Mike Shinoda and Reading Festival crowd pay emotional tribute to Chester Bennington

[Nergal]

 

The musician performed 'In The End', before later joining Sum 41 to cover Linkin Park's 'Faint'

Mike Shinoda and the Reading Festival crowd paid tribute to Chester Bennington yesterday (August 25), with an emotional rendition of Linkin Park‘s ‘In The End’.

The Linkin Park co-founder hit the main stage at the Richfield Avenue event ahead of Sum 41 and Dua Lipa. He is currently promoting his debut solo LP, ‘Post Traumatic‘.

During his set of solo tracks and Linkin Park material, Shinoda performed the band’s 2000 single ‘In The End’.

“I want you guys to sing it so loud that Chester can hear you,” the musician told the audience. “Are you ready to do that?”

Shinoda then performed the track alone at his piano, rapping its verses and leaving the crowd to sing the choruses.

Speaking of continuing to perform following Bennington’s death, Shinoda told those in attendance: “Getting up here and doing this for me is really fulfilling, and it’s really an accomplishment just to kind of get over my own anxiety about doing it again.”

Following his own set, the musician joined Sum 41 during their slot to cover Linkin Park’s ‘Faint’. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very, very special guest with us tonight,” Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley said before the band’s final song. “Say hello to Mr. Mike Shinoda!”

Yesterday also welcomed performances from the likes of N.E.R.D, Kendrick Lamar, Sigrid and Brockhampton. Reading Festival concludes this evening (August 26) with a headline show from Kings of Leon, who will follow The Vaccines and Courteeners on the main stage.

Ahead of his appearance at Reading & Leeds, Mike Shinoda offered his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s booking. “If I saw him on, like, a Hellfest bill or something that might be a little weird,” he said. “But Kendrick is a unicorn. He’s not your typical rap artist. Every time I’ve seen him live it’s different – it’s poetry, it’s jazz, it’s rock, it’s rap. It’s everything.”