The Weeknd Admits His Deftones Influence, Honors Chester Bennington
The Weeknd, the pop star who dazzled at the Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year, clearly has a penchant for rock and metal — the kind of music that falls just outside the scope of his usual R&B-based fare. He revealed as much this week when he praised Deftones and paid tribute to late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington in a pair of tweets.
The rock nods arrived as The Weeknd, the Canadian singer whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, was broadcasting a live installment of his Apple Music show Memento Mori. Since the episode celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Weeknd's 2011 mixtape Thursday, the entertainer looked back with the music that moved him around that time.
"DEFTONES HUGE INSPO DURING [TRILOGY] ERA," The Weeknd tweeted on Wednesday (Aug. 18), referring to Trilogy, the album that collects his early mixtapes.
Before that, the singer said "R.I.P CHESTER" in honor of the Linkin Park member who died in 2017.
The Memento Mori episode includes songs by Deftones, Linkin Park feat. Jay-Z, and System of a Down amid selections by Chromeo, Jodeci, Art of Noise and more.
Fans of both The Weeknd and Deftones may have already drawn a line between the sensuality that exudes from the music from each. A link from The Weeknd to Linkin Park is harder to ascertain, though the airing of the 2004 Jay-Z collab with the band gives a clue.
The Weeknd started Memento Mori in 2018 while "hiding out in Paris" when he "decided to start a radio show and present all of you the music [that's] inspiring some late nights," as the singer then shared of the music show launch that was covered by Billboard.
Deftones hit the road next year with fellow rockers Gojira on a tour initially plotted for 2020 before being postponed once before because of the pandemic. The Weeknd's After Hours Tour also starts in 2022.
Compare Deftones and The Weeknd songs below.