Chester Bennington will forever be remembered as the frontman of the world-conquering Linkin Park, but the late singer has just been honoured by several of his former bandmates from the other bands he’s fronted over the years, Dead By Sunrise and Grey Daze.
As the Las Vegas Review reports, former members of the two outfits, Mace Beyers, Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck, gathered at the Saxe Theater in Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas to perform a three-song acoustic set as part of a fundraising effort, including Dead By Sunrise tracks ‘Let Down’ and ‘Morning After’, and Grey Daze song ‘The Down Syndrome’.
Chester Bennington began his singing career in a band named Sean Dowdell and his Friends?, releasing his first music with the band in 1993, before forming Grey Daze with Dowdell and releasing three albums – Demo in 1993, Wake/Me in 1994, and …No Sun Today in 1997. He of course left the band in 1998, and found his way to Linkin Park several years later.
Chester Bennington fronts Dead By Sunrise on their 2009 single ‘Let Down’
Dead By Sunrise, meanwhile, was co-founded by Bennington co-founded Dead by Sunrise in 2005 with Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck, making their live debut in 2008 and finally releasing their debut album Out of Ashes in 2009.
“This isn’t a one-time thing for us,” Bennington told Billboard in 2009. “Every five years or so I could imagine there’d be a Dead By Sunrise record.”
The planned second album from Dead By Sunrise never eventuated, however, as Bennington’s commitments to Linkin Park and Stone Temple Pilots (which he joined in 2013, replacing departing vocalist Scott Weiland) kept him away from the band.
The ex-bandmates’ set can be seen below, with Ryan Shuck taking over on vocal duties. Meanwhile, 30 Seconds to Mars vocalist Jared Leto paid his own tribute to Chester Bennington at this year’s MTV VMAs, while Linkin Park’s remaining members plan their own gathering of fans to celebrate his life and career.
