Linkin Park have announced that they will make an announcement on September 5.
The news comes after a 100-hour countdown on the nu metal sensations’ website expired Wednesday (August 28), only to reveal very little information. When the countdown started on Saturday (August 24), fans were hoping it would end with the announcement of the band’s return.
That fantasy may be closer to coming true now, however, as Linkin Park posted on social media yesterday (August 29): “Be part of something. September 5th. LinkinPark.com.” Around the same time, several fans posted that they’d received an email from the band inviting them to a mysterious event, also on September 5. The Linkin Park post and screenshots of the email are available below.
Linkin Park entered an unofficial hiatus shortly after the passing of their longtime lead singer Chester Bennington in July 2017, aged 41. The band played a tribute concert that October but haven’t performed together or released newly recorded material since.
Rumours of a Linkin Park comeback began in April, when Orgy vocalist Jay Gordon, a former collaborator of the band’s, said they were returning with a female vocalist filling in for Bennington. Gordon soon retracted the claim. Evanescence singer Amy Lee denied that she was the female vocalist in question.
A month later, Billboard reported that Linkin Park will be reforming for a tour and festival dates in 2025. One source told the publication that the singer replacing Bennington will be a woman.
The mysterious Linkin Park countdown restarted speculation over a reunion. In their Instagram stories, US festival Welcome To Rockville shared the band’s social media post which commenced the timer, possibly confirming hopes they’d be reactivating to play in 2025. Sum 41 singer/guitarist Deryck Whibley was rumoured to be filling in for Bennington after also teasing an announcement for August 28, but he denied having any involvement in the reunion.
Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda has previously said that, if Linkin Park were to return, the news would be announced via their website. “When there’s an announcement to be made, it will be on LinkinPark.com,” he told Revolver in April. “If you’re hearing it from somebody else, you can trust that information as much as you want to trust it.
Linkin Park released a greatest hits album, Papercuts (Singles Collection: 2000–2023), in April.