Jay-Z delivered an emotional rendition of Numb/Encore and dedicated it to Chester Bennington as he performed in BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. 

The rapper, who collaborated with the late Linkin Park frontman on the track, dedicated the performance of it to Bennington after speaking of his hope that the singer’s death will spark a wider discussion about male mental health.

“I really think that hopefully his death serves as a wake up call that mental health is a real thing. You never know that people are going through. You think that because they’re performers and he’s sold millions of records… that doesn’t equate to happiness. Money or fame, that doesn’t mean anything if you’re not happy inside”, the rap icon told host Clara Amfo.

You can watch the performance below.

“A lot of people, we don’t deal with what’s happening to us, we just keep going. Especially for a performer like that, you just start numbing yourself. You become numb. He’s singing it, he’s telling you become numb”, he added. 

“You get bigger audiences, you move further away from yourself and it’s tragic. I knew him well, a really nice person with like five kids and it’s just really tragic. Hopefully his death wakes a lot of people up and a lot of people start taking care of themselves. Men, we have this bravado, we have to armor up. Nah man, you have to take care of yourself – physically and spiritually.” 

During the Live Lounge performance, he also gave a rendition of ‘Family Feud’ taken from recent album ‘4:44’, which was backed by a choir.

Meanwhile, NFL bosses recently responded to reports that the rapper turned down the chance to perform at the Superbowl halftime show next year, and claimed that no decisions had been made yet. 

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