Heartbreakingly, the world lost Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell in a matter of weeks. They both openly struggled with their respective mental health problems, and it tore Bennington apart when Cornell departed. Despite his grief, he bravely found the strength and courage to perform at his late friend’s funeral.
“I dreamt about the Beatles last night. I woke up with ‘Rocky Raccoon’ playing in my head and a concerned look on my wife’s face,” Bennington wrote in an open letter about Cornell after his death. “She told me my friend had just passed away. Thoughts of you flooded my mind, and I wept. I’m still weeping, with sadness, as well as gratitude for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family. You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known.”
He emotionally continued: “Your talent was pure and unrivalled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. I suppose that’s what we all are. You helped me understand that. I just watched a video of you singing ‘A Day In The Life’ by the Beatles and thought of my dream. I’d like to think you were saying goodbye in your own way. I can’t imagine a world without you in it. I pray you find peace in the next life. I send my love to your wife and children, friends and family.”
Understandably, Bennington was in a fragile state after the horrific news of Cornell’s passing, and he had a televised performance scheduled the next day. Linkin Park were scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel, and Bennington used the moment to pay tribute to his fallen friend rather than pulling out of the commitment.
“We were going to come out and play ‘Heavy’ first,” the Linkin Park frontman told the crowd. “In light of our dear friend Chris Cornell passing away, we decided to play our song, ‘One More Light’… We love you, Chris.”
A few weeks later, Bennington would need to muster superhuman strength once again to perform ‘Hallelujah’. At this time, he was going through his own problems with alcoholism and suffering in silence, but all that mattered to him that day was doing Cornell proud.
Guitarist Brad Delson assisted him in the poignant performance, which took place outside the chapel after the private service as tears streamed down the faces of those in attendance. Tragically, less than two months later, Bennington also lost his life to suicide, and in a cruel twist of fate, he died on what should have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday.
Watch Bennington’s saddening take on ‘Hallelujah’ below.
