Stone Temple Pilots Singer Reveals Who Stopped Him From ‘Hiding’ After Chester Bennington’s Death

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New Stone Temple Pilots singer Jeff Gutt discussed Chester Bennington’s death in a new Yahoo interview.

Little did Gutt know that just eight months after he received Bennington’s encouragement and blessing following a November 2016 private gig with STP, Bennington would be dead. Both Weiland and Bennington — incredibly charismatic and talented, if troubled, performers — were only in their forties when they died. “I’m actually the same age as Chester. I needed a couple of days, I’m not going to lie,” Gutt says about his reaction to the tragic news of Bennington’s suicide. “It was a shocker. I mean, I feel for his family and kids and his wife. It’s horrible.”

However, Gutt found comfort during studio sessions with his also-grieving new bandmates, STP guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz. “We were recording at the time. We just really talked to each other and shared each other’s feelings about it,” he says. “It was very good to be around people, because I was going to be like, ‘Hey, I need a couple of days off,’ and they were like, ‘You should come to the studio. Come over and let’s hang out.’ I remember I just wanted to hide, but we went in the studio and some beautiful, beautiful songs were made. And they’re real. That’s the best part.”

Recalling Bennington’s positive attitude, Gutt says, “Everyone just wants to see STP do well, and he was one of those people, for sure.”