One More Light (song)


"One More Light" is a ballad by American rock band Linkin Park from their seventh studio album, One More Light, as well as their last official major single with two of their longtime members Chester Bennington who was found dead due to suicide three months prior to the single's release and drummer and band co-founder Rob Bourdon. The song was co-written with Eg White and was released to US contemporary hit radio on October 3, 2017, as the album's third and final single. It is Bennington's second posthumously released single.
The music video for this song was nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background

In late 2016, Shinoda revealed that he had worked with British songwriter Eg White on a song. In an interview leading up to the reveal of the album's lead single, "Heavy", Shinoda revealed that White had worked with him on the song "One More Light" while Brad Delson attended the funeral of one of the band's friends. When asked what he wanted to write about by White, Shinoda said that the only thing he could think about was the friend who had passed. He revealed that, in spite of the horrible inevitability of loss, the song is about letting people know that you care.
Later on, the band revealed the friend was Amy Zaret, a 25-year veteran of Warner Bros. Records who died in October 2015 following a cancer diagnosis. Shinoda said,
The band surprised some of the people who worked at Warner with the song, and people reacted very emotionally to it, with some weeping, giving hugs, and telling stories. They played the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and dedicated it to their late friend Chris Cornell, who had died a day before.
After lead singer Chester Bennington's suicide on July 20, 2017, the band selected "One More Light" as their next single. Shinoda wrote "One More Light was written with the intention of sending love to those who lost someone. We now find ourselves on the receiving end. In memorial events, art, videos, and images, fans all over the world have gravitated towards this song as their declaration of love and support for the band and the memory of our dear friend, Chester. We are so very grateful and can't wait to see you again."
On October 25, 2017, American DJ/Producer and Linkin Park collaborator Steve Aoki released his remix of "One More Light", as his second tribute song to Bennington following his mashup, "Darker Than The Light That Never Bleeds", which was released a month earlier.
During an interview with The Guardian in July 2025, Shinoda shared that "One More Light" would no longer be performed live again, as he felt it would "feel weird playing" live, saying, " for a woman at the label that we worked with who passed away, then after Chester passed, the world decided that it was about him. And so that’s just too sad to play."

Music video

The official video was uploaded to Linkin Park's YouTube channel on September 18, 2017, and directed by Joe Hahn and Mark Fiore. It features footage of Chester performing in the middle of fans, footage of him at live shows such as Live in Texas and Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, and past music videos for their past singles "Burn It Down", "Waiting for the End" and "Powerless", as well as the band themselves through the years. On making the music video, Hahn said:

Personnel

Band
Additional musicians
  • Guitar and piano by Eg White
Production

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs 89