# Dead Sara
**Dead Sara** is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, fronted by vocalist and rhythm guitarist [Emily Armstrong](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-armstrong) and lead guitarist Siouxsie Medley, with drummer and producer Sean Friday and, in its original lineup, bassist Chris Null.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) • [2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/) The band broke through on active rock radio in 2012 with the single "Weatherman" from its self-titled debut album, and later drew wide attention when Armstrong was announced in 2024 as the new singer of [Linkin Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/linkin-park).[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) • [4](https://apnews.com/article/61e0de30548b90932fe1d4102a07641d)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Formed in Los Angeles; AllMusic lists 2002, while a MusicBrainz-based record lists 2003[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) • [5](https://www.bandslate.com/band/dead-sara) |
| Classic lineup | Emily Armstrong (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Siouxsie Medley (lead guitar), Sean Friday (drums), Chris Null (bass)[2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/) |
| Breakthrough | "Weatherman" (2012) reached No. 30 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart[6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf) |
| Albums | *Dead Sara* (2012), *Pleasure to Meet You* (2015), *Ain't It Tragic* (Warner Records)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) |
| Labels | Self-released on Pocket Kid Records, then Atlantic Records (2017) and Warner Records[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) • [3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) |
| Signature sound | Alternate guitar tunings, notably "high G," with the low E string raised to G[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) |
| Later prominence | Armstrong became Linkin Park's new singer in 2024[4](https://apnews.com/article/61e0de30548b90932fe1d4102a07641d) |
## Formation and early years
Armstrong and Medley were friends from their teenage years and played their first official show as Dead Sara in 2005.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) Armstrong has described assembling school bands from the age of twelve, when she received her first guitar, and meeting Medley in high school through a mutual friend; the two switched between drums, singing, and guitar before settling into their roles.[2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/)
The band's first release was the EP *The Airport Sessions* in 2008 on Viscount Productions.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) Armstrong has described that early period as pressured by producers, writers, and labels pushing for a hit single, an experience she and Medley abandoned in favor of writing on their own terms; the song "We Are What You Say" addresses that decision.[2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/)
The band name has no fixed meaning. Armstrong has said it is "basically just a misheard lyric," adding that the band sometimes tells people it was an imaginary friend from her childhood.[7](https://www.ebar.com/story/317726)
## Breakthrough: *Dead Sara* (2012)
The self-titled full-length debut was released in spring 2012 on the band's own Pocket Kid Records label.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) "Weatherman," the first song the reformed group wrote together, began with a riff Medley brought to rehearsal, over which Armstrong improvised the line "His skin soft as leather, I'm the weatherman"; the band kept the phrase and Armstrong built the song's meaning around creating your own future by what you do today.[2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/) The single reached No. 30 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and was followed by tour dates supporting Muse.[6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf)
[Grace Slick](https://www.edgepedia.org/grace-slick), the [Jefferson Airplane](https://www.edgepedia.org/jefferson-airplane) vocalist, publicly praised Armstrong, listing her among the female rock singers she admired for her "strong, urgent sound," and [Courtney Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/courtney-love) later invited Armstrong to sing on an upcoming Hole album.[8](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0002311974) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) In 2012 the band toured with Chevelle and the Used and played the Warped Tour festival.[2](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/)
## Label changes and *Pleasure to Meet You*
After the debut, the band's progress was slowed by what Armstrong calls "bad management" and label issues.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) The second album, *Pleasure to Meet You*, appeared in 2015 on Pocket Kid Records and reached No. 2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and No. 7 on the Hard Rock Albums chart.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) • [6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf)
In 2017 Dead Sara signed with [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records), which released the EP *Temporary Things Taking Up Space* in 2018; a stripped-down version of the EP track "Anybody," issued in September 2018, was the band's next new music after that.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731) • [6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf) The band's songs also reached wider audiences through placements in television shows such as *Banshee* and the [PlayStation 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-4) game *Infamous: Second Son* in 2013.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731)
## *Ain't It Tragic* and the Warner era
The third album, *Ain't It Tragic*, was released on [Warner Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-records), the band's first full-length in six years.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) • [7](https://www.ebar.com/story/317726) It was written and recorded in the band's hometown and produced by Noah Shain, who had produced the first two albums, along with Sean Friday.[6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf) Its eleven tracks include "Hands Up," "Heroes," "Gimme Gimme," and "Hypnotic," and press notices described the record as adding dreampop and power-pop detail to the band's hard-rock core.[6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf)
**Touring.** In 2022 the band toured as special guests on Slash's American tour featuring [Myles Kennedy](https://www.edgepedia.org/myles-kennedy) and The Conspirators; Medley said the invitation came from Slash himself, "apparently he's a big fan."[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) • [6](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf) The band also opened for [Demi Lovato](https://www.edgepedia.org/demi-lovato), whose 2022 album *Holy Fvck* credits Dead Sara members as featured artists.[7](https://www.ebar.com/story/317726) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731)
## Guitar approach
The band's guitar identity rests on alternate tunings. Armstrong developed an interest in the tunings of folk music and [Joni Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/joni-mitchell), and she and Medley applied that approach to electric guitar, arriving at the band's signature "high G" tuning, in which the low E string is raised to G; Medley calls it the secret to the power of the "Weatherman" riff.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) Medley says open tunings allow drones and fretwork that standard EADGBE does not: "Standard is the most confusing tuning for me... Open tunings just make more sense to how my brain is wired, so I just make up tunings."[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong) Her default tone is direct-to-amp for about two-thirds of her live set, otherwise a single Super Fuzz pedal.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong)
## Emily Armstrong and Linkin Park
In September 2024 Linkin Park debuted its first new music since the 2017 death of singer [Chester Bennington](https://www.edgepedia.org/chester-bennington), the song "The Emptiness Machine," announcing Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara as its new singer alongside drummer Colin Brittain, with returning members [Mike Shinoda](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-shinoda), Brad Delson, Phoenix, and [Joe Hahn](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-hahn).[4](https://apnews.com/article/61e0de30548b90932fe1d4102a07641d) The Associated Press wrote that Armstrong's full-throated performance style recalled Bennington without attempting parody, and Shinoda and Armstrong share vocal duties on the album *From Zero* (2024).[4](https://apnews.com/article/61e0de30548b90932fe1d4102a07641d)
## References
1. [Dead Sara – Biography, Discography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-sara-mn0002873731)
2. [Dead Sara Talk New Album, Musical Journey, Warped Tour + More, Loudwire (April 20, 2012)](https://loudwire.com/dead-sara-interview-new-album-musical-journey-warped-tour/)
3. [How Dead Sara take Joni Mitchell's approach to alternate tunings and apply it to the ferocious world of rock 'n' roll, Guitar World (April 14, 2022)](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dead-sara-siouxsie-medley-emily-armstrong)
4. [Music Review: Linkin Park returns on 'From Zero,' Associated Press (November 15, 2024)](https://apnews.com/article/61e0de30548b90932fe1d4102a07641d)
5. [Dead Sara – Los Angeles, BandSlate](https://www.bandslate.com/band/dead-sara)
6. [Dead Sara Announce 2022 Tour with Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Warner Records press release (October 22, 2021)](https://press.warnerrecords.com/sites/g/files/g2000014901/files/2022-07/Dead-Sara-2022-tour-with-SLASH-FINAL.pdf)
7. [Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara: alive and kicking, and on tour, the Bay Area Reporter (August 2, 2022)](https://www.ebar.com/story/317726)
8. [Dead Sara: Dead Sara Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0002311974)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Rock, indie, and pop groups › Rock bands › Hard rock bands › 1990s and 2000s hard rock bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license