Today, I discovered that, after seven years and the tragic loss of their lead singer, my favorite band has returned. With a live concert, Linkin Park announced a new album, a new tour, a new drummer, and, yes, a new lead singer.
How do you replace the voice that healed an entire generation? How do you perform the classics the same way? How do you make the music you used to make? You don’t. You can’t do any of those things. All you can do is start from scratch. And, to their credit, that’s what Linkin Park chose to do.
The new singer, Emily Armstrong, will never scream like Chester Bennington. The new album title, From Zero, quite literally admits the band’s reset. And the new shows? They will be different too.
Sometimes, you can’t keep going. Only stop or start over. But just because the future will be different from the one you imagined does not mean it’s not a future worth walking into. Have the courage to build anew.