The Uprawr Foundation, a local charity founded by an alternative club night in Birmingham, has arranged for 1,000 musicians to perform in a tribute to Linkin Park later this year. Members of various bands including Funeral For A Friend, The Blackout, and Holding Absence will take to the stage at the Utilita Arena on August 18. Named ‘1,000 Lights’, the show will help raise money to provide free mental health counselling and services to the alternative community. Participating musicians will be required to fundraise for the charity via JustGiving and whoever raises the most will be given the chance to perform.
Highlighting Linkin Park’s final album ‘One More Light’, ‘1,000 Lights’ will present talks and video messages from famous faces in the alternative music world as well as feature a performance from tribute band Linkin P4rk. The event is particularly poignant as the Utilita Arena was the location of Chester Bennington’s final show with the band before his untimely death in 2017.
The tribute comes amid rumours that the band are planning to tour in 2025 with a new female vocalist. Though it is reported that the band’s booking agency WME is taking offers for concerts and festivals featuring members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, and Dave Farrell, it is unknown who will replace Bennington, with a source telling Billboard that the band is searching for a female vocalist.
Since Bennington’s death, there have been discussions about how to proceed with the band. Shinoda ruled out the possibility of creating a hologram of Bennington, while Evanescence’s Amy Lee dispelled rumours that she would replace him. Meanwhile, the 20th anniversary edition of Linkin Park’s album ‘Meteora’ was released last year with Shinoda and Delson telling NME in April 2021 about the possibility of releasing new unheard material.
The ‘1,000 Lights’ event provides a fitting tribute to Bennington and the legacy he left behind, offering fans of Linkin Park a chance to see the band’s music performed in a spectacular setting with like-minded individuals
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