The Hidden Truth Of Linkin Park's New Lead Singer, Emily Armstrong

After years of uncertainty, American rock band Linkin Park returned to the music world in 2024 with a new vocalist: Emily Armstrong. The group had been on a hiatus since its former frontman, Chester Bennington, died by suicide 2017. They played just one tribute concert that year to the 41-year-old musician before taking a step back and leaving fans wondering if Mike Shinoda et al. would ever return.

Return they did with Armstrong, who already had a solid rock band resume — in 2002, she co-founded the rock band Dead Sara. Along with Siouxsie Medley on guitars, Chriss Null on bass, and Sean Friday on drums, the quartet had a break-out single in 2011 with "Weatherman" and signed with Epic Records afterward. They eventually parted ways with the label, self-releasing their second album and releasing their third and most recent, "Ain't it Tragic," in 2021 through Warner Music (minus Null).

Armstrong debuted with Linkin Park in the song "The Emptiness Machine," and in the wake of its release, a wave of praise and criticism flooded in. Not just directed at the music either, but also at Armstrong — her ties to the Church of Scientology became a point of contention among fans and critics, and her life was thrown under the microscope. Here's the hidden truth of Linkin Park's new lead singer.

It all began when Emily Armstrong got a guitar for her 12th birthday. From here, her passion for music blossomed, and she eventually dropped out of La Cañada High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California to pursue her passion full-time. Before she began playing in a band with Siouxsie Medley in 2003, she was going solo — "doing singer-songwriter stuff," as she told El Paso Times in 2012. After writing with Medley under the name Epiphany, the pair played their first show at an LA nightclub in 2005, renaming the group Dead Sara that same year. Dead Sara ended up opening for bands like Muse, Chevelle, and The Used, but it's passion that's always driven Armstrong. "It's therapy for me," she told El Paso Times. "It's the one thing that really keeps me motivated in life in general."

Now, she fronts Linkin Park, and Tidal gives her credit for the composition of "The Emptiness Machine," suggesting she co-wrote it with rest listed: guitarist Brad Delson, bass player Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, DJ Joe Hahn, and vocalist/guitarist Mike Shinoda. Even before joining the group, Linkin Park was a part of her musical journey. When she was young and starting to play with other musicians, she loved their massively popular debut album, "Hybrid Theory." "That was the moment where I was like, I want to sing and scream 'One Step Closer,'" she told Zane Lowe on his Apple Music 1 podcast. "I was like, I could do that. And at the time, I wasn't even a good singer. I was a guitar player in a band, and I just loved being in a band and I was like, I could do that. So of course it gets to this point and just being like, this is crazy."

Emily Armstrong grew up in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. Many aspiring musicians and actors move to the city for its vibrant creative energy and the allure of possible connections in the industry. But Armstrong, it seems, wishes she was born elsewhere.

"I feel like I think I would've been better off growing up somewhere like Franklin, you know what I mean?" she told Adam Lisicky on the "Bringin' it Backwards" podcast. "I love a smaller [town] — I don't know, like for family and stuff like that?" Franklin is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, and the 2020 Decennial Census put its population at 167. "When I go to a smaller town I'm like 'God it's so much more homey,'" she later added.

Armstrong said she likes the "diversity" of bigger cities but noted that before she was in high school, her parents sent her to a boarding school in Santa Clarita because of the high crime rate in LA. "And then there I learned to play guitar and just kind of hunkered down a little bit ... I was able to just kinda hone in and focus, and I just made a band and that's all I did there," she recalled.

Emily Armstrong has faced accusations of being involved with the Church of Scientology. On August 24, 2013, she attended its Celebrity Centre 44th Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles. Above, she appears in a photo from the event alongside Cedric Bixler-Zavala, a former Scientologist and the lead singer of the Mars Volta. According to Vox, her involvement with the religion and alleged cult overlapped with Bixler-Zavala's. 

The outlet also says her parents were reportedly both part of the faith. Per his Substack, Scientology watchdog Tony Ortega spoke to a former follower of the doctrine, Mike Rinder. Rinder told him that Armstrong's mother, Gail, was part of the church's Sea Organization, or SEA Org, which the institution describes as a "religious order ... composed of the singularly most dedicated Scientologists." She was also senior consulting editor of the church's magazine, Freedom, as of 2003, per its website.

Elsewhere, former Scientologist Serge del Marhe said on his YouTube channel that he knew Armstrong when he was a child, and at the time she was a Scientologist just like him. Giovanni Ribisi, an actor and Scientologist, also directed the video for Dead Sara's "Something Good." As Yahoo! Entertainment reported, he was one of the many celebrities — along with Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis — who was supportive of actor, Scientologist, and convicted rapist Danny Masterson. Ribisi wrote a letter to the judge presiding over the trial ahead of sentencing and asked her to consider the disgraced star's daughter. In a 2024 statement addressing her alleged support of Masterson, Armstrong notably did not confirm or deny reports of her ties to the religion — or state whether she is currently involved with the church.

As reported by the Bay Area Reporter, Emily Armstrong identifies as queer, and she has expressed support for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2016, she appeared to be dating model Kate Harrison (above). The pair never publicly confirmed their relationship, but if they were together, it seems it didn't take. According to Elle, as of May 2024, Harrison had been dating actress Chloë Grace Moretz for several years. Possible references to her sexuality have also been noted in her lyrics for Dead Sara. "I heard the voices of the preacher / Telling me all the reasons why I'd die alone ... I'm through feeling sorry / For the things that I can't choose," she sings in the 2018 song "Heaven's Got A Back Door."

On X (formerly Twitter), Oli Hope, content manager for gaming outlet GGRecon, defended Armstrong in the wake of criticism for her reported ties to Scientology. He claimed she is "openly gay," "has been in relationships with women since 2016," "openly supports LGBT rights," and noted Linkin Park's advocacy for mental health support. "All of these things are not supported by the church of Scientology fully at all," he wrote.

Actor Danny Masterson was best-known for his role as Steven Hyde in "That '70s Show." Until 2017, that is, when news surfaced of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation into allegations of rape that four women had leveled against the star. In May 2023, he was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced 30 years to life in prison. And during the high-profile trial, Emily Armstrong was allegedly one of his supporters.

After Linkin Park announced Armstrong as its new singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the husband of Masterson accuser Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, claimed that the musician supported the actor amid the rape allegations. Armstrong took to social media to address the claims, and though she didn't mention the star by name, she said she regrets her purported decision to support him. "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 in an Instagram story. "Soon after, I realized I shouldn't have." She continued to say she always tries to "see the good in people" but "misjudged him" and has not had any contact with him since. "Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty," she continued. "To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or someone you know is dealing with spiritual abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.