Legendary American Rock Band Makes History at the UK's Biggest Rock and Metal Festival ...Saudi Arabia

Linkin Park has secured another major milestone in their music career following their performance at the 2026 Download Festival.

Running from June 12 to 14 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, the U.K.'s biggest rock and metal festival featured the chart-topping band as one of the three headliners of the event, along with Limp Bizkit and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Guns N' Roses.

The "In the End" hitmaker hit the stage on the final day of Download Festival, where they sang their timeless hits in front of an almost sold-out crowd of over 95,000 people.

Having graced the Download Festival stage four times before, Linkin Park, which is composed of Emily Armstrong, Mike Shinoda, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, Joe Hahn and Brad Delson, returned this year not as newcomers but as legends.

On their fifth appearance, the band made history, with Armstrong becoming the first female lead vocalist to ever headline the long-running heavy music festival.

Katja Ogrin/Getty Images

To celebrate the moment, original member and longtime guitarist and co-vocalist Mike Shinoda invited female fans to create an all-woman moshpit during their set for "Two Faced."

As the festival's closing headliner, the band delivered an electrifying 23-song set, broken into four acts.

Hoje a passagem do Linkin Park pelo Download Festival fez história. Foi a primeira vez que o festival contou com uma mulher como headline. Durante a apresentação de Two Faced Mike solicitou uma moshpit apenas com mulheres para comemorar o marco e homenagear a Emily.…

Their 23-song set included "The Emptiness Machine" as their opening song, as well as "Crawling," "Somewhere I Belong" and fan-favorite hits like "Papercut," "In the End" and "Faint," which served as the night's powerful finale.

Armstrong, the former vocalist of the alt-rock band Dead Sara, joined Linkin Park in 2024 after the band made a comeback with a reformed lineup.

"I've been in a band for 20 years and I could only dream of this kind of success. That sounded lame," the frontwoman joked in an interview with The Guardian as she talked about being the new addition to the iconic rock band.

Regarding the pressure of stepping into such an iconic role, Armstrong said, "Why do I think I can do this?" she wondered, telling Shinoda that she didn't want to "ruin" Linkin Park. "I'm like, you guys are a legacy band - you guys are so important."

The move came after their long hiatus following the death of iconic frontman Chester Bennington on July 20, 2017.

In addition, Linkin Park also welcomed new drummer Colin Brittain, who stepped in after original member Rob Bourdon left the group during the hiatus.

During their comeback, the award-winning band released their eighth studio album, From Zero, with its lead single "The Emptiness Machine," marking a fresh start with a new lineup.

Related: Linkin Park’s Hit Song Resurfaces 25 Years Later as Fans Spot ‘Stranger Things’ Similarities

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