STONE TEMPLE PILOTS reunited with singer Chester Bennington for a one-off performance last night (Saturday, March 26) at "From Bach To Rock", a star-studded event to benefit Palos Verdes Peninsula public schools at the Norris Theater and Pavilion in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Video footage of the performance can be seen below. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and Bennington officially announced that they were parting ways in November. Bennington, who also sings in LINKIN PARK, said in a statement: "The last few years have been an amazing experience. I got to create and perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our generation, that had so much influence on me growing up. With the amount of time STP deserves, in addition to being in LINKIN PARK, and with the needs of my family, one of them always seems to fall short." Bennington continued: "The four of us... Robert [DeLeo, bass], Eric [Kretz, drums], Dean [DeLeo, guitar] and myself knew what we were up against. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me. And in all fairness to my bandmates in LINKIN PARK, as well as to myself and to my family, I'm going to focus solely on LINKIN PARK so I can contribute 100 percent." The DeLeos and Kretz said: "What an amazing and beautiful few years we've all had together. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together with Chester not only professionally, but even more so on a personal level. Sadly, it was evident that scheduling and time was working against us. Within this, there is a new beginning. There is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded." The bandmembers added: "We have had the fortune of playing with some very talented singers over the last few months and will continue to do so until each of us feels and knows when the right person arrives." Bennington joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 2013, shortly after they fired Scott Weiland. He recorded one EP with the band, "High Rise", and did a handful of tours. Dean DeLeo said at the time that Bennington was their first and only choice to replace Weiland. "We simply did not have a list of guys we were thinking of, we didn't hold auditions, we thought of Chester and that was it," he said. "It's very interesting, honestly, because Chester told me a story that when he was dating his wife about nine years ago, he told her that one day he was gonna get a call from us to be the singer of this band." Prior to last night's concert, Bennington last performed with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS on October 25, 2015 at the Aftershock festival in California.
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