Rick Ross Honors Chester Bennington, Prodigy at Billboard Hot 100 Fest

Rick Ross took time out of his Billboard Hot 100 Festival performance to remember the lives of Chester Bennington and Prodigy.

Rick Ross attends a Party at Gold Room.
Image via Getty/Prince Williams
Rick Ross attends a Party at Gold Room.

During his hour-long set on the Sun Stage at the 2017 Billboard Hot 100 Festival at Jones Beach Theater on Saturday, Rick Ross took some time to remember two great artists who died over the last few months. 

Towards the end of his show, Ross acknowledged the life and work of Prodigy by letting his DJ play a little bit of "Shook Ones, Pt. II" by Mobb Deep, as reported by Billboard. On June 20, Prodigy passed away at the age of 42. Earlier this month, the Clark County Medical Examiner announced that the man born Albert Johnson died from accidental choking

Ross also took a moment to shout out Chester Bennington who died at 41 from an apparent suicide. Rozay acknowledged the lead vocalist of Linkin Park as "Numb/Encore," from the band's 2004 collaborative project with Jay Z, blared over the speakers.

Ross' moment of remembrance for Bennington comes after Jay Z did the same thing during his Virgin V Festival performance in England this weekend. After asking for the house lights to be dimmed, Jay asked the crowd, "Can you guys light it up tonight for Chester from Linkin Park one time?" Then, Hov requested that the crowd make some noise for Chester, saying, "Please make some noise so he can hear you all the way in heaven tonight."

While Ross didn't go as far as Jay did to remember the Linkin Park lead vocalist, it's clear that Bennington's death has been felt by many in the hip-hop community. It goes without saying what Prodigy meant to the genre. 

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