Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes has hailed late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington declaring he was “the reason I wanted to be in a band”.

Sykes’ band recently played a tribute gig in LA dedicated to the late singer alongside Blink-182 and members of Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and System Of A Down.

Bennington was found dead in his California home after taking his own life on July 20. He was aged just 41-years-old.


“When I heard the news he had died I was in Los Angeles, not too far away from where it happened. At first I didn’t believe it, to be honest,” Sykes told Kerrang.

I'm honoured to announce I'll be performing w/ @LinkinPark in memory of Chester. Tickets on sale tomorrow: https://t.co/3zLAVBHRPv pic.twitter.com/RyarZj7C5a — Oliver Sykes (@olobersyko) September 21, 2017

“When it was clear it was real, I felt weird. I know we’ve lost a lot of great artists over the years, but no-one had the impact and influence on my life that he did. Him as a vocalist and his band are genuinely responsible for the path I chose in life. Losing someone that you don’t actually know – obviously I met him, but I couldn’t call him a friend – is such a strange feeling. I feel like I miss his presence, even though I didn’t really know him. I think it’s important that you grieve and appreciate what you and we’ve all lost.”

Sykes also recalled the first time he heard Linkin Park and how much of an influence they had on him.

He added: “I must have been about 13 when I first heard Linkin Park and, to be honest, music had never played that much of a part in my life to that point. Then I saw a Linkin Park video on Kerrang! TV and it made me think, ‘Fucking hell, this is really cool!’ I felt like the music was speaking to me, the lyrics really resonated, and they were the band that really got me heavily into the scene. From there I got into hardcore and metalcore, but I’d always check out their new albums.”

Meanwhile, Sykes recently detailed his hometown of Sheffield’s best vegan eateries to the NME.