Before iconic singer Chester Bennington rose to international stardom as the lead singer for Linkin Park, he started out in Phoenix, Arizona with his first band Grey Daze.

Grey Daze drummer and best friend to Chester, Sean Dowdell, along with their new lead singer Cris Hodges joins Brad Szollose on Awakened Nation to discuss what it was like to rerecord the tracks Chester and Sean were working on before he died in 2017, going on tour for the first time in 20 years, and Sean’s heartwarming stories of missing his best friend, and waiting for the right time to bring these new songs to life.

This is rock history in the making, as Grey Daze had played their last show in 1998 and planned to reunite before Chester’s tragic death in 2017, two months away from starting their new tour. The tracks for their new collaboration would lay dormant for 5 years as Sean mourned Chester’s death.

This episode includes video footage from the documentary Grey Daze: The Creation of The Phoenix, featuring Dave Navarro, a sample of B12, their new album The Phoenix, also great stories from Cris and Sean on the experience of going back on tour after 20 years. Cris shares the first time he sang for Grey Daze at UFest in front of 15,000 fans, and the ghost of Chester.

If you love LinkinPark, This goes beyond being a tribute to Chester Bennington, this is a friend sharing Chester’s last legacy…while Cris gets to sing alongside Chester synced to video footage, as well as carving out his own path as Grey Daze prepares for a new direction.

Music and tour dates: https://⁠www.greydazemusic.com⁠
© Permission for usage granted by Sean Dowdell.

About Sean Dowdell:

Sean Dowdell was born in 1973 to a lower middle-class family in Phoenix, Az. At the age of 18 he entered into the music industry as a drummer and worked his way up eventually signing 3 record deals with the late rock legend Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, with their band Grey Daze.

During his time in the band Sean, Chester, and Thora (Sean’s wife), eventually became partners in building one of the world’s only luxury tattoo and piercing studios called ⁠Club Tattoo.⁠ It grew into 6 locations in Arizona and on the magnificent Las Vegas Strip including, Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile Shops and The LINQ Hotel.
Sean has 2 patents on jewelry design and software and is considered an innovator within the industry.

Sean wrote his first book in 2017 titled: TATTOOED MILLIONAIRE: BUILDING THE CLUB TATTOO EMPIRE, which describes Sean’s journey creating and building his multi-million-dollar business, Club Tattoo with less than $8,000!

About Cris Hodges:

A Craigslist ad looking for a talented session vocalist for film and TV brought Cris from Dallas, TX to L.A., and he’s never stopped working since. A native Texan, Cris moved himself to Los Angeles and built a career in the creative arts with unrelenting determination. As versatile songsmith, he developed his skill set as a topline specialist, vocal performer, and composer, working behind the scenes with Paramount Pictures, Sony, Nickelodeon, and Riptide Music Group, among others.

After a chance meeting with Grey Daze co-founder and drummer Sean Dowdell, Hodges was chosen to fill Chester’s shoes because of his work as the frontman for the most successful Linkin Park tribute act, In The End, paying homage to the late Chester Bennington to sold-out crowds. But his evocative solo music is unmistakably and uniquely personal.