Kissing emoji Gene Simmons endorses the new Linkin Park lineup: “It’s the vocals! The new female singer, fantastic! She fits the band. She’s a great singer and good luck to them”

Kiss icon Gene Simmons says the new Linkin Park lineup should be given the chance to prove themselves despite the dissenting voices of some critics.

Linkin Park announced their comeback this month, seven years after the deаth of vocalist Chester Bennington. In his place is new vocalist Emily Armstrong and the band have already played a number of sold-out arena shows.

While some praised the band for not trying to find a Bennington sound-alike, others believe there can be no Linkin Park without the beloved singer.

Simmons says that ultimately, the fans will decide whether the reunion is a good idea and tickets sales seem to suggest they are doing a decent job so far. ‘The Demon’ also points to a number of big-nаme examples of acts who successfully continued after a beloved member departed.

He tells Forbes: “I listened. I saw some videos. The new female singer, great! She fits the band. She sounds great and good luck to them.

“Life is short. Go out there and live it up, enjoy it. Linkin Park got fans. They want to hear the songs and the music. Why not? There are bands that tour, Lynyrd Skynyrd, lots of bands that barely have any original members or no original members. People want to hear those songs.

“I love it. It breaks the rules because when you think about the rules – AC/DC, we took them out on their first tour, people said they couldn’t survive without Bon Scott. That’s the voice!