Linkin Park Mike Shinoda's Comments About The Future Of The Band Are A Must-Read For '90s Kids

The music world is still mourning the death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. The future of the band has been pretty up in the air since then, and many fans have questioned if Linkin Park will continue to perform without Bennington in the future. There's no telling how many times the band has had to answer questions on this subject, but the group's co-founder, Mike Shinoda, still isn't quite sure about what's next.

Shinoda recently took to Instagram live to answer some fan questions, and when the question of Linkin Park's future was brought up, the 40-year-old musician was quick to rule out one option: A holographic Chester Bennington. "Can we not do a holographic Chester? I can’t even wrap my head around the idea of a holographic Chester," he said, according to Billboard. The artist continued,

"I've actually heard other people outside the band suggest that, and there’s absolutely no way...I can’t do a hologram Chester you guys, that would be the worst. For any of you guys who have lost a loved one, best friend, family member, can you imagine having a hologram of them? Awful. I can't do it. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we'll figure it out eventually."

It's hard not to agree with Shinoda's take on this one. Any Linkin Park performance that included the entire group was probably a memorable experience in an of itself, and it's nice to know that technology has come such a long way that creating holograms of past icons is even possible at all. But you have to admit that there's something a little eerie about watching a performer come back to life in the form of a hologram.

The music world was hit hard this summer by the news of Bennington's death. The singer died of suicide, and was found in his home in Los Angeles on the morning of July 20. According to Rolling Stone, the 41-year-old was on vacation in Arizona with his wife and family at the time, but he returned to LA citing that he needed to work. Bennington was found dead in his Palos Verdes Estates home just before Linkin Park was set to hit 29 cities for their North American tour.

Many of Bennington's fans expressed their shock over the sad news of his death via social media. Some fans paid tribute to him by taking a moment to share how Linkin Park's music helped them get through hard times, while others used the news as a way to spark a conversation about mental health in the music industry.

Following his bandmate's death in July, Shinoda tweeted that he was "shocked and heartbroken" at the news before the band was able to give their fans an official statement.

This past Friday, Dec. 15, Linkin Park released One More Night Live, a 16-track compilation that features songs from the European leg of band’s tour of the same name. The band's album, One More Light, was originally released in May, and it debuted at number one in the Billboard 200. The live version was released as a tribute to Bennington.

Linkin Park dropped a video for "One More Light" in September, and it features visuals and concert footage of the singer performing and surrounded by fans. The band also announced around the same time that they'd be performing in a one-off concert event to commemorate Bennington's life. The concert took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and featured appearances from Blink-182, No Doubt, Avenged Sevenfold, System of a Down, and other artists.

The band hasn't announced any plans to perform moving forward, as they're still in the healing process, according to Shinoda.