Mike Shinoda Shares One Thing He Learned After Chester Bennington's Suicide

Thursday night on “The Daily Show,” in addition to promoting his new album “Post Traumatic,” Linkin Park frontman Mike Shinoda opened up to Trevor Noah about what he’s learned since bandmate Chester Bennington’s death. Bennington died by suicide last July at age 41.

One thing I’ve learned, in terms of mental health, we talk about it being like physical health… Mental health should be the same way. Mental health is just health. The way we get to that point is to check in with ourselves, and say, “Do I need to take it easy?” “Do I need to see a professional?” Those are things you can do.

In addition to advocating for greater mental health awareness, he spoke about his own experience of grief, sharing that after Bennington died, he didn’t leave the house for weeks, and lost interest in doing things he enjoyed like drawing and painting.

“It was so weird to be given a membership to this club that I never wanted to be a part of,” he said. “It was something that I didn’t have so much experience with.”

Since Bennington’s death, Shinoda has been transparent with his fans about his experience with grief, particularly speaking to how non-linear it can be.

“Grief is a non-linear process. It doesn’t have ‘stages’ that go in order, it has phases that come and go at random,” he told Billboard in December. “Some people are having sad days, others are having good days, others are having angry days.”

On “The Daily Show” segment, Noah and the studio audience applauded Shinoda for how open he’s been about his healing journey. Shinoda shared that while getting back to performing has been difficult, it’s also been therapeutic in many respects.

One of the things that drives me to do it is the knowledge that I’ve been through something, that while it’s unique in some senses because it’s on this larger scale, it’s universal in the sense that we all lose somebody, we all go through tragedy and trauma. And I feel like I made a decision early on to share that with people and talk about that in the open.

Thank you, Mike Shinoda, for bravely putting your emotions on display and giving hope to so many people who are still struggling with the loss of Chester Bennington. We wish you and the Linkin Park family all the best.

You can watch the full interview below: