Yesterday, Linkin Park announced the band’s first performance since the suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington in July. The announcement came with the release of a video for the title track from the band’s new album, One More Light. Now, Linkin Park rapper and songwriter Mike Shinoda has revealed the impetus behind the October 27 Los Angeles concert, as well as his memories of the late Bennington.
In an interview with Los Angeles radio station KROQ, Shinoda recalled his late bandmate’s glowing personality onstage and off. He also gave credit to legendary producer Rick Rubin for convincing the band to perform again in the wake of Bennington’s death.
“I had gone to Rick Rubin as a source of guidance,” Shinoda told the radio station. “He had said, ‘I think you guys need to get on stage. I think that’ll be the thing that’ll feel good. It’ll be super, super hard.’ We haven’t gone out together in public, we haven’t played, we haven’t gone on stage. He said, ‘The fans want to see you. Not because they want to see a show. There’s a cathartic experience that needs to happen and it’ll inform what you guys are doing.’ And I thought it over. And I know that for some of the guys in the band, getting on stage is more scary than other guys in the band, but I will say that for all of us, it’s definitely the thing that we want to do. It feels like the right way to celebrate Chester.”
Shinoda went on to describe how Bennington’s personality, despite the band’s often dark affect, was gregarious and positive.
“His overall, the way he was, he was such a happy guy, he was such a fun guy,” Shinoda said. “When he’d walk in the room, there was such a positive, funny, upbeat energy. And that’s what we wanna get out of this show. I know it’s gonna be a roller coaster of emotion. But when we talk about this and when we’re focusing on the show, it’s really about, like we say, celebrating life.”
Listen to the full interview below.
