Rainmakers III: Mike Shinoda Q&A With Zach Sang (Pollstar Live! Panel Recap)

Pollstar Live! isn’t just a convention to network and learn the tricks of the trade from live entertainment professionals. It’s also a safe space to share stories about the challenges of working in the industry, and some of the best behind-the-scenes tales came from Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda, who joined broadcaster Zach Sang on a panel to discuss his band’s return prominence after a seven-year hiatus with new music and its most ambitious tour yet.

Following the death of co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017, the band stepped away from touring and reissued their popular albums, and Shinoda admitted that he and his bandmates were in shambles three years ago.

“We had a million questions about what Link Park was, about what our friendship was,” Shinoda said. “Are we going to just sail off into the sunset and let people listen to the catalog and be cool with that? It’s a great option, a huge thing to just be able to do that. We’d be lucky.”

With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide and two Grammy Awards, Linkin Park could have just relied on its catalog, but Shinoda felt like he had to try and ask some of the difficult questions.

“I remember having one of the more pivotal conversations with Joe Hahn,” Shinoda recounted. “I remember sitting at this wooden table at breakfast, and I was like, ‘If we went back out there, there’s no guaranteeing we headline. Like, we can come back out and people could be like, I don’t like that, I don’t like what they’re doing, and the fanbase could be smaller.’

“Joe didn’t even flinch. He just looked me right in the face and said, ‘Oh, I’d totally do that.’ I was like, OK, this band is very much alive. I wasn’t thinking about answering my own question. I was just saying it out loud, and the fact that he came back, and he wasn’t wavering in his response, I was so impressed by that. It really galvanized the effort going forward.”

Linkin Park found its spark, and it later found a new vocalist in Emily Armstrong. Despite being away from the limelight for seven years, the band quickly reminded fans and everyone in the industry why it was one of the most successful rock acts of the 21^st century with a massively successful livestream announcing its return.

The band posted cryptic messages that included a time and date (Sept. 5, 3 p.m. PT), prompting many rumors about the new vocalist. Linkin Park not only introduced Armstrong to their fans but also unveiled new music and a nine-date arena tour around the globe. The livestream was a successful marketing tool that built anticipation and allowed the band to see where the viewers were from.

“Part of the reason for doing it that way was because … the lineup was new, we hadn’t played in a long time,” he said. “By the numbers, we knew we had fans [in regions we visited], but we had so much missing data. Like, we didn’t know where they were in some cases or how they would even react.

“We wanted to understand our modern fanbase, and the second thing is we wanted to almost like reward the people who were there for this new day one.”

It was a bold strategy that paid off for Linkin Park, who then announced a 50-plus date world tour for 2025.

“This year is the most aggressive touring year we’ve had in many, many years,” Shinoda said.

It’s also the most unique trek they’ve ever been on because they’ve never been on the road with a female band member.

“We’re trying to question our own norms. How do we get around? The truth is, we should ask that question to figure out that new version of what that is,” Shinoda said. “How do we do dressing rooms because we have a woman in the band? We never had to think about that. It’s great. It’s the best. I was just talking to the team about the fact that we got a lot of new faces on the crew as well. I think the crew is a very diverse crew and represents who the band is.”

Fans can also expect a diverse set each night for the “From Zero World Tour,” which will feature multiple setlists, according to Shinoda.