Watching Chester Bennington Perform At Chris Cornell’s Funeral Is Now Just Heartbreaking

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington made the heartbreaking decision to take his own life on Thursday. He died of suicide at age 41 by hanging himself inside his Palos Verdes home. But, what makes it an even more gut-wrenching choice, is that Bennington took his life on the day that would’ve been Chris Cornell’s birthday.

After Cornell’s death, Bennington honored him in a long post on social media:

Here’s the full text of the post:

Dear Chris,

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. She told me my friend has 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. Your talent was pure and unrivaled. 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. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life.

With all of my love.

Your friend,
Chester Bennington

Bennington and Cornell were very close friends, so close in fact that Bennington performed at Cornell’s funeral, gave a eulogy, and was the godfather of Cornell’s children. The closeness and similarity of their deaths is hard to ignore.

Perhaps one of the few things we can look to for comfort today is the brief clips of Bennington honoring his fallen friend. As it stands, these are some of the last live performances that Bennington gave. Check out a few glimpses of his rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” via social media below.

Read our obituary of the beloved frontman, and about his profound connection to the hip-hop world.