Watch Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell Perform Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” Together in 2008

The links between Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell’s suicides are chilling. Coming within two months of one another, both hung themselves from door frames, and while that alone isn’t too striking — according to Lost All Hope, hanging is the second most popular method of suicide in the U.S., accounting for 24.8% of suicides in 2012 — the fact that the two were friends certainly makes you wonder whether Cornell’s decision to take his own life influenced Bennington’s.

Linkin Park toured with Chris Cornell (as a solo artist) on the 2008 Projekt Revolution tour, often performing on stage as guests for one another’s songs, and Bennington sung Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujha” at Cornell’s funeral earlier this year. We don’t know the extent to which the two were in touch throughout the years, but a funeral performance invitation isn’t the kind of thing we think would be offered to a mere casual acquaintance. Another odd twist: Bennington took his life on Cornell’s birthday, July 20th.

Cornell and his band invited Chester Bennington to sing Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” on the aforementioned Project Revolution Tour in 2008, with Bennington handling Eddie Vedder’s vocal parts in the verses then switching to tackle Cornell’s highs for the choruses. Linkin Park returned the favor during their headline set by inviting Cornell up for the band’s breakthrough smash “Crawling.” Check out footage of the former below, with Bennington doing quite an admirable job handling both parts.

I admit I never gave Bennington much credit as a vocalist until now… it’s a shame it took him dying for me to realize his talents.

[via Loudwire]