At the time, LinkinPark.com was showing a YouTube livestream with the same countdown timer and a live chat full of fan speculation. Many fans were guessing that the band might announce a new vocalist to replace Chester Bennington, who died by suicide in July 2017 at age 41.
In fact, some Linkin Park fans were actually speculating that Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley might have been filling in for the late Chester Bennington as Linkin Park’s new lead vocalist.
However, we have since found out that when the countdown reached zero, the timer on their website switched to counting up, with no announcement made, and this disappointed fans in a major way. Some fans noticed that the timer glitched at specific times, including exactly at 9:05, leading them to think an announcement might come on September 5th.
Shortly after the countdown ended, Linkin Park’s Twitter/X account posted, “It’s only a matter of time…”. The mystery continues, and it’s unclear when the countdown will end or what the band is planning to reveal, so all fans can do right is wait and hope for a proper announcement.
https://x.com/linkinpark/status/1828860096413106219
https://x.com/LPLive/status/1828864124115190201
