Millions of fans were left devastated when Chester Bennington passed away on July 20, 2017, at his home in Los Angeles. The Linkin Park frontman was just 41 when he took his own life. With hits like “In the End” and “What I’ve Done,” many music critics credit Bennington with “turning nu-metal universal.” Watch his final performance with Linkin Park below.
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Chester Bennington’s Last Live Performance
On July 6, 2017, Chester Bennington took the stage with Linkin Park at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, England, as part of the band’s One More Light World Tour. Just two weeks later, the Phoenix, Arizona-born star took his life.
Linkin Park canceled its next show, scheduled for July 27, 2017, in Mansfield, Massachusetts, along with all remaining North American dates. Two months later, the band announced it was also canceling the Japan leg of the tour.
Footage of Chester Bennington singing “In the End” during his final show still has more than 13,000 views on YouTube seven years later. The final single from Linkin Park’s 2000 debut Hybrid Theory, “In the End” helped elevate the band to mainstream prominence.
Online, some fans note that Bennington seems “off.” “Even his passion for extreme singing seems to have disappeared here,” one YouTube user wrote. “You can tell that he no longer brings the fire and energy that he did in his old performances. But he did everything he could to make his fans happy.”
Another fan added, “He was already worn out both physically and psychologically.”
Other fans simply used the comment section to cherish their fond memories of Chester and highlight the profound impact he had on their lives.
“It’s crazy how you can miss someone you never met. Heartbroken,” one fan wrote. “Those people had no idea how lucky they were at that time,” another added.
Ultimately, Chester’s ability to bring fans—from all walks of life—together might be what shined most through the video. “This is what the internet is made for. Such a positive thing all these people merged together to make this video.. Seriously amazing,” a fan noted.
[RELATED: Is Linkin Park Making a Comeback with a New Vocalist?]
Did Chester Actually Hate the Band’s Biggest Hit?
In a 2013 interview with Australia’s V Music, Chester Bennington revealed that he “was never a fan of ‘In The End.’”
“I didn’t even want it to be on the record, honestly,” he said. “How wrong could I have possibly been? I basically decided at that point I don’t know what the f— I’m talking about, so I leave that to other people who are actually talented at somehow picking songs that people are going to like the most.”
However, Bennington’s co-lead vocalist, Mike Shinoda, set the record straight during a February 2023 appearance on The Howard Stern Show.
“No, no, no, no. That’s actually a misconception,” Shinoda said. “Some people think that he hated the song, [but] he liked the song. He just loved really heavy stuff, and so… when people were like, ‘This should be a single,’ he was like, ‘Uh, whatever. Like, that’s fine.’ It’s not the one he would’ve chosen.”
Featured image by Michael Jamison/Shutterstock
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