One of the most important elements of Linkin Park’s success was their lead singer Chester Bennington. The musician didn’t only bring killer vocals or his songwriting brilliance to the band, but he also formed a special bond with their fanbase through his ability to convey emotions. His particular relationship with their audience immensely contributed to the group’s success.
The unfortunate key to Bennington’s touching performances was his personal life. The singer dealt with depression and substance abuse for most of his life since his childhood. Hence, he was able to understand most of his fans’ emotions. However, his struggle took the musician’s life when he committed suicide, leaving this world, his fans, and his bandmates behind. Like many, Linkin Park members paid tribute to their late vocalist after his passing, and this farewell gave birth to a song.
Chester Bennington Tragically Passed Away
In 2017, Chester Bennington was on vacation with his family in Arizona. One day, the musician returned to their home alone, saying he needed to work. Unfortunately, their housekeeper found the singer dead on July 20, 2017. The authorities ruled his passing as suicide by hanging. Following the tragic incident, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda confirmed his bandmate’s death via a post on his official Twitter page.
The Linkin Park icon’s family arranged his funeral the following week at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes, California. His family, friends, and countless musicians attended the ceremony and performed musical tributes to the singer. Upon this devastating incident, countless names from the rock world bid farewell to the late rock star.
Which Linkin Park Song Was A Tribute To Bennington?
As expected, the remaining Linkin Park members arranged a tribute concert for Chester Bennington named Linkin Park and Friends Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington in October 2017. Apart from saying one last goodbye to their bandmate, the members debuted a song in honor of Bennington. Mike Shinoda wrote a song titled ‘Looking For An Answer,’ and his intention was to release it in Linkin Park’s catalog.
However, the song remained unreleased until he decided to debut it live for Bennington. Before starting the song with their fans, Shinoda opened up about its story and how he felt at the time. The musician stated that the first time he heard about Bennington, he couldn’t believe what had happened. After realizing music was the only thing that could help him, Shinoda went to his studio and started writing, which eventually became ‘Looking for an Answer.’
Before playing the song live, Shinoda said:
“We were doing like a photo thing when I found out about Chester and the first, for hours, I was just in disbelief, it didn’t… I wouldn’t believe anybody, what anybody had to say about anything. And fast forward, you know, you go through a whole rollercoaster of things, and eventually, I realized that one of the things that always helps me get through something is not only listening to music but playing music. And I sat down. I don’t think at the time when I did this; I don’t think I had even had the courage to like listen to our music yet. Like, I hadn’t even listened to one of our songs yet.
But I sat down in my studio, and I wrote something. It was about eight days after, and I want to share it with you guys tonight if that’s ok? I don’t know what’s going to happen with this song. It could just be this, you know, for tonight and whatever, whoever else is watching, the Internet and the rest of the world who might be watching.
But if we do continue, I want to continue to build on this song and keep writing it and keep working on it. And it’ll be a really unique time for you guys, for us to be able to share with you guys a glimpse into how a song gets made. So this is literally the first piece, and then after this, you know, on our Instagram and Twitter and everything else, we’ll show you guys how it goes, assuming it goes. This song is called ‘Looking for an Answer.'”
You can watch Linkin Park’s performance below.
