The music world lost Chester Bennington one year ago today when the Linkin Park frontman took his own life.
Bennington's dear friend and Linkin Park bandmate, Mike Shinoda, opened up about how his relationship with Bennington changed and deepened after years of writing songs together.
"Especially the early, early stuff, Chester and I tended to talk in a very universal kind of way," Shinoda told ABC News. "It was almost in code, or it was in this wash of generalization in the lyrics."
(MORE: Linkin Park posts tribute to Chester Bennington: 'Our hearts are broken') (MORE: Coroner: Linkin Park lead singer's death being investigated 'a suicide by hanging')"We were still learning a little bit about each other's backstories," he continued. "So when we were writing a song, we wanted to make sure that each song was very much true for both of us."
Eventually, Shinoda said, he and Bennington came to learn so much about each other that they'd find "parallels" between their lives, which would lead to them to combine specific and personal instances from their past into their lyrics.
When it came to writing what would become Linkin Park's final album with Bennington, 2017's "One More Light," the pair's personal relationship was so strong that Shinoda could write songs from Chester's perspective, such as the track "Nobody Can Save Me."
"I just knew how he felt about certain things so well, that I wrote the thing for him to sing, and I played it for him, and he loved it immediately," Shinoda said. "He was like, 'Yes, that's exactly it, I love this song!'"
Last October, the remaining Linkin Park members united for a guest-filled tribute to Bennington but have not played a show together since.
The future of the band remains unclear. Meanwhile, Shinoda released his debut solo album, "Post Traumatic," this past June, which details his life following Bennington's death.
