Around the turn of the 21st century, the voice of the Phoenix, Arizona-born singer Chester Bennington was all over the radio. As the lighting bolt singer and frontman for the popular group Linkin Park, Bennington’s scream and shrieks were seemingly ubiquitous on the airwaves.
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But Bennington didn’t just keep his talents and singing voice restricted to the band he rose to fame with. Indeed, the singer, who sadly passed away in 2017 at the age of 41, also lent his writing and his vocal chords to other groups. Here below, let’s dive into three songs many fans of the artist likely didn’t know he contributed to.
[RELATED: 4 Songs You Didn’t Know Chester Bennington Co-Wrote for Linkin Park]
1. “Darker Than Blood,” Steve Aoki
Written by Steve Aoki, Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Dave Farrell, Joe Hahn, Mike Shinoda
Released by well-known DJ and electronic music producer Steve Aoki, this song was written by Aoki and the entirety of Linkin Park. Featuring Bennington on lead vocals, the track also marks the second collaboration between the DJ and the nu metal rock band. They previously worked together on the 2013 song, “A Light That Never Comes.” As for this offering, it appeared on Aoki’s 2015 LP, Neon Future II. And as far as the song’s subject matter, it highlights Linkin Park’s penchant for the emotional and the, well, depressive, despite the lively music. On the song, Bennington sings,
Don’t you hold your breath
Cause I’m not coming down
The battlefields have left me only scars
I’m floating in the dark
I’m swimming in the sound
Of voices that should never been apart
Darker than the blood
Higher than the sun
This is not the end
You are not the only
One
2. “Black Heart,” Stone Temple Pilots
Written by Chester Bennington, Eric Kretz, Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo
In 2013, famed rock band Stone Temple Pilots and the band’s lead singer Scott Weiland split. Later that same year, the group looked to Bennington to front it, which he happily did. The result was the October 2013 EP, High Rise, on which this track, “Black Heart,” appears. The electric guitar-driven song blends a twangy country sound with a rock feel. You can almost hear a Britpop sensibility, too. On the song, Bennington sings,
Black heart’s comin’, he?s a cold machine
Cuts like a knife, gentle and clean
Face like an angel, mind of a killer
Nobody else gonna love her better
Lay down now stay down
Took her life with a quick pull trigger
Well I don?t mind, I don?t mind
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Said I don?t mind if you don?t mind
The color is all but faded
Out of a dead man’s eyes
Down to his blackened heart
3. “Out of Time,” Stone Temple Pilots
Written by Chester Bennington, Dean DeLeo, Eric Kretz, Robert DeLeo
Another track from the 2013 Stone Temple Pilots EP, “Out of Time” is a harder driving song than the track above. The tune also marks the first song released from the band not to feature former lead singer Scott Weiland. On it, Bennington bridges his shrieking sensibilities with the grunge influence of the band’s former frontman. The track was a hit, too, peaking at No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. It was also the official theme song for the WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view special. On it, Bennington wails about, as the title suggests, being out of time. He sings,
Longing is the animal inside you when you bleed
Suffering is critical in finding what you need
Deliverance is evidence there’s more than what you say
Pain is there the moment that you wake up from your dreams
Oh, I know you can’t tithe
Oh, when you look inside yourself
You’ve got to cross that line
Yeah, you’re running out of time
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
