Susan Eubanks, Chester Bennington’s mother, said she felt “betrayed” after Linkin Park announced its 2024 return without notifying her in advance. In an interview with Rolling Stone published on September 20, 2024, Eubanks said she, Chester’s first wife Samantha Bennington and his son Draven learned about the reunion through the band’s public announcement and online coverage rather than from the surviving members.
Her criticism centered on both the lack of advance notice and Emily Armstrong’s decision to perform songs originally recorded with Chester. Samantha Bennington later disputed important parts of Eubanks’s account, making the controversy a dispute over private communications and recollections—not an established finding that Linkin Park deliberately erased Chester or was required to obtain the family’s approval.
What Linkin Park announced
Linkin Park announced its return in early September 2024, seven years after Chester Bennington died in 2017. The new configuration brought back Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix and Joe Hahn. Emily Armstrong joined as vocalist, while Colin Brittain became the band’s drummer.
The group also announced a new album, From Zero, released on November 15, 2024. The album’s title referred both to the band’s early identity as Xero and to the idea of beginning another chapter. The returning members described the project as a continuation of their creative relationship rather than an attempt to pretend the Bennington era had not happened.
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At a September 11, 2024 concert, Shinoda said the band was not trying to erase the past and characterized the project as a new chapter. That is Linkin Park’s stated framing of the reunion; it does not settle how Eubanks or other members of Chester’s family experienced the announcement.
For listeners who want the release associated with the new lineup, the physical edition of Linkin Park’s From Zero is available in the band’s official catalog. Buying the album is simply a way to own or hear the new recording; it does not resolve or take a position on the family dispute.
Why Eubanks said she felt betrayed
Eubanks told Rolling Stone that she had expected the family to be informed before any reunion became public. She said that she, Samantha and Draven were not contacted before the announcement and that she discovered Armstrong’s involvement through Google and the band’s livestream.
According to Eubanks, she had previously spoken with or encountered Shinoda and Joe Hahn, and she understood from those interactions that the family would be kept informed about the band’s future. Her account therefore involved more than disappointment over the musical direction: she described the failure to receive advance notice as a breach of what she believed had been promised.
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Those alleged conversations have not been independently documented in the available reporting. Linkin Park’s representative declined to comment to both Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times in the immediate coverage. The allegation should consequently be attributed to Eubanks rather than presented as a verified agreement between the band and the family.
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Her objection to Armstrong singing Chester’s parts
Eubanks also objected to hearing Armstrong perform songs that Chester had originally recorded. She said she briefly watched the reunion livestream, became upset, left the stream and cried. Eubanks said she might have accepted Shinoda performing the material himself, but did not accept another singer taking on Chester’s vocal role.
That reaction was personal and emotional. It should not be treated as an independent assessment of Armstrong’s ability or as evidence that Armstrong was attempting to impersonate Chester. Armstrong assumed the band’s live and recording vocal role after Bennington’s death, while the songs themselves remained part of Linkin Park’s established catalog.
Eubanks described the new lineup as an attempt to erase the past. That was her characterization, not an established motive. Shinoda publicly offered the opposite explanation, saying the band was starting a new chapter rather than deleting its history.
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Eubanks also recalled Chester telling her that Shinoda had once suggested the band could replace him with a woman if he left. The claim appeared in the coverage as Eubanks’s recollection and was not independently corroborated in the available reports.
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That detail is especially difficult to treat as settled fact because other family testimony challenged portions of Eubanks’s account. It is more accurate to describe it as a disputed recollection than as proof that the 2024 reunion had been planned as a way to replace Chester.
Samantha Bennington challenged Eubanks’s account
After the Rolling Stone interview appeared, Samantha Bennington disputed Eubanks’s description of her own relationship and communications with Shinoda. Samantha said she had not spoken with Shinoda since her marriage to Chester and had not seen him since before their divorce in 2005.
Samantha also suggested that Eubanks may have confused Linkin Park with Grey Daze, Chester’s earlier band. Her comments do not erase Eubanks’s feelings or disprove every part of her account, but they do make the alleged promises and prior communications contested.
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The distinction matters. The public record supports several straightforward facts: Linkin Park returned, Armstrong joined as vocalist, Brittain joined as drummer, Eubanks said she felt betrayed, and Samantha challenged aspects of Eubanks’s recollection. The available reporting does not establish that the band intentionally excluded the family, intended to erase Chester or had a formal obligation to secure the family’s approval.
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Did Linkin Park respond?
There was no detailed public response from Linkin Park in the immediate reports. A representative declined to comment to Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times.
Shinoda did address the broader meaning of the return, presenting it as a creative reconnection among surviving members and a forward-looking chapter. That statement explains the band’s public position, but it does not directly answer Eubanks’s claim that the family should have been notified privately.
Nor does the absence of a detailed response prove that Eubanks’s account was correct or incorrect. The dispute concerns private conversations for which the available coverage provides conflicting testimony and no complete documentary record.
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The 2024 return was not a one-off tribute performance. Linkin Park recorded and released From Zero, continued performing with Armstrong and Brittain, and remained active under the Linkin Park name. The band’s official music catalog lists From Zero, released November 15, 2024, and From Zero (Deluxe Edition), released May 16, 2025.
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A Guardian interview published in July 2025 described Armstrong as fronting the band alongside Shinoda and discussed the backlash surrounding the transition, including Eubanks’s criticism. The continuation of the lineup demonstrates that the comeback became an ongoing recording and touring era, but it did not resolve the underlying disagreement with Chester’s family.
Fans interested in revisiting Chester-era Linkin Park can also look to the band’s debut studio album, Hybrid Theory, including its CD edition. That is a legacy-catalog option rather than a statement about whether the reunion was appropriate, and listening to it cannot settle the family’s conflicting accounts.
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| Supported by the available reporting | Still disputed or unverified |
|---|---|
| Linkin Park announced a return in September 2024. | Whether the band promised Eubanks or other relatives that they would receive advance notice. |
| Emily Armstrong joined as vocalist and Colin Brittain joined as drummer. | Whether the surviving members intentionally excluded Chester’s family. |
| From Zero was released on November 15, 2024. | Whether the reunion was intended to erase Chester’s legacy. |
| Eubanks said she felt betrayed and objected to Armstrong performing Chester’s songs. | The accuracy and context of Eubanks’s recollection about Shinoda discussing a female replacement. |
| Samantha Bennington publicly challenged parts of Eubanks’s account. | Whether private conversations occurred exactly as either account describes. |
The most careful description is therefore not that Linkin Park “replaced” Chester as a person. Rather, after his death, the surviving members resumed the band with a new vocalist performing both new material and songs from the group’s earlier catalog. Eubanks viewed that decision and the way it was announced as deeply hurtful; Linkin Park presented it as a new creative chapter; and Samantha disputed parts of the family account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Chester Bennington’s mother say she felt betrayed?
Susan Eubanks said Linkin Park had indicated that the family would be informed about a possible reunion, but she said she learned about the 2024 return and Emily Armstrong’s involvement through online coverage and the band’s public livestream instead. She also objected to Armstrong performing songs Chester had recorded.
Did Linkin Park say it was trying to erase Chester Bennington?
No. That was Eubanks’s characterization of the reunion. Mike Shinoda said the return was not about erasing the past and described it as a new chapter. The available reporting does not establish the band’s private intentions beyond those public statements.
Did Samantha Bennington agree with Eubanks’s account?
No. Samantha disputed important parts of Eubanks’s story, saying she had not spoken with Mike Shinoda since her marriage to Chester and had not seen him since before their 2005 divorce. She suggested Eubanks may have confused Linkin Park with Grey Daze.
Was the 2024 Linkin Park reunion only a single performance?
No. The band went on to release From Zero, issue a deluxe edition, tour and continue with Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain. The ongoing lineup did not resolve the separate dispute involving Chester’s family.
The Bottom Line
Eubanks’s sense of betrayal came from what she described as a broken promise to notify the family and from hearing another vocalist perform Chester’s songs. Those feelings are clearly part of the story, but the underlying communications remain disputed. Linkin Park’s return became an ongoing musical project with Emily Armstrong, not a settled judgment about Chester Bennington’s legacy or his family’s relationship with the band.
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