"Friendly Fire" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

. Originally recorded during sessions for their seventh studio album, ''

One More Light ''One More Light'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on May 19, 2017, through Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop. It is the band's first album to have a title track, as they felt that the song " ...

'' (2017), it was later officially released on February 23, 2024, as the lead single from the greatest hits album ''

Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023) ''Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023)'', or simply ''Papercuts'', is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on April 12, 2024, through Warner Records, following the '' Meteora 20th Anniversary Edi ...

'' and features vocals from

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...

that were recorded before his death in 2017. It appears as the 20th and final track on the album itself. The song was included in the setlist for the band's From Zero World Tour in 2024.

Background

In June 2020,

member and co-founder

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...

revealed the existence of a song that contained

's vocals made during the recording sessions for the band's seventh studio album, ''

'' (2017). The song, titled "Friendly Fire", was composed by Shinoda, the band's guitarist

Brad Delson Bradford Philip Delson (born December 1, 1977) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the rock band Linkin Park.

, and musician Jon Green, the latter who also served as co-writer of two other songs on the album, "Nobody Can Save Me" and " Battle Symphony". Shinoda, however, mentioned that it would be "years" before it would be released. Shinoda and Delson did additional recording in December 2023 to finish the song for release, having been inspired to revisit the song while they were putting together the album.

Composition

Eli Enis of ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' described "Friendly Fire" as " ittingright in" with the

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

sound of ''One More Light''.

Release

On February 19, 2024, Linkin Park released a series of images and videos on their social media channels revealing a 30-second audio clip of "Friendly Fire"; they also made a preview of the song available on their

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

page the next day. "Friendly Fire" was then released digitally on February 23, 2024, as well as in

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

format in Germany. The song is featured as the 20th and final track of ''

'', a

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

of the band's career that was released on April 12, 2024. Following Linkin Park's announced reformation in 2024 with new members

Emily Armstrong Emily Marcia Armstrong (born May 6, 1986) is an American singer and guitarist. The co-founder of Dead Sara, she became the lead singer of Linkin Park when the band regrouped in September 2024, seven years after the death of their long-time lead ...

and

Colin Brittain Colin Cunningham (born December 29, 1986), known professionally as Colin "Doc" Brittain, is an American songwriter, producer, and musician signed to Warner Chappell Music. In September 2024, he joined Linkin Park and has been the band's new drum ...

, "Friendly Fire" was performed live for the first time at the band's first concert of the From Zero World Tour at the

Kia Forum The Kia Forum, also known as Los Angeles Forum and formerly Great Western Forum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located on West Manchester Boulevard, with Pincay Drive to th ...

on September 11, 2024, with Armstrong taking up lead vocals and Brittain taking up drums and percussion.

Music video

The music video for the song was released simultaneously with the song itself. It is made up of footage of the band during the ''One More Light'' recording sessions, particularly Bennington singing his parts for the song, backstage footage, as well as live performance clips from the ''One More Light'' tour. It was nominated for Best Alternative Video at the

2024 MTV Video Music Awards The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on September 11, 2024. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on September 10, 2024, but was rescheduled to a day later to avoid conflicts with the pr ...

Track listing

Personnel

Linkin Park *

– vocals *

Rob Bourdon Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as a co-founding member and the former drummer of the rock band Linkin Park. He remained in the band until their hiatus in 2017; when the band members began work ...

– drums *

Brad Delson Bradford Philip Delson (born December 1, 1977) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the rock band Linkin Park.

– guitar * Phoenix – bass guitar *

Joe Hahn Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director, and visual artist best known as the DJ and creative director of the rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all eight of ...

– DJ *

– vocals, keyboards Additional musicians * Jon Green – additional guitar Technical * Brad Delson – producer * Mike Shinoda – producer, engineer * Corin Roddick – additional production, additional programming * Jon Green – additional production * Andrew Dawson – additional programming, co-producer * Alejandro Baima – assistant engineer * Warren Willis – assistant engineer * Jerry Johnson – drum technician * Ethan Mates – engineer * Josh Newell – engineer * Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – masterer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixer * Andrew Bolooki – vocal producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2024 singles Linkin Park songs Songs released posthumously Songs written by Brad Delson Songs written by Mike Shinoda Warner Records singles Electropop songs