Lzzy Hale Covers “Crawling,” Fuels Linkin Park Vocalist Rumors

There’s been so much Linkin Park fodder the last couple of weeks that it’s almost hard to keep up with. They put up that long ass countdown that meant nothing, only for it to lead to another countdown (or countup, if that’s a thing?) that led to an announcement of something else and then there’s an event and good grief. But one of the things on everyone’s minds happens to do with that “open” vocalist slot in the band if/when they reunite, and who it might go to. Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale covered “Crawling” on her Instagram the other day, leading people to think that it could be her.

All of this started because of Orgy’s Jay Gordon. He had to go and open his big mouth and say that Linkin Park intends to reunite with a female vocalist at some point. Even though he tried to backtrack out of that, that’s not how rumors work, and we’ve been running with that ever since. That, plus maybe Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 filling those shoes, but we all knew that wasn’t going to be true. Amy Lee from Evanescence was also a possibility but has since shut the rumor down. She’d be good at it though. I love her.

Hale would be a good choice, too. Her voice can vacillate between melodic harmonies and true grit in a way that would honor Chester Bennington well. She also, like everyone else on Earth with a brain and good music taste, has such a high level of respect and love for Chester that I imagine it would be a big fuckin honor to sing more of his songs on stage.

During a tribute to Chester only a few days after his passing back in 2017, Hale shared a loving message for him before her band’s performance. She spoke highly of him and lowly of how making fun of anyone for their mental health and cyberbullying were parasites that should be stopped.

“Chester, we loved you, you will be missed, and I’m so sorry you felt you had to leave this way. But all of the men and women you healed with your music, you reminded us we are not alone. Your music and message will live on. Thank you for your time, Chester we love you.”

Even though she only shared a few seconds of her covering “Crawling,” it’s easy to picture her doing the whole thing, in her own way that honors Chester beautifully.