Thirty Seconds to Mars Pays Tribute to Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell at iHeartRadio Festival

At the iHeartRadio Music Festival, Jared Leto’s band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, paid tribute to Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell and a number of late musicians that have fallen in the past couple years.

With the backing of a 20-piece choir, the rock group performed a medley of snippets from Linkin Park’s “Crawling” and Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” Other tribute songs included Prince’s “Purple Rain” and George Michael’s “Freedom.”

Both Bennington and Cornell passed away after taking their own lives earlier this year. The Linkin Park frontman died on July 20, a month after the Soundgarden singer, who took his own life on May 18.

Leto explained that the loss of both musicians had a deep impact on him.

“Losing Chris and Chester in such a short time is shocking and brutal,” Leto told Variety. “Chester was a tremendous person and an incredible artist.”

At the MTV Video Music Awards back in August, Leto took the stage to pay tribute both the late rockers.

“Chester was my friend, as he to so many, and witnessing his life taught me important things, especially about working relentlessly, perusing dreams, and being kind and caring while doing it,” Leto said. “When I think about him, Chester, I see his face, which was always smiling. I think about his heart, which he wore on his sleeve.”

“I think about his wife. I think about his family, I think about his band, who were really his brothers,” he continued. “And I remember his voice, at once ferocious and delicate. That voice will live forever.”