The rock community has been mourning the death of Chris Cornell following the news of his passing that broke yesterday morning (May 18). There's been an outpouring of grief from fans who lost one of their favorite artists and musicians who lost a close friend. As Linkin Park took the stage on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, they dedicated the performance to their departed friend.

"We were going to come out and play 'Heavy' first, but in light of our dear friend Chris Cornell passing way, we decided to play our song 'One More Light' in honor of him to start this off. We love you, Chris," said Chester Bennington, who had a personal relationship with the Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog icon.

Bennington's words were the perfect setup for the somber and highly emotional title track off their new album, One More Light, which is out now. The delicate strumming of a clean-toned guitar, gentle bass lines and light synths create a funereal atmosphere and the refrain (lyrics below) strikes at the core given the circumstances.

If they say / Who cares if one more light goes out? / In a sky of a million stars / It flickers, flickers / Who cares when someone's time runs out? / If a moment is all we are / We're quicker, quicker / Who cares if one more light goes out? / Well I do.

The Linkin Park singer was one of dozens of rockers who paid tribute to Cornell on social media, posting a lengthy message on Instagram as seen below. "Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped into one," he said, going on to thank the singer for letting him into his life.

Cornell had toured with Linkin Park on the 2008 Projekt Revolution trek, and the singer had teamed up with Bennington onstage to perform Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike." Watch fan-shot video of that below.

Fans can tune into a global Linkin Park listening party for One More Light with a Q&A session with Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson at 4PM PT today (May 19) across the band's social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Catch Linkin Park on tour this summer as they promote One More Light. The trek, with Machine Gun Kelly and Snoop Dogg, kicks off on July 27 and a list of stops can be found at our 2017 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours.

Watch Chris Cornell + Chester Bennington Perform Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike"

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Loudwire Podcast #21 - The Linkin Park Rant + R.I.P. Chris Cornell

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