Less than two months ago, Chester Bennington mourned the death of his friend and hero Chris Cornell by performing Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah” alongside Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson at the Soundgarden singer’s private Los Angeles funeral. Now, on what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday, Bennington was found dead at age 41 of an apparent suicide.
While the May 26 Hollywood Forever funeral service was private, Bennington and Delson’s performance took place outside, so fans waiting for the public memorial afterward captured 30 seconds of audio from the tribute.
Listen to the moving performance below:
Back on May 18, the day of Cornell’s death, Bennington shared an emotional message to the late rocker. “I’m still weeping, with sadness, as well as gratitude for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family,” Bennington wrote. “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.”
Cornell toured with Linkin Park in the late ’00s, where Bennington would join the singer onstage for Temple of the Dog‘s “Hunger Strike.”