Before Emily Armstrong was in Linkin Park, she was a Linkin Park fan.
“I was in a band when [Hybrid Theory] came out,” she told Billboard after being announced as the group’s new vocalist. “‘One Step Closer’ was the song for me, and I was just like, ‘Holy sh*t, that’s what I want to do. As a singer, I want to be able to scream.’ That album was everything. I’ve listened to it a trillion times.”
Armstrong went with a different song from Hybrid Theory for a Linkin Park-inspired tattoo, however. She shared a photo in an Instagram Story showing ink on her arm that reads “In The End,” a nod to the fourth and highest-charting single from the 2000 album. The tattoo is in two different fonts: one for “In” and “End” and another for “The.” As noted by Loudwire, “Previously, just ‘The END’ had been tattooed on the singer’s arm.”
You can see the tattoo here.
Armstrong previously discussed the pressure of joining Linkin Park (RIP Chester). “There is so much to this band — this is a very, very important band to this world. And the integrity of the band was really helpful in keeping me grounded… And going into these [older] songs, by a singular voice that’s beloved by so many people — it’s like, ‘How do I be myself in this, but also carry on the emotion and what he brought in this band?’ That was the work that I had to do,” she told Billboard. “I [had] to identify what the song meant to me as a singer, not just as someone listening to it… It’s Chester’s voice, and it’s mine, but I want it to still feel the way I feel when I listen to the song, because that’s what the fans love. There is a passion to it that I’m hoping I can fill.”
Linkin Park is going on tour in 2025.
