Three of the surviving members of aughts rock powerhouse Linkin Park are considering reuniting next year with a female singer in place of late frontman Chester Bennington, according to Billboard.
Rumors have been circulating in recent weeks, but Billboard is now reporting that WME is soliciting offers for a possible Linkin Park tour as well as festival headlining dates. The lineup would feature Linkin Park mainstays Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Dave Farrell, according to sources as per Billboard.
The report comes after Evanesence singer Amy Lee addressed rumors that she was being considered for the gig, which would make sense, considering her band has a definite Linkin Park influence. However, in an April 23 interview with iHeartRadio Canada, she said she had heard from Linkin Park fans hoping she'd join the group but had heard nothing from the band.
"But that's awesome," she said at the time. "They should ask me about that. I don't have a ton of free time, but I might do it part-time."
In another radio interview, Orgy frontman Jay Gordon said he also heard rumors of a Linkin Park reunion. "Very, very cool guys and obviously a great band," he said during an interview on Wired in the Empire on KCAL 96.7 in Redlands, Calif. "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."
The Linkin Park album Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023) was released on April 14. In an interview promoting the album with Revolver, Shinoda was asked about the possibility of the band reuniting. "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. 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."
One of the best-selling rock acts of the 2000s, Linkin Park has sold more than 29.4 album in the U.S. alone, according to Luminate. It has also topped the Billboard 200 six times, including on the week of May 17, 2017, with One More Light. Sadly, that came just two months before Bennington committed suicide.
