Following Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington’s death on July 20, members of the Malaysian entertainment industry remember meeting and working with the singer.
Linkin Park performed twice in Malaysia – in 2003 and 2013. For its maiden performance, Linkin Park picked Kuala Lumpur as its only stop in South-East Asia.
“In the South-East Asia region, Malaysia recorded the highest number of album sales to population ratio at that time. I think it was their way of showing appreciation for Malaysian fans,” recalled Adrian Lim, who was the then marketing director for Warner Music Malaysia, the label that managed Linkin Park.
While Lim didn’t get to speak to Bennington at length, he said the singer “gave the impression of someone who never took all the limelight for himself, he was always giving credit to his other band members.”
Meanwhile, Kim Lim, who was Warner Music Malaysia’s product manager (International Division), met Bennington three times. “I met him once in a regional junket in Singapore and twice in Kuala Lumpur,” she said.
“He was very professional and down-to-earth, and he appreciated the people who work around him. He was one of the best artistes I’ve worked with.”
Meanwhile, Jojo Events founder Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Syed Nasir, who was responsible for bringing Linkin Park to Malaysia in 2003, said Bennington was “very impressed” by the turnout, which saw some 25,000 people filling up Stadium Merdeka.
“He was worried about the weather at first. I think he was scared that it might rain, and wondered if people would turn up if it did. Thankfully, it didn’t rain,” he remembered.
Syed Mohd Yusof also shared that he took the band, who was in KL for three days back then, for a drive around the heart of the city besides taking them out to various restaurants.
“He was very happy to be able to meet all his fans and learn about our culture. He asked a lot of questions.”
Bennington committed suicide on July 20 in Los Angeles. He was 41 years old.
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