'Chester was one in a billion'

Former Of Mice & Men frontman Austin Carlile has responded to rumours that he’ll be joining Linkin Park as a replacement for the late Chester Bennington.

Bennington took his own life last year after a battle with depression. While vocalist Mike Shinoda has since returned with a new solo album, the future of Linkin Park as a whole remains uncertain.

However, Carlile sparked speculation that he would be joining the band this week, as he started to tease his return to music on social media.

“It’s not over yet. The newest next chapter is coming,” he wrote on Instagram, as well as sharing a clip of himself performing with Linkin Park.

However, he soon took to Twitter to deny the reports.

“Chester is one in a billion,” he replied. “There’s no way myself or anyone else for that matter would ever be able to replace him. Performing ‘Faint’ every night on our European tour together & festivals stateside, was one of the most special memories of my career. New project, yes. LP, no.”

Speaking of what the future may hold for Linkin Park, frontman Mike Shinoda recently told NME: “I don’t really know where it’s gonna go. I’m basically trying to keep everything really open (right now).

“I’m more excited about shows now than any time I can remember, just even doing a club show the other night for 600 people. I’d written like a set for 60 minutes and I was onstage for 85, just kind of milking it. I was actually talking a lot, I added songs to the set and I was just enjoying being up there. We were just having this really cool, communal energy or something.

“So I’m really just looking forward to more of that and wherever that takes me.”

Last year saw Carlile parted ways with the metalcore band Of Mice & Men amid his ongoing battle with Marfan Syndrome – a rare fibrositic connective tissue disorder that painfully causes his body to seize up.