Happy birthday, little one.
You might just have reached your first birthday, but you’ve already achieved so much. At least enough for me to spare a few extra words.
Not only did you bring those songs that became part of us already, but you brought along a new beginning we all craved. You brought our band back and new people to love – on stage and off stage. You, little thing, didn’t just revive Linkin Park; you offered a rebirth to a whole community, a chance to heal and evolve, and hell – we were so ready for this.
I’ve seen a lot of people describe that year as one hell of an emotional rollercoaster, and to be fair, it’s been the best kind of ride. We all jumped into that waggon (eventually), and what felt like a catapult launch just became our day-to-day thrill ride – because it never stopped and it never came back down, track after track, just sending us onto endless turns without any of us having time to ask for more. Or breathe at all to be totally fair. Ha. Total bliss.
A lot of joy, a lot of fun, so much laughter echoing in between and a growing number of friends that turned this wild ride into the best experience you could wish for as a music fan.
Good music, good moments, even better people and a very good reminder that anything is possible.
There you go, little one. In my book, you’ll always be the perfect example of what resilience and bravery can achieve. You were just a chance taken, a wild hope, a last try, and you bloomed into something bigger than any of us could have imagined.
Don’t give up, because music will always find you when you need it most – not the other way around – and when it does, well, it might all feel like a dream where reality can’t catch up with you, simply because it’s actually what’s carrying you through.
How can real life feel like that? Ha. Maybe when you take it all From Zero, like from nothing… Oh, wait.
Yeah. Something like that. Something like you.
So thank you, little one.
Thanks for the best ride of our lives.
May this track never end.
