"Because it would be like misrepresentation" — Mike Shinoda explains why Linkin Park didn’t change their name for relaunched lineup

Amid the recent criticism surrounding Emily Armstrong being the lead vocalist in Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda the co-leader vocalist weighed in on why the band chose to not change their name. Shinoda spoke in an interview with Chicago radio stadium Q101 on September 7, and mentioned that the band felt that changing the name would be like a "misrepresentation."

In the conversation, Shinoda said that in the process of the final band formation, they were discussing changes in the lineup and also considered if a name change for the band was required. He added:

"As the music came into focus, we were, like, ‘This is as Linkin Park an album as we could make. It’s so Linkin Park that if we call it something else, then we are idiots.’ Because it would be like misrepresentation. It’d be silly. And when people hear more of the album, they will understand that."

The band recently announced that Emily Armstrong will be joining them as the new female lead vocalist. She reportedly became a part of the band in place of Chester Bennington, who tragically passed away in 2017. Along with Emily, Colin Brittain also joined Linkin Park as the new drummer.

On September 5, the band further conducted a global livestream to mention the band's new lineup. Blabbermouth reported that Alex Feder would be playing instead of Brad Delson, in the foreseeable future and would continue touring with the band.

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Mike Shinoda revealed that Linkin Park's latest album name would imply their new journey

Apart from explaining why the members decided to not change the band name, Mike Shinoda spoke about the new album which would describe their fresh start with the new members. He revealed that in the initial days after formation, the band was named Xero which later turned to Hybrid Theory. Finally, they fixated on the name Linkin Park to carry on its legacy.

In the radio interview, Shinoda said:

"So the name of the album is a double entendre. It’s us starting over, but it’s also us kind of being in touch with the things we loved back then."

The upcoming album From Zero is expected to be the first project where fans can witness the performance of the new female lead Emily Armstrong. Shinoda claimed that the new project would be quite "energetic." Shinoda added:

"It's a lot of guitars. It's gonna be so, so fun to play live. I cannot wait for people to hear these songs live. But yeah, really, that's the reason for that."

While the decision of Emily being a part of the rock band garnered a positive reaction initially, controversies arose when fans began digging into her past. Her alleged association with Scientology and the support of Danny Masterson made fans question her. Chester Bennington's son Jaime had also criticized Mike Shinoda for choosing Emily as the female lead vocalist.

Fans are, however, eagerly waiting for From Zero, which is set to release on November 15, 2024. This is also the band's first album since One More Light, released in 2017, which was the last one involving Chester Bennington.