Linkin Park performed their single “The Emptiness Machine” from their latest album, From Zero, the band’s first without late lead singer Chester Bennington, at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards.
Pretaped from their Nov. 15 show in São Paulo, Mike Shinoda and new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong shared an energetic duet that closed out the awards ceremony. This is one of Linkin Park’s first awards show performances with Armstrong. The new iteration of the band previously performed at the NRJ Music Awards in November.
The Billboard Music Awards ceremony also include-d performances from Coldplay, Fuerza Regida, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Teddy Swims, Tyla, Seventeen, Shaboozey and Stray Kids.
The decision to continue the group without Bennington was announced in early September by Shinoda. “This is a very special day for us,” Shinoda told fans during a livestream. “In the role of Chester Bennington, this afternoon is each of you.”
Replacing Bennington, who died by suicide in 2017 following the release of Linkin Park’s album One More Light, was met with criticism from Bennington’s son Jaime and some fans, in part due to Armstrong’s ties to the Church of Scientology and her friendship with Danny Masterson, who was convicted of raping two women.
In an Instagram Story shared days after the news of Armstrong’s addition was announced by the band, Jaime called out Shinoda for what he said was erasing his “father’s life and legacy in real time” and hiring his “friend of many years” to step in in place of the late musician “knowing Emily’s history in the church and her history as an ally” to Masterson.
Two days before Jaime’s comment, Armstrong had released a statement on social media expressing her regret over supporting Masterson. “Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance and went to one early hearing as an observer,” she wrote. “Soon after, I realized that I shouldn’t have. I always try to see good in people, and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since. Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty.”
