In a new episode of their LPTV FROM ZERO series which released on March 5, the two rockers can be seen recording new material. Mike is at the mixing board, playing a dark instrumental, while Emily puts some vocals down in the recording booth – singing the words “Sometimes it feels like…”

we’re getting a new Linkin Park song soon THIS IS NOT A DRILL

GET READY FAMpic.twitter.com/mSEyd866Vf

— a.| fan accøunt (@BroodingAnanas) March 5, 2025

When the nu-metal/alt-rock royalty reunited, Armstrong was chosen to be Linkin Park’s new singer. She was previously known best as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Dead Sara.

Linkin Park had been on hiatus since July 2017 after the tragic passing of beloved frontman Chester Bennington. In early 2024, the band announced their reunion, promising both new tours and music. In November, they dropped ‘From Zero’, their first release back as a reformed group.

The album was a commercial success, racing to the top of the charts in over ten countries, including in the UK and around Europe. It received mainly positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian saying: “They were always unafraid to take sonic risks, and another sonic risk is exactly what their comeback constitutes – one that has handsomely paid off.”

Before joining the California rockers, Emily Armstrong had long been an admirer of Linkin Park. In an interview with Billboard, she recalled her fandom upon hearing their iconic debut, ‘Hybrid Theory’.

“I was in a band when it came out,” she said. “One Step Closer was the song for me, and I was just like, ‘that’s what I want to do. As a singer, I want to be able to scream’.

“That album was everything – I’ve listened to it a trillion times. I would skate to it. I would mosh to it.”

The band will be travelling to the UK in 2025, performing at Wembley Stadium on Jun 28, with support from Spiritbox and JPEGMAFIA – you can find tickets and tour dates on the groups official site.

Linkin Park have a mammoth tour scheduled for 2025, starting in April and stretching through the US and Europe before closing out in South America in November.

Mike Shinoda expressed his excitement in a press release: “Getting back out on the road has been incredible. The fans’ support is overwhelming, and we’re ready to take this energy even further around the world. From Zero is a new chapter for us, and we’re so excited to share it with everyone on a bigger scale.”

It was reported that 1.54 million tickets were sold via O2 Priority between January and November of this year – this is a remarkable 12% increase from the same time period in 2023.

O2 and Virgin Media customers are granted with the Priority Tickets reward platform, which enables them to have exclusive early access to the sale of tickets to some of the biggest events in the UK. Along with this, members can receive other benefits including VIP Hospitality packages, queue jump and a range of discounts.

What gig tickets did you buy this year?

2024 is not over just yet, but the @O2 #Priority Tickets platform has already had a record-breaking year! Over 1.54 million tickets were sold January to November – a 12% increase on the same time period in 2023.

Tours by #DuaLipa,… pic.twitter.com/xA0QVbej9R

— Virgin Media O2 News (@VMO2News) December 20, 2024

The biggest selling tours of 2024 according to the level of Priority Tickets sold, reveals the UK have an eclectic taste when it concerns entertainment.

Dua Lipa was crowned the top spot on the list. The pop sensation released her third album, ‘Radical Optimism’ this year alongside the announcement of a 2025 world tour, named after the LP. With her own ITV Special and memorable hits like ‘Houdini’ and ‘Training Season’, it is no surprise Lipa claims this spot. As the highest-selling artist on the list, it should be noted that the ticket sales for her upcoming tour were partnered with O2’s priority platform, announced through an enticingly iconic ‘Walk’ ad to increase hype for the events.

Lipa’s runner-up was none other than legendary British comedian Peter Kay. As a much-loved comedian in the UK, Kay’s upcoming tour will consist of a residency at London’s prestigious O2 Arena; with many sold out dates on this tour and some fans reporting being over 20,000 in the queue for tickets, extra shows have been added to meet demand.

Despite only announcing her tour at the end of November, Lana Del Rey claimed the third spot on the list. The forthcoming tour will mark the ‘Video Games’ singer’s first stadium tour in the UK and will be some of the first shows to witness performances of tracks from her unreleased album ‘The Right Person Will Stay’.

Other artists on the list include Usher, who continues to ride the success of his halftime performance at this year’s Super Bowl in February, along with Billie Eilish, who released her third album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ this year and has spent the last few months touring the album in the US.

Gareth Griffiths, Director of Partnerships and Sponsorship at Virgin Media O2 commented on the success of this year’s O2 Priority Tickets reward platform: “There have been massive tours announced this year, ones that will go on to define an entire generation of music and entertainment.”

He continued: “With a relentless demand from O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers for access to live shows, we’re now seeing Priority Tickets smash its own sale records again this year”.

As the future remains hopeful for the continued success of Priority Tickets, it must be emphasised this comes at a time when ticket-buying experiences have become excruciating for fans who wait in online queues for hours or have to deal with dynamic pricing at checkout. Priority Tickets aims to create a hassle-free ticket-buying experience for its customers and gig-goers.

 The biggest-selling tours this year according to Priority Tickets:

1. Dua Lipa
2. Peter Kay
3. Lana Del Rey
4. Usher
5. Billie Eilish
6. Bruce Springsteen
7. Justin Timberlake
8. Linkin Park
9. Tate McRae
10. Iron Maiden

]]> https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/o2-priority-reveal-the-best-selling-tours-of-2024/feed/ 0 https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/birmingham-hosts-1000-lights-rock-concert-to-honour-chester-bennington/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/birmingham-hosts-1000-lights-rock-concert-to-honour-chester-bennington/#comments Sun, 18 Aug 2024 20:17:36 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=101513 The Utilita Arena in Birmingham is set to host a monumental event on Sunday August 18 in honour of Chester Bennington, the late lead singer of Linkin Park. Dubbed 1,000 Lights, the concert will feature a novel fundraising strategy which will allow a staggering ensemble of 1,000 musicians to perform some of the band’s most iconic tracks to remember the eminent vocalist and promote mental health awareness across the rock and alt scene.

Chester Bennington, born on March 20, 1976, in Phoenix, Arizona, was the iconic lead vocalist of Linkin Park. He gained fame with the release of the band’s debut album Hybrid Theory in 2000, which became a massive commercial success and was certified Diamond by the RIAA. Known for his powerful voice and lyrics dealing with themes of loss and depression, hits like “In the End” and “Numb” catapulted the singer to rock stardom.

The 1000 Lights concert sees musicians from renowned bands such as Funeral for a Friend, Holding Absence, The Blackout, and Caskets will join forces with the massive ensemble, creating a powerful tribute to the legacy of Bennington, who died in 2017. Event organisers have also encouraged fans to seek sponsorship to raise money for Uprawr Mental Health Foundation, with the fans raising the most money to take the stage alongside these famous faces to perform the show’s closing songs as part of a thousand-strong band.

“We have 5 categories of players: Singers, Guitarists, Bassists, Drummers, Keyboard players. Whoever raises the most money in each category gets to play on the NIA stage with the famous Artists! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play alongside people from Funeral For A Friend, Holding Absence and more!” concert organisers say.

Throughout his career, Bennington also fronted bands like Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots. Despite his professional success, he struggled with depression and substance abuse. On July 20, 2017, Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California, and was later found to have taken his own life. The concert’s name, 1,000 Lights, is a nod to Linkin Park’s One More Light tour, which was the last tour Bennington performed with the band. Linkin Park, formed in 1996, skyrocketed to fame in the early 2000s with hits like In the End and Faint. The band has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards, cementing their place in rock history.

The event, organized by the Uprawr Mental Health Foundation, aims to raise funds for mental health services, including free counselling for the rock and alternative music community. The foundation’s efforts are a poignant reminder of the importance of mental health support, especially in the wake of Bennington’s tragic passing in July 2017.The Uprawr Mental Health Foundation provides free mental health counselling to people aged 18 – 35 who associate and connect with Alt music. The organisation uses custom built counselling rooms in music studios and venues, saying its aim is “to create spaces where people can feel relaxed and at home.” “Over the years we’ve seen mental health become a prominent issue within our musical community and feel strongly that more should be done to offer help and support,” Uprawr says.

Bennington passed away in July after taking his own life at the age of 41. Now, TMZ report that he left instructions regarding the care of his children in his will, stating “I request that my children’s mothers or Guardians encourage and allow my children to visit with one another and with my extended family and the extended family of my Spouse on a regular and ongoing basis, so that my children know that they have a large and loving family”

It also says that he insisted that the trustee of his family trust uses the money to cover travel expenses for his children.

Bennington has 6 children, 3 with his widow Talinda, one child with ex-wife Samantha Olit and another child with ex-girlfriend Elka Brand. He also adopted her son.

An interesting note, Benningtons widow Talinda is the executor of Chesters will, however, the alternate executor is his former business manager, Jonathan Shwartz, who is currently in prison for federal fraud. Shwartz was arrested for embezzling millions of pounds from his famous clients.

Recently, we saw Linkin Parks episode of Carpool Karaoke be aired in memory of Bennington. The band recorded their episode of Carpool Karaoke for the Apple Music series with famous actor Ken Jeong. The episode, which has been shared across all band members social media profiles, and Linkin Parks itself shows Bennington and the others singing Linkin Parks popular hits ‘Numb’ ‘In The End’ and ‘Talking To Myself’ alongside covers of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’, Red Hot Chilli Peppers ‘Under The Bridge’ ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ By Lynryd Skynryd and ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith, amongst them laughing and joking.

Watch our @CarpoolKaraoke episode with @KenJeong, streaming now for free on our Facebook page: https://t.co/5Qxa0YsDX8

— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) October 12, 2017

There is also a memorial being held next week by the remaining members of the band, called ‘Linkin Park and Friends – Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington’ which takes place at Hollywood Bowl, California. The memorial will see the bands first live performance without the late frontman since his passing. The memorial event will also feature performances from Blink-182, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, members of System Of A Down, Bring Me The Horizon, Yellowcard, and Kiiara, who features on Linkin Parks track ‘Heavy’.

The band recorded their episode of Carpool Karaoke for the Apple Music series with famous actor Ken Jeong. The episode, which has been shared across all band members social media profiles, and Linkin Parks itself shows Bennington and the others singing Linkin Parks popular hits ‘Numb’ ‘In The End’ and ‘Talking To Myself’ alongside covers of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’, Red Hot Chilli Peppers ‘Under The Bridge’ ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ By Lynryd Skynryd and ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith, amongst them laughing and joking.

Watch our @CarpoolKaraoke episode with @KenJeong, streaming now for free on our Facebook page: https://t.co/5Qxa0YsDX8

— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) October 12, 2017

Actor and TV host James Corden is the original creator of Carpool Karaoke, with it being a segment on his show The Late Late Show, however, Apple purchased the rights to the show in 2016. Speaking about this particular episode, Corden told Associated Press that it would be down to Benningtons family whether the episode would air or not.

“We will approach it in whichever manner his family or the people that were involved in that episode, however, they would like it to be handled. We will navigate it as delicately as possible and just adhere to whatever wishes they would want because I don’t think there’s any other way we could deal with it. It’s a tragedy.”

Remaining members of the band are holding a memorial for Chester on October 27th at the Hollywood Bowl, California, called ‘Linkin Park and Friends – Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington’ and will see the bands first live performance without the late frontman since his passing. The memorial event will also feature performances from Blink-182, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, members of System Of A Down, Bring Me The Horizon, Yellowcard, and Kiiara, who features on Linkin Parks track ‘Heavy’.

You can watch the Carpool Karaoke episode over on Linkin Parks Facebook page.

pic.twitter.com/ofx7ykSQ3K

— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) August 22, 2017

The band thanked all their fans across the world for their “tremendous outpouring of love” and added that they are grateful for everyone’s support during this difficult time. They plan to announce the details of the event soon.

Bennington committed suicide by hanging in his home and was discovered by his housekeeper on 20th July. The 41-year-old had battled with drugs and alcohol through his life and was also a victim of child sexual abuse. Mike Shinoda had confirmed the news in a distraught Twitter post later that day, describing himself as “shocked” and “heartbroken.”

A few months prior to his death, he had spoken to BBC 1’s Newsbeat about the issue of suicide, stating that “sometimes, it just feels like life is testing you.”

A private funeral service was held for him in Palo Verdes, California on July 29th, attended by an estimated 200 people. His wife Talinda issued a moving statement to Rolling Stone a day before, saying that he was a “bright, loving soul with an angel’s voice […] Rest in Peace, my love.”

Since his death, devoted fans everywhere have paid tribute to Linkin Park, through events and memorials. Many celebrities and musicians have also done the same – Jay-Z finished his set at V Festival last weekend with a performance of ‘Numb/Encore,’ a song from 2004 collaborative EP Collision Course between the rapper and the band. Watch fan-shot footage of this below.

Jay Z x Linkin Park #vfestival #westonpark pic.twitter.com/QXSLYbHmwk

— Frankie Ion (@LDNFrank) August 19, 2017

Bennington’s death comes just two months removed from the suicide of his close friend, and former Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell. The two vocalists met in 2008 and formed a close friendship, with Bennington even performing a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ at Cornell’s funeral.

Linkin Park – Crawling ft.Chris Cornell pic.twitter.com/otXYa3WoGl

— For lucifer’son (@forluciferson) July 20, 2017

Bennington joined Linkin Park in 1999, and the band’s debut album Hybrid Theory saw them propelled into mainstream superstardom, selling over 5 million copies in it’s first year of release, and over 20 million to this day. Now-iconic songs like ‘One Step Closer’, ‘Crawling’ and ‘In the End’ saw fans fall in love with Bennington’s impassioned, unique vocal stylings, contrasted with fellow vocalist Mike Shinoda’s rapping.

The Grammy-winning debut was followed up with the similarly popular Meteora, from which spawned the wildly popular ‘Numb/Encore’ mash-up with Jay-Z, and it’s subsequent collaborative album Collision Course, which won both parties another Grammy.

Born in Phoenix Arizona, Bennington struggled with depression, as well as alcohol and drug abuse, from an early age. In a 2008 interview with Kerrang!, Bennington revealed that as a teen he “dropped so much acid I’m surprised I can still speak. I’d smoke a bunch of crack, do a bit of meth and just sit there and freak out. Then I’d smoke opium to come down.”

A lot of the young Bennington’s drug abuse was attributed to the singer being sexual abused from a very young age- “seven or eight” according to the man himself. “It was by a friend who was a few years older than me. It escalated from a touchy, curious, ‘what does this thing do’ into full-on, crazy violations. I was getting beaten up and being forced to do things I didn’t want to do. It destroyed my self-confidence. 
“Like most people, I was too afraid to say anything. I didn’t want people to think I was gay or that I was lying. It was a horrible experience. The sexual assaults continued until I was 13.”

With all of my love @chriscornell. pic.twitter.com/NFz0dnxfp8

— Chester Bennington (@ChesterBe) May 18, 2017

July 20, the day Bennington’s body was found, would’ve been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday. Upon Cornell’s death, Bennington uploaded an emotional tribute to his Twitter page.

Chester Bennington is survived by his wife Talinda, and his six children  Tyler Lee, Lily and Lila, Draven Sebastian (from his first marriage), and Jaime and Isaiah (from a relationship with Elka Brand).

back to work this week https://t.co/OVmhONliUG

— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) January 5, 2016

And if that wasn’t a big enough hint, when visiting the Official Linkin Park website you are met with the message of ‘We’re just getting started in the studio on a new album’, see here.

Any fan of early 2000s alternative rock will have Linkin Park’s debut album ‘Hybrid Theory’ on their list of top albums. Linkin Park exploded onto the scene with the hugely successful and critically acclaimed rap metal album; containing such hits as ‘Crawling’ and ‘In the End’. Hybrid Theory has since sold over 27 million copies.

Linkin Park then followed up their debut album with ‘Meteora’ in 2003; which again was met with similar critical acclaim and cult following. Even more so when Jay-Z released a collaborative EP ‘Collision Course’ which contained numerous remixes of Linkin Park’s original tracks.

Linking Park will no doubt be hoping that their new album is as successful as their earliest stuff, but as a band which has continuously developed different sounds there is no guessing whether we’ll get a more rap based album like Hybrid Theory, or a more rock based album like Minutes to Midnight.

Earlier this year Avenged Sevenfold achieved their first UK number on album with Hail To The King, which was also the first record made without the use of drumming from their late drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, who passed away in December of 2009. Their headline slot will also be their first at the Donington festival with new full time drummer Arin Ilejay, who was confirmed as their new member in May this year. It will be their first appearance at the festival since their 2011 appearance, where they played second headline to recently reformed alt metallers System of a Down.

Linkin Park are set to play the festival for the first time since they headlined main stage in 2011, joining a select group of artists to have headlined the festival four times, having previously had headline slots in addition to the 2011 set in 2004 and 2007. They have recently released a remix album Recharged with plans to release a new album during 2014. As a special treat for fans they will be playing their much loved debut album Hybrid Theory in full, something which is sure to please those who have stuck by them during their careers.

Closing the festival on the Sunday will be The Bad Boys from Boston themselves, legendary hard rockers Aerosmith. Despite the fact that they are all into their 60s now, Steven Tyler and co are showing no sign of slowing down having released their fifteenth studio album Music From Another Dimension! in November of last year. It marks the return to Download for the group as well, having previously closed the festival in 2010.

Acting as direct support to Avenged Sevenfold on the Friday will be shock rocker Rob Zombie, set to return to the festival having headlined the second stage in 2011, while pop rockers Fallout Boy will be the second headliner on the Saturday behind Linkin Park. Supporting Aerosmith on the Sunday will be fellow hard rockers Alter Bridge, who continue to go from strength to strength and will surely headline in years to come. With many more names to be announced in the coming months, it’s not a bad start to the biggest rock festival in the UK. Weekend tickets are still available starting from £185 for a weekend ticket, and more information can be found at the official Download festival here. http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/

STP have been in the spotlight recently after ex-frontman Scott Weiland was fired, and according to public statements he claimed that the band had no right to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots while Bennington was on vocals, saying he was still a part of the band he founded, fronted and co-wrote many hits for despite being fired. The remaining bandmates are now caught in a legal battle with Weiland, filing suit against their former lead singer for breaching the terms of his contract.

On May 19 STP released their new single ‘Out of Time‘ featuring Bennington on their official website. They performed together on May 30 at the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert in California, and will be touring together in September. They will be joined by fellow rockers Filter, as well as heavy metal icons Mötley Crüe.