MIKE SHINODA On LINKIN PARK's Future: 'You Can't Just Hire Some Schmuck To Get Up There And Sing With Us'

According to The Pulse Of Radio, LINKIN PARK singer Mike Shinoda revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone that he had late bandmate Chester Bennington's voice in his in-ear monitors during some of the songs the surviving members of the group performed at its Bennington tribute concert last October.

Shinoda explained: "I'm used to hearing the songs in a certain way, so we've started making practice tracks. So if anybody's missing, we can turn on the album version of their track and practice as if they were there. When you think about some of my parts, we would go back and forth, so I would want to hear that other voice."

Shinoda also said that while performing at the show with guest vocalists like BUSH's Gavin Rossdale, KORN's Jonathan Davis, AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. Shadows and others, the band came to a realization. He admitted: "The week after the show, I was listening back and going, 'God, these people were all really great singers and none of them were Chester'... It became obvious that you can't just hire some schmuck to get up there and sing with us, 'cause they won't be able to hit half the stuff."

Shinoda said on a recent podcast that he didn't know whether LINKIN PARK would continue, adding: "That's the million-dollar question... There aren't any answers to that at this point."

Bennington was found dead last July after committing suicide at his home in Palo Verdes Estates, California.

LINKIN PARK released a concert album titled "One More Light Live" in December.

Shinoda released a new solo album, "Post Traumatic", this past Friday (June 15).