MIKE SHINODA Once Again Rules Out LINKIN PARK Performing With CHESTER BENNINGTON Hologram

Mike Shinoda has once again ruled out the possibility of LINKIN PARK one day performing with a hologram of the band's late frontman Chester Bennington.

A Tupac Shakur hologram performed with Snoop Dogg at Coachella in 2012, and Cirque Du Soleil brought a holographic version of Michael Jackson to the stage. More recently, a hologram of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio toured the world, backed by members of his old band.

Shinoda addressed the prospect of the surviving members of LINKIN PARK one day sharing the stage with a hologram version of Chester during a recent interview with Houston radio DJ Theresa Rockface from 94.5 The Buzz. Speaking about virtual images of deceased musicians which have been used before in other artists' live performances, the LINKIN PARK co-vocalist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Those are creepy. Even if we weren't talking about us, if we weren't talking about Chester, which is… that's a very sensitive subject, and we would have our feelings about how we would represent that… For me, that's a clear no; I'm not into that. But even as a viewer of, like, just a fan of another band — like I heard ABBA, for example, they're doing a hologram show, and they're still alive. Then you get to have an opinion about it based on, like… They're all still here, and yet they wanna do it this way because they wanna transport you back to that moment in time where those songs were new and it was whatever era it was. I get that; I see that. I'm not positive, even under those circumstances, I'm not positive I personally would buy a ticket to the show. But [other people] would. That's fine."

Shinoda went on to say that he is not opposed to other artists using holographic technology during their concerts.

"The problem with the Internet now is that everybody thinks that everything is for everybody," he said. "And what I mean is everyone feels like they need to chime in, like, 'Well, here's my opinion. This is what I have to say. And if it's not for me, like if I don't like it, then nobody should like it.' That's not the way the world works. If you like a thing and I don't like the thing, then you go see the thing; you go buy the thing."

Shinoda previously shot down the idea of LINKIN PARK performing with a Bennington hologram more than five years ago, just a few months after the singer's passing. At the time, he said during an Instagram Live question-and-answer session with fans: "I can't even wrap my head around the idea of a holographic Chester. I've actually heard other people outside the band suggest that, and there's absolutely no way. I cannot fuck with that."

He later added: "I can't do a hologram Chester; that would be the worst. For any of you guys who have lost a loved one, best friend, family member, can you imagine having a hologram of them? Ugh. [It would be] awful. I can't do it. I don't know what we're gonna do, but, you know, we'll figure it out eventually."

Ever since a 3-D projection of the late rapper Tupac Shakur performed at the 2012 Coachella festival, a demand for holographic recreations of dead entertainers had increased.

In 2015, it was announced that Whitney Houston would go on the road in holographic form, but a leak of a duet with Christina Aguilera, which suggested the hologram was not up to scratch, led to the withdrawal of the Houston hologram by her estate.

Guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, who died in 1993, was recreated onstage in 2018 during a hologram tour licensed by the Zappa Family Trust, which is run by his children Ahmet and Diva.

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman said in a 2016 interview that he had mixed feelings about concerts featuring the Dio hologram. He said about the prospect of seeing a holographic version of Ronnie: "It makes me sad. I'm always happy to hear any music from anybody that's left us, that we've lost. But I don't know… The hologram thing, to me, it almost isn't letting the dead be dead." He added, "It just seems weird... Is there a difference between a hologram and a guy dressing up like Ronnie James and doing it?"

Draiman added: "Ronnie was Ronnie, and he was the best in the entire damn world. Whether you're doing it with somebody like Ronnie James Dio or Michael Jackson or whomever, it just seems like, you know what? Respect the legacy. And me personally… it kind of bothers me."

Bennington's passing was ruled a suicide soon after his body was found in July 2017 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California.

Chester had been candid about mental-health battles in numerous interviews over the years, saying he grappled with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse. His struggles with drugs and alcohol landed him in rehab twice around 2006.

LINKIN PARK paid tribute to Bennington in October 2017 with an emotional three-hour show that featured numerous guests joining the band onstage in Los Angeles.

LINKIN PARK released a concert album titled "One More Light Live" in December 2017.