LINKIN PARK’s EMILY ARMSTRONG says she was FORCED to be a singer, admits she’s NOT THE BEST

Emily Armstrong has an incredible range and tone, making her a very powerful vocalist.  Although Linkin Park fans were concerned about her performance as the band's frontman, she has more than shown herself to be deserving.

 Armstrong, however, had no real desire to pursue a career in singing.  She previously dreamed about other things.  In an interview with Q101, the vocalist discussed her early musical experiences and said that she took up the microphone because of untrustworthy vocalists (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

 "My friends were singers.  Being a singer was never my dream.  I would then have individuals perform the songs I had written, and it was like  You know, I just enjoyed being in a band.  Of course, I became a vocalist.

"I felt a little pushed into it because of the singers that came and left; I was really irritated by everyone coming and going.  At the time, I was unaware that I intended it to sound a certain way.  That came to me later.  The singer was unable to accompany us on our next small tour up the California coast.  'Okay, I guess I'll just do it,' I thought again.

 Armstrong went on:

It was a little bothersome.  "All right," I said, "I wrote the songs."  I'll do it.  But after I started putting myself in front of others, I was like, "Okay, there's something to this," because at that moment I was just kind of like, "Okay."  I'm not the best yet.  However, I could hear it.  'Oh, I can't get anybody to do this,' I realized as I clicked into it and simply began pursuing that music that I could hear so clearly in my mind.

 Armstrong also disclosed that she still harbors a long-held desire of being off the mike in at least one band:

"You just have to do it; you can't put it into words.  I began doing it, and I really enjoyed it, as well as being in a band, composing the songs, and seeing them, in a sense, come to life.  However, I've always wanted to be in a band with another singer, so it's a dream come true."