Iconic 2000s rock band Linkin Park have been announced as the pre-match act for this year's Champions League final in Munich.
The finale of the European season is set to take place in Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena on May 31, when the eyes of the world will see the continent's next champions crowned.
The occasion will also be marked by the return of a band that enjoyed remarkable success at the start of the millennium and produced a series of enduring hits including In The End, Crawling and Numb.
The Champions League final will be the first time large swathes of the mainstream audience will have seen Linkin Park since the tragic death of frontman Chester Bennington - who died by suicide aged 41 in 2017.
UEFA revealed on Wednesday that a 'new remix blending their iconic riffs' with the sights and sounds of the UEFA Champions League' awaits the thousands in the stadium and millions more watching from around the world.
Their booking comes after the announcement of Emily Armstrong as their new lead vocalist last year, release of their From Zero album and world tour of the same name, which gets underway in Austin, Texas on April 26.
'With our new album and ongoing tour, we’ve been overwhelmed by the fans’ energy and excitement,' began a statement from the band. 'We can't wait to share that same energy and excitement at the UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show presented by Pepsi.
'This marks a totally new experience for us as a band, and we're excited to share some of our favourite songs from the past and present, with the thousands in the crowd and millions watching around the world.'
Linkin Park will be the ninth act to play ahead of the Champions League final since Alicia Keys began the tradition before the 2016 showcase in Milan.
Since then, the Black Eyed Peas, Dua Lipa, Imagine Dragons, Marshmello, Camila Cabello, Burna Boy and Lenny Kravitz have headlined the Kick Off Show.
Formed in 1996, Linkin Park rose to international fame with the huge success of their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory (2000), which went on to sell more than 32 million copies worldwide over the years.
The debut featured the strength of the four hit singles One Step Closer, In The End, Crawling and Papercut.
Linkin Park would also garner more mainstream success with the release of their follow-up album Meteora (2003), which went on to sell more than 16 million copies.
They went on to maintain their staying power throughout the years, despite taking hiatuses to work on side projects, with all five of their remaining albums that were released, including One More Light (2017), which dropped two months before Bennington's death on July 20, 2017.
Bennington left behind his wife of 11 years, Talinda Bentley Bennington, 47, and six children.
In all, Linkin Park has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
The band has mostly been on hiatus since the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute concert in October 2017.
The band did release another previously unreleased song Lost, featuring Bennington, for the 20th anniversary of the Meteora album in February 2023.