Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington Featured on New Song Nearly Two Years After Death

Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington passed away nearly two years ago, but can now be heard singing again on a new song that was just released.

The song is titled “Cross Off,” and it is from the solo project by heavy metal guitarist Mark Morton, who is most well-known as founding member of Richmond, Virginia’s Lamb of God.

Bennington passed away in July 2017, after taking his own life, but prior to that he had been in the studio with Morton, who called their collaboration “really cool.”

Morton opened up more about his time working with Bennington in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine, telling the outlet that the Linkin Park vocalist really “surprised him.”

“I was really impressed for a guy at his level, at the place in the career he was at, someone of his stature and celebrity, to have that level of humility and commitment to come in there and treat this like it would be a Linkin Park song, or his own song or whatever,” he said, as reported by Revolver. “After the track was laid out, then we took a breath and started talking about more personal stuff – real-life s—. And yeah … he surprised me the most.”

In a recent tweet, Morton shared a snippet of the track, and shared his thoughts on Bennington’s delivery.

” ‘Cross Off’ was a very free flowing and natural process. Everyone that worked on it put a lot of energy and emotion into it,” Morton wrote, adding, “I feel like you can really hear that in the track, and absolutely in Chester’s performance.”

Bennington’s tragic death sent a shockwave through the music industry, and resulted in many of his peers sending out messages of sympathy.

One of those peers was actor and 30 Seconds to Mars singer Jared Leto, who wrote in a tribute, “When I think of Chester I remember his smile… His laughter, intelligence, kindness and talent. That absolutely unforgettable voice that was at once – delicate, ferocious and always full of emotion.”

“Witnessing his life taught me a lot. Especially about commitment, about kindness, about hard work, about the pursuit and achievement of dreams and mostly, about love,” Leto continued. “I know that both his family and his band were a massive source of inspiration and pride for him.”

Morton’s full album — Anesthetic — releases on March 1, but the track with Bennington can be heard above, as well as at many other music streaming services.