American rock band Linkin Park came up with a lot of memorable songs over the years, perhaps none more influential than “Numb” from the 2003 album “Meteora.”
The emotional song personified teenage angst at the time and gained the attention of hip-hop icon Jay-Z, who teamed up with the band for the remixed song “Numb/Encore” for the collaborative album “Collision Course.
As tribute to the band’s fallen frontman Chester Bennington, Jay-Z took to the Live Lounge to perform the song—for the first time since the singer’s untimely demise.
It could only ever be Numb/Encore for JAY-Z’s second track 💙@S_C_ pays tribute to @LinkinPark‘s Chester Bennington in the Live Lounge. pic.twitter.com/tkmtQtZ00g
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) September 22, 2017
After the performance, an emotional Jay-Z bared the significance of the song.
“That felt really special to me. That’s the first time I’ve performed that song after Chester passed away, which is super tragic,” he said.
Given the circumstances surrounding Bennington’s passing, the 47-year-old business mogul also took the time to speak about the importance of having someone to talk to during tough times.
“I really think that hopefully his death serves as a wake up call, you know, mental health is a real thing. You never know what people are going through,” he shared.
“And you think because they’re performers and he sold 14 thousand, million, records, that doesn’t equate to happiness. Money or fame, that doesn’t mean anything if you’re not happy inside.”
“Mental health is a real thing, you never know what people are going through.”
JAY-Z on the importance of talking about mental health. pic.twitter.com/O4YEr88mjo
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) September 22, 2017
He also advised his peers in the music industry to take their mental state seriously instead of chasing money and fame.
“A lot of people, we go and we don’t deal with what’s happening to us, we just keep going, especially for a performer like that, you just start numbing yourself, you become numb,” he said, making reference to the emotional song.
“He’s singing it. He’s telling you, you become numb. You just go and get bigger audiences and things like that and you move further away from yourself. It’s tragic, I knew him really well, he was a really nice person.” /ra
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