Mike Shinoda Says Brad Delson’s Absence from Linkin Park Tour is a “Mental Health Thing”
It’s really seemed for a while now that Linkin Park’s reunion is the biggest thing anyone can talk about in metal — especially after the new album just dropped on Friday — but the band is already down a few members. Obviously original frontman Chester Bennington died by suicide in 2017, but drummer Rob Bourdon opted not to return for the reunion, and back in September we heard that lead guitarist Brad Delson wouldn’t be heading out on the road with the band. For a band that has had pretty much the same lineup since the first album— in fact, they had the same lineup from the moment they changed their name to Linkin Park in 2000 up until Bennington’s death in 2017 —they’re suddenly going through a lot of lineup changes. Well, Mike Shinoda has given us a little insight into why Delson isn’t joining the band on the big upcoming tour, and clarified that Delson is definitely still a full member of the band.
In a recent interview with Zach Sang Show (that was reported on by our friends at Mental Injection) with Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong, Shinoda discussed Delson’s reasons for not wanting to join the tour and how the replacement almost ended up being their new drummer Colin Brittain:
“In case anybody doesn’t understand the dynamic, our guitarist Brad is our guitarist — he’s in the band — but he’s realized that in terms of his… It’s kind of a mental health thing. He doesn’t love the touring and the live show lifestyle, and so he is our guitarist, but he’s not playing live.
“So he’s chosen… he found a guy named Alex who’s spectacular, a really good guitarist and they get along great, and Brad chose Alex to play his parts live. But at the time, we hadn’t met Alex, and so we asked [drummer and producer Colin Brittain]. I was, like, ‘Brad needs somebody to play guitar, and we need a drummer. You do both equally well. What would you wanna do?’ And he was just like a kid in a candy store. I think he said, ‘I can’t believe what you’re asking me right now.’ He was so excited.”
The interview kind of veers off into other topics after that and we never really get an explanation as to why Brittain ended up on drums instead of as a touring guitarist. Still, with the band down two members in the studio and three on the road, it’s starting to feel a little less like Linkin Park and a little more like a new band. Sure, a lot of metal bands replace many if not all of their band members, but Linkin Park has not traditionally been one of those so it’s a little weird to see them with so many new faces. But I guess people are enjoying it so who am I to be a spoilsport?
If you’re excited to see 2/3 of Linkin Park, you can find the dates for their world tour below.
FROM ZERO WORLD TOUR 2025
January 31, 2025 | Estadio GNP Seguros – Mexico City, MX =
February 3, 2025 | Estadio 3 de Marzo – Guadalajara, MX =
February 5, 2025 | Estadio Banorte – Monterrey, MX =
February 11, 2025 | Saitama Super Arena – Tokyo, JP
February 12, 2025 | Saitama Super Arena – Tokyo, JP
February 16, 2025 | Venue TBA – Jakarta, ID
April 12, 2025 | Sick New World Festival – Las Vegas, NV *
April 26, 2025 | Moody Center – Austin, TX ^
April 28, 2025 | BOK Center – Tulsa, OK ^
May 1, 2025 | Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, MI ^
May 3, 2025 | CFG Bank Arena – Baltimore, MD ^
May 6, 2025 | Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC ^
May 8, 2025 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, SC ^
May 10, 2025 | Sonic Temple – Columbus, OH *
May 17, 2025 | Welcome to Rockville – Daytona, FL *
June 12, 2025 | Novarock Festival -Nickelsdorf, AT *
June 14, 2025 | Rock for People Festival – Hradec Kralove, CZ *
June 16, 2025 | Heinz-Von-Heiden Arena – Hannover, DE ~
June 18, 2025 | Olympiastadion – Berlin, DE ~
June 20, 2025 | Bernexpo – Bern, CH
June 24, 2025 | I-DAYS Festival – Milan, IT *
June 26, 2025 | Gelredome – Arnhem, NL $
June 28, 2025 | Wembley Stadium – London, UK $&
July 1, 2025 | Merkur Spiel Arena – Dusseldorf, DE ~&
July 3, 2025 | Rock Werchter Festival – Werchter, BE *
July 5, 2025 | Open’er Festival – Gdynia, PL *
July 8, 2025 | Deutsche Bank Park – Frankfurt, DE ~&
July 11, 2025 | Stade de France – Paris, FR
July 29, 2025 | Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY+
August 1, 2025 | TD Garden – Boston, MA +
August 3, 2025 | Prudential Center – Newark, NJ +
August 6, 2025 | Bell Centre – Montreal, QC +
August 8, 2025 | Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON +
August 11, 2025 | United Center – Chicago, IL +
August 14, 2025 | Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI +
August 16, 2025 | Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA #
August 19, 2025 | PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA #
August 21, 2025 | Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN #
August 23, 2025 | Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO #
August 25, 2025 | Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, WI #
August 27, 2025 | Target Center – Minneapolis, MN #
August 29, 2025 | CHI Health Center – Omaha, NE #
August 31, 2025 | T-Mobile Center – Kansas City, MO #
September 3, 2025 | Ball Arena – Denver, CO #
September 6, 2025 | Footprint Center – Phoenix, AZ #
September 13, 2025 | Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA !&
September 15, 2025 | SAP Center – San Jose, CA &
September 17, 2025 | Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, CA &
September 19, 2025 | Moda Center – Portland, OR &
September 21, 2025 | Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC &
September 24, 2025 | Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA &
October 26, 2025 | Venue TBA – Bogota, CO
October 29, 2025 | Venue TBA – Lima, PE
November 1, 2025 | Venue TBA – Buenos Aires, AR
November 5, 2025 | Venue TBA – Santiago, CL
November 8, 2025 | Venue TBA – Rio de Janeiro, BR
November 10, 2025 | Venue TBA – São Paulo, BR
November 13, 2025 | Venue TBA – Brasilia, BR
November 15, 2025 | Venue TBA – Porto Alegre, BR
*Festival Performance
! With support from Queens of the Stone Age
$ With support from Spiritbox
= With support from AFI
~ With support from Architects
^ With support from grandson
# With support from Jean Dawson
& With support from JPEGMAFIA
+ With support from PVRIS
