Mike Shinoda appeared as a special guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and was introduced by the The Roots to the tune of ‘My Sharona’.
The Linkin Park co-vocalist showed up to the show last night (September 17) and was introduced by Fallon as “a multiple Grammy award-winning artist and co-founder of Linkin Park”. Shinoda made his way onto the couches after appearing from behind a curtain.
While making his way to the couch to shake Fallon’s hand, The Roots – Fallon’s house band on the show – performed a rendition of The Knack’s 1979 hit track ‘My Sharona’. “M-M-M-Mike Shinoda” sang The Roots, swapping the song’s main lyric for the musician’s full name.
“They had to do it, come on Mike Shinoda!” said Fallon with Shinoda adding: “The ‘My Sharona’ thing in high school, for those who don’t realise what they just did.” Fallon continued, asking the musician if he ever “dreamed that The Roots would play ‘Mike Shinoda’?” with the singer responding: “Uh no, That’s a big no.”
Fans took to X/Twitter to react to The Root’s rendition of the track for the musician. One user wrote: “I’ve tweeted Mike this for years and I’m so glad it’s now real,” while another said: “EVERY TIME I HEAR THAT SONG I ALWAYS HEAR MIKE SHINODA I KNEW IT WASNT JUST ME LMAOOOOO.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Shinoda opened up about the return of Linkin Park and the band’s forthcoming album ‘From Zero‘ which is set for release on November 15 (pre-order/pre-save here). Explaining what it feels like to be back, Shinoda said: “You know what’s really funny is I was texting with the band after the Forum show and we were euphoric for 48 hours. I mean it was truly you know – to be this many years in and feel that, like genuine, like adrenaline and excitement and happiness was like – there’s nothing like it man.”
He also spoke about reforming the band following the death of frontman Chester Bennington in 2017. “I think the important thing for us is that we never set out to like ‘Let’s bring the band back’ or ‘Let’s find a singer’. That was never our intention or our goal. It was more like I remember there was a moment where our DJ Joe, we went to breakfast and he was like ‘I think we should hang out a little more often, like can we just get together and just be creative? like I don’t know what that means.’ But one thing led to another.”
Shinoda continued: “It was almost like this new record, we wrote it, we came up with the music while we were creating the new band. When we started the music we didn’t have a band and it just came together while the music came together I guess.”
The band also performed ‘The Emptiness Machine’ while on the show which is the lead single from ‘From Zero’. It features new frontwoman Emily Armstrong (formerly of Dead Sara).
Speaking to the audience in LA last week, Shinoda explained that this version of Linkin Park was “not about erasing the past” following the controversy surrounding Armstrong stepping in to replace the late Chester Bennington.
The band have since taken to the stage in New York, and are scheduled to play at The O2 in London next Tuesday (September 24).
Drummer Colin Brittain has joined Linkin Park for this current run of dates following the departure of founding member Rob Bourdon.
Founding guitarist Brad Delson is also absent from the group’s comeback tour, but is still working with them behind-the-scenes – including participating in the creation of new music.
Chester Bennington’s son has claimed that Linkin Park fans have been “aggressive” towards him since he criticised the revamped group. Additionally, Jaime said his father’s former bandmates “didn’t ask me how I felt” about the reunion.
The initial response to the new line-up was largely positive among fellow artists and fans alike. However, controversy soon arose after it emerged that Armstrong seemingly had ties to Scientology and convicted rapist Danny Masterson. This was brought to light after a message sent to the singer by The Mars Volta and former At The Drive-In frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala resurfaced online.
Jaime, 28, later hit out at remarks made by Shinoda. The latter explained that fans may need “time to wrap their heads around” the band reforming with Armstrong. He also said that those who “disrespect” him due to the decision would “lose my respect in return”.
Armstrong explained recently that she would “love to do [Chester Bennington] proud”, and issued a statement addressing her previous support of Masterson.
Meanwhile, Shinoda has spoken about why Linkin Park chose to keep their band name for the relaunched line-up. Additionally, he has said he is “not sure” if they will make new recordings of older songs that feature Bennington – who died by suicide in 2017.
In a statement, Shinoda wrote: “We feel really empowered with this new line-up and the vibrant and energised new music we’ve made together. We’re weaving together the sonic touchpoints we’ve been known for and still exploring new ones.”
Bennington’s widow Talinda has since expressed her approval of Armstrong joining the band.
