On Friday, October 27, Linkin Park honored the life of their friend and band mate, Chester Bennington with a powerful and cathartic celebration at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It was the first time the five band members performed on stage together since Chester's passing on July 20, 2017. The one-night-only historic event was streamed live, exclusively on Tencent's QQ Music in China and on YouTube in the rest of the world.
At its peak, the stream drew 1.4 million concurrent viewers worldwide and within 24 hours, the concert topped the YouTube Trending Chart and has generated more than 5.5 million views and counting to date. See the show here: YouTube.com/LinkinPark.
Thirty guest artists accompanied Linkin Park on stage to perform 31 songs over the course of 3 hours in front of a packed house of fans crying, celebrating, and singing. Even amongst the powerhouse roster of guests, fan voices resounded the loudest, carrying every word of "Numb" and "In The End" to the heavens and back. Guests included: Alanis Morissette, Zedd, blink-182, Steve Aoki, Julia Michaels, Machine Gun Kelly, Kiiara, Bebe Rexha, Gavin Rossdale [Bush], Tom Dumont, Adrian Young, and Tony Kanal, Jonathan Davis [Korn], Sydney Sierota [Echosmith], Jon Green, M. Shadows and Synyster Gates [Avenged Sevenfold], Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian [System of a Down], Ryan Key [Yellowcard], Deryck Whibley and Frank Zummo [Sum 41], Oli Sykes [Bring Me The Horizon], Jeremy McKinnon [A Day To Remember], Taka Moriuchi [ONE OK ROCK], Steven McKellar [Civil Twilight], Ilsey Juber, Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh [Julien K].
Midway through the show, Mike Shinoda took the stage solo to perform the new song "Looking For An Answer" - penned a week after his bandmate's passing. Over cinematic piano chords, he captured the pervasive sentiment of speechlessness shared by everyone in attendance through each lyric and melody.
Prior to the spectacular finale of "Bleed It Out," Bennington's wife Talinda delivered an uplifting and thought provoking speech about her husband and the importance of mental health. She also revealed the launch of 320, named after Chester's March 20 birthday, to make access to mental health resources easier. For more information, visit www.ChangeDirection.org.
About the evening, Mashable wrote, "The band, joined by a laundry list of famous friends orchestrated a truly beautiful and cathartic tribute concert that was more than words," and Billboard concluded, "If anything, this night of revolving guest musicians had shown that Linkin Park's music can adapt - just as the band itself has over the course of seven studio albums."
Linkin Park band members personally contributed their profits from the show to the One More Light Fund, which supports Bennington's favorite Music For Relief program by bringing solar suitcases - solar electricity kits - to hospitals and health clinics without electricity. The fund will also shine a light on mental health; supporting individuals and families coping with mental and emotional struggles.
Linkin Park announced a global partnership with Mercedes-AMG earlier this year. Bennington played a key role in bringing the partnership together, and significant financial support was contributed in his honor by Mercedes-AMG. State Farm, Minerd Foundation and Bayern Munich Football Club also made generous donations to Music For Relief and the One More Light Fund. An excess of $1 million was raised through sponsorship pledges, band and individual donations, and merchandise sales so far.
SETLIST:
Robot Boy intro
Iridescent / Messenger Mash Up - w/ Jon Green (co-writer 'Nobody Can Save Me' and 'Battle Symphony')
Roads Untraveled - w/ Jon Green
Numb
Shadow of the Day into With Or Without You - w/ Ryan Key (Yellowcard)
Leave Out All the Rest - w/ Gavin Rossdale (Bush)
Somewhere I Belong - w/ Taka Moriuchi (ONE OK ROCK)
Castle of Glass - Tom Dumont, Adrian Young, Tony Kanal w/ Alanis Morissette
Rest (Alanis song) - Alanis Morissette
Nobody Can Save Me - w/ Steven McKellar (Civil Twilight) & Jon Green
Battle Symphony - w/ Jon Green
Sharp Edges - w/ Ilsey Juber (co-wrote Talking to Myself & Sharp Edges)
Talking to Myself - w/ Ilsey Juber
Heavy - w/ Kiiara & Julia Michaels
One More Light
Looking For An Answer
Waiting For The End - w/ Sydney Sierota (Echosmith)
Crawling - w/ Oli Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon) & Zedd
Papercut - w/ Machine Gun Kelly
One Step Closer - w/ Jonathan Davis (Korn), Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh (Julien K)
A Place For My Head - Jeremy McKinnon (A Day To Remember)
Rebellion - w/ Daron Malakian & Shavo Odadjian (System of A Down)
The Catalyst - w/ Deryck Whibley (Sum 41)
I Miss You - blink-182
What I've Done - blink 182 (w/ Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn and Brad Delson)
In The End
New Divide
A Light That Never Comes - Steve Aoki, Bebe Rexha, Frank Zummo (Sum 41)
Burn It Down - w/ M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
Faint - w/ M. Shadows and Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold)
Bleed It Out - w/ everyone
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