CHESTER BENNINGTON's First Band GREY DAZE To Release Album Of Re-Recorded Material In His Honor

Chester Bennington's former bandmates in his first group, the Phoenix, Arizona-based post-grunge act GREY DAZE, have re-recorded their old material with the help of the late LINKIN PARK frontman's friends and family. Among the guest musicians set to appear on the recordings are Chester's 23-year-old son Jaime Bennington, KORN's Brian "Head" Welch and James "Munky" Shaffer, P.O.D.'s Marcos Curiel, BUSH's Chris Traynor, as well as Ryan Shuck, Chester's bandmate in DEAD BY SUNRISE. The resulting album will be released via Loma Vista Recordings.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday (December 10),Chester's widow, Talinda Bennington, explained that releasing the GREY DAZE album will help "shine a light on" where her "husband started and hopefully give fans a better understanding of his art and a more full picture of his journey through this incredible music."

Talinda wrote: "One of Chester's greatest gifts was music. The only thing he took more pride in was being a father to his children. Given how much he cared, he wanted fans to hear everything he did, and his musical journey started with GREY DAZE.

"In February 2017, Chester and his bandmates began re-recording their music for a planned re-release of the band's early music and by June, he announced that GREY DAZE was reuniting and would be playing a 20th anniversary show that fall. He was so enthusiastic about doing this, he was eager to play rock music and there were messages in those songs he knew would be meaningful to fans.

"It also meant a lot to him to be working with his GREY DAZE bandmates, Sean Dowdell (with whom he had a very special friendship, and was a business parter in Club Tattoo) along with Mace Beyers, and Cristin Davis. He'd known them more than half of his life.

"When Chester passed away, GREY DAZE's reunion seemed like an afterthought to everyone involved, they were suffering, I was suffering, and there were way too many emotions to work through before we could even think about what would happen to that project.

"Once the clouds lifted a bit, once we could focus on what Chester would want us to do, we looked for a way to continue what Chester was working on, the things he was proud of and wanted to share with his fans. The GREY DAZE project is one of the ways we can continue to tell Chester's story and connect with his fans.

"Through our [mental health awareness] foundation, 320, I endeavor every day making sure Chester's legacy shines a light for positive change. For us, releasing a new GREY DAZE album will shine a light on where my husband started and hopefully give fans a better understanding of his art and a more full picture of his journey through this incredible music."

In a 2001 interview with Revolver magazine, Chester described GREY DAZE's musical style as "early-'90s -style rock. It wasn't pop rock, it wasn't heavy metal. It was in between grunge and good rock. We didn't know what we were doing. We were just writing songs and singing. It was a four-piece band. Some of our songs were more rock. Others were more, I don't know, alternative? I've always been into punk and classic rock. The first few years of being a musician, it was all cover band stuff, and we'd throw in a few originals. The last band I was in, I was in it for almost eight years. We made two albums, and tried really hard."

He added: "I definitely know why it didn't go anywhere: We all wanted to make it, but we all wanted to make it for different reasons. It wasn't all about making good songs, where anything else that comes from that is a fringe benefit."

Bennington was found dead in his Los Angeles-area home in July 2017 after hanging himself.

LINKIN PARK headlined an all-star tribute concert for Bennington in October 2017 in Los Angeles but has not announced any future plans for recording or touring.