Linkin Park remember “crying with joy” when they first heard singer Chester Bennington’s voice

Years after Chester Bennington’s death, fans and bandmates are still mourning him.

The star took his own life in 2017 at the age of just 41, ending his rock band Linkin Park in their grief. They valued their late lead singer both as a musician and as a friend. After all, Chester joined the band later, but had a strong influence on their identity.

Brad Delson confessed that Chester’s voice filled him with joy. In fact, he was close to tears when he first heard him sing. He told Louder Sound: “I think Pictureboard was the first thing I heard Chester’s voice on. I remember getting it and thinking, ‘Hey, what do you think of this guy? He just sent us this recording…’

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“And it was like, I wasn’t crying for joy, but I was almost crying, just like, Wow! I don’t even know what that is. In the verse, he’s tiny and vulnerable and you could hear all these timbres and harmonies, like overtones, in his voice in the hard part. It just blew my mind and we were like, ‘We need to meet this guy!'”

Mike Shinoda explained how important Chester was to the band’s sound, after all, he brought a unique blend of melodic vocals and distinctive screams. Before Chester joined, Mike felt their vision wasn’t fully recognized, but the addition of the singer completed it. “We really wanted to do it right. And when Chester joined, we all couldn’t stop talking about how talented he was and what a voice he had,” he said.

Although Chester fit in well, it was still a “slow process” for the band to have a cohesive sound. Mike explained that they learned to find each other during the demo process. He added, “It wasn’t like there was one moment where he sang something and I thought, ‘Wow! That’s it!’ It was all these little steps.”

Following Chester’s death, an ongoing fundraising campaign was started by fans to directly support the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. “Linkin Park Fan Corner has decided to support the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation because 100% of the money raised will benefit the science needed to alleviate horrific mental illnesses like depression, borderline personality disorder, addiction, PTSD and more,” they explained.