Chester Bennington's Daughter Pays Tribute To Her Father And Cornell

Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington were honored by Cornell’s 12-year-old daughter. Toni, and OneRepublic performed a heartfelt concert on Friday. This comes as the latest tribute to the singers, but it’s definitely quite special considering it came from such a special person in their lives.

A special tribute for Cornell and Bennington

Toni Cornell and OneRepublic performed ‘Hallelujah’ on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America,’ while OneRepublic also dedicated the performance of its new song, ‘Rich Love,’ to Bennington.

Linkin Park was originally supposed to perform Friday, but the band canceled their tour and concert dates after Bennington died. Instead, OneRepublic filled in.

“This is just an honor to be here,” OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder said on ‘Good Morning America.’ “I was lucky enough to write and produce with [Cornell], and get to know him and his family over the years. He was even in one of our videos,” he added.

Cornell and Bennington were close friends, and Bennington was the godfather to Chris Cornell’s 11-year-old son, Chris. “Chester sang this at Chris’ funeral, and this is arguably one of the greatest songs written in the last 50 years,” OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder said of the Leonard Choen’s song ‘Hallelujah.’

Cornell hanged himself in May. Bennington, who was 41, hanged himself on what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday last month. Both deaths were ruled suicides. In advance of the show, Toni Cornell told GMA. “It’s an honor to perform this for my dad and for Chester and to sing for them.” Toni offered fans an invitation to all mourn together, and we can all take an example from this young girl of how to process emotions and move forward in the face of tragedy.

Daughter of @chriscornell, Toni Cornell, sings 'Hallelujah' w/@OneRepublic in honor of father & Chester Bennington https://t.co/dnvW0zFUUB pic.twitter.com/YWpDxSb8IW

— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 4, 2017

Remembering beautifully to her father

Toni remembered her father’s heart, wisdom and love of Prince’s Purple Rain in a moving Father’s Day note posted to the late musician’s Facebook page. “You are my idol, someone I’ve always looked up to,” Toni wrote. “You were always there for me. You pushed me forward every day, and you still do.”

Toni recalled Cornell as a doting and devoted father who would fight through post-tour jet lag to spend time with his kids and comfort them when they were sick. “No matter how tired you were, how many time zones you traveled, you were there for us.”

She also spoke about how her “special connection” to her father was always through the arts and offered a favorite memory, when Cornell suggested they watch Prince’s Purple Rain together.

“I always trusted your judgement,” Toni said. “I put it on and immediately fell in love! We then got to your favorite song, ‘The Beautiful Ones.'”

“I know you are still here, and the warmth I feel beneath the cold, is you. YOU ARE THE BEST FATHER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. And I know, that if this wasn’t an accident, you’d still be cuddling with me watching Purple Rain.’

Endless tributes to the icons

Since the deprature of the beloved musical icons, fans, friends , and fellow musicians have been paying the most beautiful tributes and memorials via letters, murals, and renditions of their songs. On Chris’ birthday, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard penned a heartfelt letter to his late friend.

Gossard went on to discuss the tremendous loss Cornell’s death has left in his life. “I’m so selfishly sad that I’ll never get to see you again, never play with you again, never feel the bask of your approval or be part of your life,” he wrote.

In another remembrance honoring Cornell’s birthday, Seattle-based nonprofit Childhaven announced the Chris Cornell Music Therapy Program, which helps children and their families overcome the effects of trauma.

Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell, committed $100,000 to the nonprofit via the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation.

As for Chester. Martin performed the song ‘Crawling’ solo on piano at the New Jersey concert, restarting it after a fumbled beginning, saying,

“I know this is probably going to end up on YouTube so I want to do it right, and I want to do it respectfully.” He added: “This is to everybody who misses someone you know. This is for our whole community of musicians.” Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda posted a video of the performance, writing “it sounded beautiful.”

Your lights keep shingin on.