No, Deryck Whibley Isn’t Joining Linkin Park
There has been wild speculation in recent days about Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley potentially joining Linkin Park. Finally, Whibley set everything straight.
This all started with a message from Sum 41’s social media account on August 26. The message read, “Tune in Wednesday morning Deryck Whibley announcement.”
This message followed Linkin Park sharing a countdown clock on August 24 that’s set to expire on August 28.
From those two messages alone, fans seemingly lost their minds. Just look at the replies on this X (formerly Twitter) post. One user wrote, “Holy f—ing shit he’s the new Linkin Park singer.” Another wrote, “I’ve said ever since the memorial concert, that Deryck was the closest to sounding like Chester.” One user joked, “Oasis, Linkin Park and Sum 41 with announcements this week?! [fire emoji]”
Finally, Whibley took to social media and wrote the following statement: “I feel the need to dispel some current rumors. It’s been brought to my attention that many people think I could be joining a reuniting band. But I just want to say, despite popular belief, I am not joining Oasis…or Linkin Park. Or any other band for that matter.”
He continued, “I have my own ‘tour and book’ announcement that I will now move to the end of the week, ahead of our US tour.”
Whibley concluded, “I do look forward to seeing whatever both these amazing bands do in the future.”
As for Linkin Park, reports surfaced in May that three members of the band were reportedly considering returning to the road. It was previously reported that Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Dave Farrell were said band members. A reported tour was being helmed by booking agency WME, who is also reportedly looking into headlining festival dates for this version of Linkin Park. On top of that, there were reports Linkin Park was looking into hiring a female singer to take on the vocals of late frontman Chester Bennington.
Before these reports, Evanescence singer Amy Lee made headlines in April after being asked about rumors she was being recruited to front Linkin Park. While Lee was flattered about being tied to Linkin Park in the first place, she denied that she’s been contacted by anyone from the band. However, she seemed a little interested in the idea.
“They should ask me about that,” said Lee. “I don’t have a ton of free time, but I might do it part time.”
