Touring can be a strain on any artist’s mental health, and Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson has found that to be true. That’s why he’s sitting out of the band’s comeback shows, according to co-vocalist Mike Shinoda.

 

The band returned in September for the first time since the death of co-vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017 with news of a new album, From Zero, touring plans and a revamped line-up. Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara joined as a vocalist, as did Colin Brittain on drums, replacing longtime drummer Rob Bourdon.

 

 

“He doesn’t love the touring and the live show lifestyle, and so he is our guitarist, but he’s not playing live. 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.”

 

Shinoda adds that Brittain was also a contender to take over as live guitarist before he ended up as the drummer. “But at the time, we hadn’t met Alex, and so we asked Colin. 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.”

 

 

He continues: “I just love working with Colin. I met him in sessions and then was bringing him in to help with writing and production. And then eventually we were, like, ‘Hey, dude, it turns out we need somebody to play drums.’ I know that’s his primary instrument. So I was, like, ‘Is that something you would wanna do? It would mean stepping away from your production career.’”