Linkin Park co-vocalist Mike Shinoda told Billboard that the healing process for him and his bandmates is ongoing, five months after singer Chester Bennington‘s suicide. Shinoda explained, “Grief is a non-linear process. It doesn’t have ‘stages’ that go in order, it has phases that come and go at random. Some people are having sad days, others are having good days, others are having angry days . . . add the constant stress and fear of things like the news cycle, and you’ve got some exceptional chaos on your hands.”
Shinoda continued, “I’ve tried to make it a point to share how I’m doing, mostly on Instagram and sometimes Twitter, especially when I feel like I’m making progress. Coping with the end of this chapter is obviously devastating, but at the same time, it’s also the beginning of the next story.”
On Friday (Dec 15th), Linkin Park released a concert album titled One More Light Live. Recorded on the band’s last world tour, it features 16 songs, including “Crawling,” “Numb,” “What I’ve Done,” “Heavy” and the title track from the group’s latest studio album, One More Light.
The tour was the band’s last with Bennington, who took his own life at the age of 41 last July. Linkin Park paid tribute to Bennington on Oct 27th with an emotional three-hour show that featured numerous guests joining the band onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Among the performers were members of Korn, Bush, Avenged Sevenfold, No Doubt, Blink-182 and Bring Me The Horizon.
Linkin Park has yet to announce whether the band intends to continue without Bennington. (The Pulse Of Radio and Loudwire reporting.)
Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix admitted in a new interview with Detroit radio station and hardDrive affiliate WRIF he’s faced many of the same issues that might have driven Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington to take his own life last July. Shaddix explained, “The reality is I’ve struggled with a lot of the same demons he’s struggled with and I understand the darkness.”
Shaddix continued, “Sometimes it just feels like everything is just way too heavy and you just can’t handle life. And it’s tough sometimes. I’m just glad I’m still breathing because (Bennington’s death) really just hit me hard. It made me go, ‘Ugh. That’s just too heavy.’ We lost some good ones in this last year, for real.”
Shaddix admitted to us a while back that he came close to committing suicide five years ago as he struggled with both marital problems and falling off the wagon: “Those thoughts were flashing in my head. I’m like, ‘I’m over it. I just can’t deal with this pain.’ You know, I was gutted. And I remember I was in my car, driving to Sausalito to do the deed, you know. I was like, I was done, you know. And like, I just realized, like, I’m not done living. There’s so much more in my life that I want to do and I need to do, you know, just — those moments of clarity are what saved me, you know. I started thinking about those things and what I’m grateful for in my life.”
Shaddix told WRIF that he “knew (Bennington) quite well,” adding, “I went out to dinner with him about a month before all that went down. He just had great advice to give me and was just super friendly and I just thought everything was cool.”
Papa Roach will head out on a spring North American tour next year with guests Nothing More and Escape The Fate. The trek kicks off on Apr 5th in Raleigh, NC and will hit 25 cities before wrapping up in Corpus Christi, TX on May 13th. Papa Roach is touring in support of its ninth LP, Crooked Teeth, which features the singles “Help” and “Born For Greatness.” (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio, Blabbermouth, WRIF)
Skillet has teamed up with former Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm on a track and video called “Breaking Free.” The song can be found on the deluxe edition of Skillet’s 10th studio album, Unleashed. The set, titled Unleashed Beyond, features five previously unreleased new songs, plus remixes of four tunes including “Feel Invincible,” “The Resistance,” and “Stars.”
Skillet frontman John Cooper told us he’s thrilled with the success Unleashed has had since its August 2016 release: “Honestly, I’m so on top of the world, man (laughs). Having a great time. I’m thrilled that fans still care, you know, they’re supporting us and loving the record and I think we’re getting some new fans. The biggest piece is that radio has really embraced this album. That’s what you’ve got to get if you’re gonna get out to people, and radio really embraced it, which I’m really appreciative of.”
Skillet recently earned a Gold sales award for the title track from Unleashed, while the band’s mainstream breakthrough, 2009’s Awake, was certified double platinum for sales of more than two million copies. Skillet is just one of two Christian artists to receive the latter honor over the last 10 years. They’ve sold a total of 12 million albums worldwide.
Stone Temple Pilots released the lyric video for their new single, “Meadow.” It’s the first track from the group to feature new singer Jeff Gutt. Guitarist Dean DeLeo told us “Meadow” was one of the first songs that the band worked on with Gutt: “That was a song we wrote a while back — we had that song tracked with Robert (DeLeo, bass), Eric (Kretz, drums) and myself. And that was one of the songs we threw at Jeff, you know, when he got up behind the mic. We really threw him right into the fire, man. We went right to Robert’s house, had the mic set up, like, ‘Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.’ And that was one of the songs he wrote a melody for that day.”
Gutt, a one-time X Factor contestant, was announced as the third frontman in STP’s history on November 14th, making his live debut with the band that night during a special performance in Los Angeles. Gutt originally auditioned for STP in September 2016 and became an official member of the band last May. He has spent the last year secretly writing and recording new material for STP’s seventh studio LP, due out in early 2018.
STP had been without a vocalist since November 2015, when Chester Bennington — who joined the group in early 2013 — departed to spend more time with his main band Linkin Park. Bennington committed suicide last July. Original singer Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose. (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio and Blabbermouth)
Did you see Foo Fighters on SNL? I think it’s funny Dave Grohl chews gum while singing. I also think he had a cold. And what’s with the new back up singers? Hmmm, was that just for SNL or will they now be traveling with these singers? Anyhow, The Pulse Of Radio says organizers of a Foo Fighters concert last Saturday (Dec 9th) in Billings, MT scrambled at the last minute to find a bomb-sniffing dog as per the band’s security requirements. According to local TV station KTVQ, a local dog group fell through and the arena staff made calls nationwide, eventually locating one in Atlanta that would cost the venue $7,500 in additional expenses.
But when bad weather prevented the dogs from leaving Atlanta on time, the search had to start again. This time a group in Missoula, Montana was located. They were able to travel Friday night and be ready for work on Saturday, all for $2,000.
The two grand was on top of the $50,000 spent to install a dozen brand new metal detectors, another request from the Foos. The venue’s general manager, however, said that the metal detectors would be used for all events in the future. MetraPark marketing director Ray Massie told the station, “It really was a team effort. It’s just another thing we do to make sure that shows get to come to Billings and are comfortable coming to Billings.”
The Foo Fighters tour manager called last year for an overhaul of security procedures at venues across the country, arguing that additional measures make sense during an era of increased violence at public events. Foo Fighters will play in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve (Dec 31st) and will launch a spring 2018 North American tour next April. (The Pulse Of Radio and KTVQ.com)
Celebrating life today: Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones is 74. Steven Spielberg is 71, Stone Cold Steve Austin is 53 and DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit is 45.
