Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda shuts down idea of Chester Bennington hologram

20 March 2023, 15:04 | Updated: 20 March 2023, 15:09

The Linkin Park rocker has ruled out the possibility of the band ever performing with an avatar of their late bandmate, calling it a ”creepy".

Mike Shinoda has slammed the idea of a Chester Bennington hologram.

The Linkin Park frontman tragically lost his life to suicide, aged 41, on 20th July 2017 and his bandmate has shut down the idea of him ever appearing on stage as an avatar for fans.

As reported by Variety, speaking on 94.5 The Buzz, when the radio host said she’d pay “good money” to see something similar, Sinoda interjected: “Those are creepy”.

He added: “Even if we weren’t talking about [Linkin Park], if we weren’t talking about Chester, which is…that’s a very sensitive subject, and we would have our feelings about how we would represent that. For me, that’s a clear no. I’m not into that.”

READ MORE: Linkin Park to release unheard Chester Bennington track

Last month saw the surviving members of the band - completed by Brad Delson, Tob Bourdo, Joe Hahn and Dave Farrell - release a previously unheard track from the late frontman.

Taking to Twitter, the band shared a snipped of the song, with the caption: "Lost, a new, never-before-heard song from the Meteora archives. Out Friday, February 10th."

Watch the official video for the track, which features an animated, manga-style, version of the band:

Lost [Official Music Video] - Linkin Park

Shortly after Bennington's death, Linkin Park put on a tribute concert in October 2017, which saw the likes of Blink 182, Korn's Jon Davies, Gavin Rossdale and System of A Down perform.

The charity gig, which raised money for Music For Relief's One More Light fund, also saw Shinoda give a heartbreaking performance of, Looking For An Answer, a tribute track he penned eight days after Bennington's passing.

Mike Shinoda sings Looking For An Answer

Speaking to the crowd before playing the track, he said: "The thing that helps us get through it all is each other and I'm very grateful for that, so thank you."

The band also played their classics for the first time without their frontman, such as In The End and their recent One More Light single.

In May last year, Linkin Park told fans they will start communicating with them "a little more regularly".

In a statement posted on Instagram, they said: "Two decades in and our LP community continues to inspire us.

"Your passion and dedication is the lifeblood of what we’ve built together with you. And it doesn’t go unnoticed.

"We thought it was about time to begin sharing a little more regularly with you.

"Starting this month, we’ll be putting (digital) pen to (digital) paper to share NOTES FROM THE BAND - tiny snapshots into our daily misadventures, from us each month.

"There’s no concrete plan, but that’s what we like about it. Until then…

“All our best, Rob, Brad, Dave, Joe, Mike."

READ MORE: Linkin Park's In The End becomes first nu-metal track to surpass one billion streams