Ready for Revolution

You guys are regarded as two of the greatest voices in rock. How much will you be watching what the other is doing onstage?
Bennington: For me, I'm such a fan I think that's the most important aspect of why I do what I do and how I do it. I've got to play with a lot of guys that I've grown up loving; I get to sing on stage with Chris Cornell, I got to play with Metallica and Black Sabbath, and I've performed songs with Jane's Addiction, members of Guns n' Roses, did the Doors 40th anniversary with the Doors and Perry Farrell onstage — I'm just like, "What world do I live in, 'cause this can't be real?" And I love watching other guys play and I love being pushed mentally to try to do my best. It made me really uncomfortable when Donovan Leitch [at a Camp Freddy show], said [I have] "The best voice in rock & roll." I was just like, "Ugh," and Steven Tyler walks onstage and in my opinion he has one of the best voices ever.
Cornell: Yeah, there's no quantifying. It's weird to even think that way. I'm sure the best singer in the world, nobody knows who that is. He's somewhere, or she's somewhere, and they're out there. I get blown away by singers all the time and almost feel embarrassed that I would be referred to or regarded as one of the best singers in rock ever.

What's one of the best shows you've ever seen?
Bennington: I'll never forget this show, I saw Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, in my opinion, all on their best records. You had Pearl Jam out with Ten — the band was great, they've got two of the shreddingest guitar players alive, and they were just killing it. And then Nirvana came out, and it was so different, so new and so fresh, it felt like when I discovered Jane's Addiction. I felt like the Chili Peppers didn't say, "Okay, you guys can't blow things up because we're gonna blow things up. And just have Pearl Jam do basic lights." Everybody got to do what they wanted to do and I think that, for me, was the reason why it was so special. No one freaked out when Eddie Vedder ran across the arena and was climbing up the wall and singing while swinging from the lighting fixtures over his band. I was like, "He's gonna fucking kill everybody." But it was really great. And then for Kurt Cobain to come out and destroy his set and to feel that pure raw passion and then the Chili Peppers are one of the best bands ever. It was a really memorable thing and I remember being like, "I wanna do that. I want to be part of something like that." And going back to Lollapalooza, there was Ice Cube, Ministry and you guys [Soundgarden], it was like, "What is happening right now 'cause this doesn't normally happen?" And that kind of inspired me and I think it inspired all the guys in my band 'cause we were like, "How can we take all this stuff and put it in one thing? And how can we take all of our inspiration and all of our passion for all these other bands and bring that out on a tour?"