The band began to notice how her ADHD affected her. She had moments when she was full of energy and then would crash. Then, there were moments when she was hyper-focused and couldn’t be distracted. Chester was also an odd duck. They found out coffee was his favorite. He loved it just as much as he loved his wife, Samantha. Yes, he was married.

He also had a three-year-old son, Jaime with his former girlfriend. They both made studio sessions interesting. But they were also geniuses who couldn’t see their own talents. Watching her on the piano or guitar was always fun because they could see her mind creating music. Mike joined their friend group and he became close with both of them. Sometimes she talked about her life in boarding school and her parents.

Bria was the perfect girlfriend. She encouraged Dave in whatever he wanted to do while keeping him grounded. He felt he could do anything he wanted with her. Everyone was happy he was in a healthy relationship. His family was surprised to hear he had a girlfriend. He had only dated men after coming out as bisexual. They had met a few of his boyfriends.

Every relationship he was in was because he was drinking. His boyfriends enabled his addiction. He was never truly happy. Now, he was. He didn’t feel like he had to drink while with her. His family wanted to meet her, but he didn’t know if they were ready for that.

He got tested for HIV. Negative. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was something he planned on doing every three to six months. He encouraged Bria to go on birth control. She had her assistant schedule an appointment for her. Because she was so scatterbrained, it was very helpful to have someone do stuff for her. Otherwise, she would forget.

At nineteen, she only had one year left before she was an adult. She came up with a backup plan if music didn’t work out. What was it? Acting or dancing. They were both very competitive, but they were worth trying. Wasn’t she trained in dance? Not professionally. She just took dance classes as a child. What kind of dance did she want to do? Anything that wasn’t ballet. It was insanely difficult to get into a ballet company because it took more than just talent.

She also heard stories of girls starving themselves or making themselves throw up to make themselves as small as possible. It was the same for sports like gymnastics and the modeling industry. The band didn’t know that.

“When you’re a guy lifting a dancer, you want them to be tiny. It’s not healthy.”

“What kind of dance do you want to do then?”

“Probably hip hop or jazz.”

“What’s the difference”, Joe asked.

“Hip hop is what you see in music videos. Jazz is more what you would see in Broadway musicals, especially in Chicago or musicals from the twenties and thirties.”

What about country music? That was called line dancing. They laughed. They hoped she would be able to put out an album because she was working her ass off. Brad and Mike were talking about starting a label company separate from Warner Music, so they could have complete freedom to make music they wanted to make. They would invite her to join them.

They were setting everything up and getting everything sorted. Brad would be the A&R guy who looked for new talent. Mike would be the producer. They would have other employees. For now, it was just them. Mike’s college girlfriend, Anna was one hundred percent behind them. She knew what they were going through and how frustrating it was. Machine Shop Records would hopefully be the answer they were looking for.

He wanted to introduce her to Bria. Maybe they could invite her and Phoenix (formerly known as Dave) over for dinner.

“Bria, what’s your cat’s name”, Joe asked her.

“Woody. He’s kind of an asshole right now.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s in his teenage years, so he does things to be annoying. For example, Dave will be eating something in the kitchen. He will jump up on the counter and use his paws to knock the food onto the floor. Then, he’ll act innocent like he doesn’t know why you’re frustrated.”

“That sounds like a cat”, Chester said with a laugh.

She came in the next morning with a cd. Brad put it into the laptop. They all gathered around to see what it was. It was a video of her when she was younger dancing with four other girls to Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by the Backstreet Boys at her school talent show. All five of them were dressed like the boys. They were very good! The audience cheered while they danced.

When the video was over, Chester asked her how they did it. They had the dance teacher help them with the choreography. They spent weeks practicing in the dance studio before the show. They also borrowed costumes from the theater teacher. None of their schoolmates knew they were going to do it. Mike commented on how popular the song was. If she ever met the group, would she share the video with them? Probably.

“We were thinking about doing Janet Jackson or Bad by Michael Jackson. I don’t remember why we chose this song. It was probably just something we all agreed on.”

Rob asked her why she didn’t just record pop music. She could still experiment. Brad agreed. She would have a wider audience, too. He asked her to try it out for one album. Just to get the label off her back for a while. When he and Mike got their new label off the ground, then she could go back to experimental country music or whatever she decided to do. She reluctantly agreed, even though they would have to record new demos. That was fine. They could do that. Ok.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia

[klowndykebar]

Chester’s own son has now come out to denounce this “reunion”. Don’t support this shit. Insulting this is happening during suicide awareness month

[themeatlife]

From Zero - the Linkin Park Comeback Album Review

From Zero, the first Linkin Park album to come out since 2017

It is 2024.

What is old is now new again. JNCOs/wide leg-bellbottom style jeans are back. Guitars in popular music are back. Even legacy bands are back. Coldplay, blink-182, Smashing Pumpkins, Eminem all have new music out. Oasis is reunited and touring the UK.

And now my favorite band Linkin Park is back and with new music.

One of the best selling band of the 21st century retreated after singer Chester Bennington was tragically lost in the summer of 2017 shortly after the release of their last album. The direction of the band was unknown since then, understandably so. But behind the scenes for the past two or three years, they built back until the moment of reveal.

The Build Up

The livestream reveal of the new Linkin Park on September 5th

Days before the From Zero livestream, there were several very vague social media posts hinting at something was about to happen, including a clock that counted down and then back up. But the reveal was striking. On the livestream, the band opened by playing the first verse and chorus of a new song - "The Emptiness Machine," with Mike Shinoda as the featured vocalist. Until someone else walks on stage and takes over the lead vocals for the second verse and into the chorus: Emily Armstrong, the new co-lead vocalist for the revived Linkin Park.

The Linkin Park interview with Apple Music's Zach Lowe

Emily Armstrong at vocals and Collin Brittain at drums are the new additions to the lineup. Original drummer Rob Bourdon declined to come back. And guitarist Brad Delson will not be touring with the band, the show/touring fill in duties belong to Alex Feder. The remaining members Mike Shinoda at vocals/guitar, Dave Farrell at bass/guitar, and Joe Hahn at turntables/electronics round out the current band lineup.

The rough timeline is Mike, Joe, and Dave would meet up just to catch up and maybe jam starting in 2019. They would invite different artists just to collab and feel things out. Emily and Collin were two that they kept on inviting back, especially after the pandemic. Emily they met through mutual friends in the Warner Bros family. Collin had produced music with Mike previously. They asked Brad throughout if he would like to join the process, eventually getting him onboard for the recording sessions and album planning.

In early 2024 when the band was planning out their album release and tour in secret, there were frequent rumors that they were coming back and with a female singer. Rumors of the new vocalist put established female metal-adjacent singers in the spotlight as the possible vocalist. Ultimately, they were able to keep their new bandmates a secret until the From Zero reveal in September.

The comeback does not come without controversy. Obviously stepping in for Chester Bennington would always be divisive. But the attacks particularly against Armstrong was initially heavy. From Mars Volta lead Cedric Bixler-Zavala to Bennington's son Jaime, there were those critical of the move to have Emily Armstrong added to Linkin Park as a vocalist. Their main critique being Armstrong's initial support of disgraced actor and convicted rapist Danny Masterson and Armstrong's rumored association with the controversial religion Scientology. Both of her parents are said to be prominent members.

Armstrong has address the Masterson issue, saying in an Instagram post "Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance, and went to one early hearing as an observer. Soon after, I realized I shouldn’t have. I always try to see the good in people, and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since." And while Armstrong has not spoken about her association with Scientology, the BBC said that lyrics she wrote and sang for her former band Dead Sara suggest a rejection of certain religious values regarding sexuality (Armstrong identifies as queer and homosexuality is traditionally not accepted in Scientology). You can also read that from some of the lyrics from Linkin Park's lead single.

Linkin Park as a band has not commented on either of these, probably treating it as a non-issue within the band. My take? The rest of the band saw something in her, and I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt based off of that.

The Album: From Zero

Since the reveal of Armstrong and Brittain and the announcement of the new album, Linkin Park have released or played live five songs from the album (or half the song tracks - yes there is only 11 tracks with 10 of them being songs): "The Emptiness Machine," a track released in association with the League of Legends world competition called "Heavy Is The Crown," a ballad with a music video shot in South Korea when they were stopped there for the first leg of their tour called "Over Each Other," debuted a live performance of the song "Casualty" in Dallas a week before the album comes out, and the final pre-release single "Two Faced" a few days ahead of the album.

This seems to be commonplace in the music world today. I remember vividly about a year ago blink-182 releasing four or five songs from their latest album One More Time reuniting Tom DeLonge with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS album is also another example of one where the artists releases several tracks that aren't necessarily singles but more to keep buzz about their upcoming album.

For someone like me who has followed the band since 2000, it feels like the album is a collection of the styles they explored from all of their previous albums and music. Armstrong seems to fit well with the music. I'm not going to say that Chester was better or Emily is better. It's not about being better or comparing the two. I take this as a new era of the constantly evolving band, so naturally there will be things that are definitely part of the fabric that is the Linkin Park sound and things that are definitely different from the previous iterations of the band. And it's not like they haven't had a different lead singer before, there was a different singer before Bennington.

I will say that this is not the band's best outing. Commercially their peak was early with Hybrid Theory/Meteora, while I think their creative peak was A Thousand Suns. This fits somewhere in between. I have always thought Linkin Park has a certain cinematic sound and they retain that feel and vibe with this album. Particularly strong is the vocal interplay between Shinoda and Armstrong. Shinoda and Bennington’s interactions vocally were the best aspects of that era of Linkin Park. The same could be said on the beginning of this new era on this album. A solid first outing for the current lineup. A firm foundation for what may come later. If you are familiar with Linkin Park, this album will easily fit into your listening rotation. If this is your first time interacting with Linkin Park, I don't know if you will enjoy this but I would still recommend a listen once-through before coming to a conclusion on it.

On this album, currently my favorite track is Good Things Go - the album's last track. Linkin Park has some strong last tracks (Pushing Me Away, Numb, The Little Things Give You Away, The Messenger to name a few), and Good Things Go is a strong closing track.

I think I'll wrap this up by just saying this - I'm glad Linkin Park is back. Fans like myself have missed them over the last seven years. I know it probably wasn't easy picking things up after Chester passed away. I'm glad that the surviving members of the famous lineup are thriving and I welcome the new members to the Linkin Park family.

Listen to From Zero on physical media or where ever you stream your music:

Apple Music Spotify Amazon Music YouTube