Linkin Park’s latest single, Up From the Bottom, has sparked controversy—though not in the way the band might have expected. While members Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn hailed the track as some of their best work, Jaime Bennington, the son of late frontman Chester Bennington, had a starkly different take.
On March 27th, the band released Up From the Bottom along with an official music video. Ahead of its debut, Joe Hahn described the song as “the best,” while Shinoda declared the video to be the band’s strongest visual effort in this new era. However, Jaime Bennington was not convinced. Taking to Instagram, he openly criticized Shinoda and Hahn, calling them “dishonest and hypocritical.”
“In my view, Mike and Joe’s opinions hold no weight,” Jaime wrote. “How can they, when they are dishonest and hypocritical? They selectively present a version of reality that benefits their image.”
Jaime further questioned the credibility of the band’s praise for their new material, particularly highlighting the involvement of newer contributors like Emily Armstrong (who lent her vocals to the track) and drummer Colin Brittain.
“When Joe and Mike praise Up From the Bottom as ‘some of their best work,’ Emily and C-dawg [Brittain] nod along, and Tetris is like, ‘Wow, they all agree.’ But seriously… who even are you? It’s just a group of outsiders patting each other on the back. How can they judge the band’s best work when they’re clearly just replacements? They aren’t Linkin Park. They aren’t even Xero.”
Xero was the name of the band before they became Linkin Park, a clear indication that Jaime sees the current lineup as a distant echo of what the band once was.
Jaime Bennington, a musician and writer himself, has largely remained out of the public eye when it comes to Linkin Park’s activities since his father’s tragic passing in 2017. However, this marks one of the rare times he has publicly weighed in on the direction of the band—making it clear that he doesn’t support the latest chapter in their evolution.
Despite Jaime’s criticism, Up From the Bottom has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism from fans. Some are eager to embrace Linkin Park’s future, while others share Jaime’s sentiment that the band will never be the same without Chester Bennington at the helm.
Regardless of where opinions fall, one thing is certain—Linkin Park’s journey without Chester continues to be a complex and emotional one
