Emily Armstrong was thrust into the spotlight in 2024 when she became Linkin Park's new singer — but just who is she? From her association with a controversial religion to her support of a disgraced former TV star, there's a lot you don't know about her.
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00:00Emily Armstrong was thrust into the spotlight in 2024 when she became Linkin Park's new
00:05singer.
00:06But just who is she?
00:08From her association with a controversial religion to her support of a disgraced former
00:12TV star, there's a lot you don't know about her.
00:16It all began when Emily Armstrong got a guitar for her 12th birthday.
00:20From there, her passion for music blossomed, and she eventually dropped out of La Cañada
00:24High School in California to pursue her passion full-time.
00:28Before she began playing in a band with Suzy Medley in 2003, she was doing singer-songwriter
00:33stuff, as she told El Paso Times in 2012.
00:37After writing with Medley under the name Epiphany, the pair played their first show at an L.A.
00:41nightclub in 2005, renaming the group Dead Sarah that same year.
00:46Dead Sarah ended up opening for bands like Muse and The Used, but it's passion that's
00:51always driven Armstrong.
00:52She told El Paso Times,
00:54It's therapy for me.
00:55It's the one thing that really keeps me motivated in life in general."
00:59Now she fronts Linkin Park.
01:01Even before joining the group, however, Linkin Park was a part of her musical journey.
01:06When she was young and starting to play with other musicians, Armstrong loved their massively
01:10popular debut album, Hybrid Theory.
01:13She told Zane Lowe on his Apple Music 1 podcast,
01:16"...that was the moment where I was like, I want to sing and scream one step closer.
01:21I was like, I could do that, and at the time, I wasn't even a good singer.
01:25I was a guitar player in a band and I just loved being in a band and I was like, I could
01:29do that."
01:30"...it gets to this point and just being like, this is crazy."
01:35Armstrong grew up in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world.
01:38Many aspiring musicians and actors move to the city for its vibrant creative energy and
01:42the allure of possible connections in the industry.
01:45But Armstrong, it seems, wishes she was born elsewhere.
01:49She said on the Bringing It Backwards podcast,
01:51"...I feel like I would have been better off growing up somewhere like Franklin.
01:55You know what I mean?
01:56I love a smaller town.
01:57I don't know, like for family and stuff like that."
02:00Franklin is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, and the 2020 decennial census put
02:05its population at 167.
02:08She later added,
02:09"...when I go to a smaller town, I'm like, God, it's so much more, like, homey."
02:15Armstrong says she likes the diversity of bigger cities, but noted that before she was
02:19in high school, her parents sent her to a boarding school in Santa Clarita because of
02:23the high crime rate in L.A.
02:25She recalled,
02:26"...and then there I learned to play guitar and just kind of hunkered down a little bit.
02:30I was able to just kind of hone in and focus, and I just made a band, and that's all I did
02:34there."
02:36Armstrong has faced accusations of being involved with the Church of Scientology.
02:40On August 24, 2013, she attended its Celebrity Center 44th Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles.
02:47She also appeared in a photo from the event alongside Cedric Bixler Zavala, a former Scientologist
02:53and the lead singer of the Mars Volta.
02:56According to Vox, her involvement with the religion overlapped with Bixler Zavala's.
03:01The outlet also says her parents were reportedly both part of the faith.
03:05For his substack, Scientology watchdog Tony Ortega spoke to a former follower of the doctrine,
03:10Mike Rinder.
03:11Mike Rinder told him that Armstrong's mother, Gail, was part of the church's Sea Organization,
03:16or Sea Org.
03:18She was also senior consulting editor of the church's magazine, Freedom, as of 2003, per
03:23its website.
03:24Elsewhere, former Scientologist Serge Delmar said on his YouTube channel that he knew Armstrong
03:29when he was a child, and at the time she was a Scientologist just like him.
03:33Giovanni Ribisi, an actor and Scientologist, also directed the video for Dead Sarah's Something
03:39Good.
03:41As reported by the Bay Area Reporter, Armstrong identifies as queer, and she has expressed
03:45support for the LGBTQ plus community.
03:49In 2016, she appeared to be dating model Kate Harrison.
03:52The pair never publicly confirmed their relationship, but if they were together, it seems it didn't
03:57take.
03:58According to Elle, as of May 2024, Harrison had been dating actress Chloe Grace Moretz
04:03for several years.
04:04On X, Ali Hope, content manager for gaming outlet Gigi Recon, defended Armstrong in the
04:10wake of criticism for her reported ties to Scientology.
04:13He claims she is openly gay and openly supports LGBT rights.
04:19Actor Danny Masterson was best known for his role as Stephen Hyde in That 70s Show.
04:23Until 2017, that is, when news surfaced of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation
04:29and allegations of rape that four women had leveled against the star.
04:33In May 2023, he was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced 30 years to life in
04:38prison.
04:39During the high-profile trial, Armstrong was one of his supporters.
04:43After Linkin Park announced Armstrong as its new singer, Cedric Bixler Zavala, the husband
04:48of Masterson accuser Christine Carnell Bixler, claimed that the musician supported the actor
04:54amid the rape allegations.
04:56Armstrong took to social media to address the claims, and though she didn't mention
05:00the star by name, she said she regrets her decision to support him.
05:03She wrote in an Instagram story,
05:05"'Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance
05:10and went to one early hearing as an observer.
05:14Soon after, I realized I shouldn't have.'"
05:16She continued to say she always tries to see the good in people, but misjudged him and
05:21has not had any contact with him since.
05:23She went on to add,
05:25"...unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty.
05:28To say it as clearly as possible, I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and
05:34I empathize with the victims of these crimes."
05:37If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
05:42Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
05:48at 1-800-656-HOPE, 1-800-656-4673.
05:55For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org.