Linkin Park is counting down to something big. On Saturday (Aug. 24), the rock band shared a mysterious 100-hour countdown timer on its social media accounts, with a link to the group’s official website.
At press time, LinkinPark.com featured a YouTube livestream with the same timer and an accompanying live chat filled with fan speculation — much of it anticipating the announcement of a new vocalist to replace late lead singer Chester Bennington, who died by suicide in July 2017 at the age of 41.
“I hope they announce the new singer, LP deserves to continue [with their legacy,” one user wrote in the chat. Another fan asked, “If LP has a new singer and it’s female, who do you want it to be?”
Earlier this year, several sources close to Linkin Park told Billboard that the band’s three surviving members were mulling a possible 2025 reunion tour and considering hiring a female vocalist to succeed Bennington. In late April, booking agency WME was taking offers for a potential Linkin Park tour along with headlining festival dates featuring LP’s Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Dave Farrell, the sources said. The band had not indicated who would sing on behalf of Bennington, but one source told Billboard that LP was hoping to find a female vocalist to front the reunited group.
Fueling speculation at the time, Orgy’s Jay Gordon said he had heard rumors about a Linkin Park reunion while appearing on Wired in the Empire on KCAL 96.7.
“Very, very cool guys and obviously a great band,” Gordon said. “They’ve been around a long time and they’re still going for it,” he said. “It’s going to be tough without Chester, but we’ll see. I hear they got a girl singer now. That’s what I heard.”
Gordon later issued a statement saying his comments had been taken out of context. “With regards to this linkin park singer thing. I know nothing about any of that,” he wrote.
As previously reported, Shinoda was asked about a possible reunion around the April release of Papercuts (Singles Collection: 2000-2023).
“Rumors always go around. People always ask what’s next for the band, and the best answer I can ever give anybody is when there’s something to tell you, we will tell you,” Shinoda told Revolver magazine. When there’s an announcement to be made, it will be on LinkinPark.com. If you’re hearing it from somebody else, you can trust that information as much as you want to trust it.”
Linkin Park is one of the most successful rock groups from the 2000s, having sold more than 29.4 million albums in the United States, according to Luminate. The band has charted 24 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including three top 10 hits: “In the End” in 2003, “What I’ve Done” in 2007 and “New Divide” in 2009.
See Linkin Park’s countdown post on YouTube here and Instagram below.