According to Mike Shinoda, executives tried to trick Chester Bennington into dropping bandmates and forming a solo project before the first album was even out.
Since it was established with this name, in 1999, the Linkin Park practically did not undergo line-up changes. the bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell he was out between 1999 and 2000, but the group remained together until the singer’s death Chester Benningtonin 2017.
The friendship was really strong. Otherwise, the project could have presented itself to the world quite differently.
Who says that is the co-vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinodain an interview with Apple Music 1 (via Revolver Magazine). The artist revealed that executives from the band’s label, Warner Musictried a very traitorous move behind him so that the group continued with only Bennington on the main microphone, turning everything into a kind of solo project of his.
The situation, of course, arose before the Linkin Park reach stardom soon with their first album, Hybrid Theory (2000). Nobody imagined that the group would sell so many records and play such crowded shows right away, so there was a certain fear with the sound presented there.
Initially, executives approached the band as a whole, trying to change their sound. Shinoda recalls:
“There was a question from the record company like, ‘well, the singer is so good.’ At one point they kept trying to intrude on our creative process and change the DNA of the band. And at one point, there was a suggestion, ‘well maybe you just do the lead vocalist [Chester] sing, without any rap [de Mike]which to all of us was an offensive suggestion.”
attack from the back
As the members of Linkin Park did not want to change the sound — based on two vocalists and a mixture of rock, hip hop and electronic music —, the label’s suits tried to act around Chester Bennington. The idea was to make him give up being in the band and work the newly signed contract as a solo project, which would bring more spotlight to him.
If the singer didn’t have character and wasn’t friends with the other members, maybe this could have happened. Fortunately, Bennington maintained his integrity, as Mike Shinoda points out:
“They went straight to Chester and were like, ‘Let’s build a new thing around you. You are the star, it must be all around you. We don’t need those other guys’. Then Chester took us aside, and said, ‘Hey, y’all need to know, they did this to me today. They said these things to me.’ And he told the whole conversation. And we were all like, ‘F#ta m#rda’. In my head, I’m like, ‘Oh, man. This is the beginning of the end’. Right? Because they’re right, he’s amazing and we need him. I don’t know if he needs us. But in the end, he just told the guys to go fuck themselves. He supported us and he had our support. One for all all for one.”
Dave Farrell, who was also participating in the interview, highlighted how his late friend trusted Linkin Park’s success:
“Chester was on board most of all, maybe even leading the charge: ‘we’re going to do it our way or we’re not going to do anything.’ He was a champion at that in many ways.”
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
