Stone Temple Pilots Recruit Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington as New Singer

The rock world was in a bit of shock Saturday night (May 18) as Stone Temple Pilots revealed their newest member: Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington.

STP made a surprise appearance at Los Angeles, Calif. radio station KROQ's annual Weenie Roast concert. The group performed a number of hits as well as a new track entitled "Out of Time." Scroll down below to listen to the new song in its entirety. Linkin Park fans won't have to worry about Bennington ditching his longtime comrades anytime soon.

“Chester has a one-of-a-kind voice that we’ve admired for a long time,” guitarist Dean DeLeo said in a statement. “We know Linkin Park will always be his priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we’re all really happy with the result.”

For Bennington, this seems to be a childhood dream come true: “I’ve loved STP since I was 13 years old and they’ve had a huge influence on me,” the singer explains. “When the opportunity came up to do something creative with them, I jumped at the chance. The guys in Linkin Park have been incredibly supportive of me undertaking this project while I’ve continued to work on new music with LP.”

This of course comes after STP suddenly fired original vocalist Scott Weiland back in February. Weiland has maintained that he wasn't terminated, but we wonder what he thinks now.

What are your views on Chester Bennington singing for Stone Temple Pilots? Do you think he fits? Tell us in the comments section.

Listen to Stone Temple Pilots' "Out of Time"