Julia Michaels thought Chester Bennington’s death was “a joke”

SHE’S on the cusp of stardom, with an upcoming Aussie tour, but Julia Michaels would still be just a songwriter without a nudge from the late Chester Bennington.

Hit maker Julia Michaels didn’t see the death of friend Chester Bennington coming. Picture: Dylan Robinson

SONGWRITER Julia Michaels has revealed she thought reports of the death of her friend Chester Bennington were “a joke” at first.

Michaels co-wrote Linkin Park’s Heavy, which became the first single from their album One More Light, and became friends with the rocker who took his life last week.

Bennington had encouraged Michaels, who at the time was successful as a behind-the-scenes songwriter for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, to pursue her own career as an artist.

American singer/songwriter Julia Michaels is now making her own hits. Picture: Catie Laffoon

Michaels grew up a Linkin Park fan and was impressed with how down to earth Bennington was — they had become FaceTime buddies.

“It’s been a hard week,” Michaels admitted.

“I’ve never met somebody so bright and happy and warm. It’s hard, I know so many people have said the same thing about him and now he’s gone. I thought it was a joke when I read what had happened. I thought ‘This is not possible’. When I saw it was real I was devastated.”

In his final Australian interview in March, Bennington praised working with Michaels and her songwriting partner Justin Trantor.

“They’re a lot of fun to be in the room with,” Bennington told News Corp. “Justin has an incredible sense of humour, Julia was really quiet in the studio. She’s super bright. Together they’re a very interesting team. She has a lot of personality but she’s selective on how she lets it out. They brought this fun, edgy creativity to the room. It was really easy, it was really fun and very thoughtful.

“Julia has such a great voice, I was saying ‘You should sing your stuff, why are you not out the front and in the background?’ She said she wasn’t that comfortable being a huge pop star. My ego would like to think that maybe I helped push her on her solo path!”

Michaels has been announced as opening act for hit maker Shawn Mendes’ Australian arena tour in November and December.

Her debut single Issues was a hit in Australia before anywhere else in the world and the Australian tour will be her first dates with her full live band.

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park on his final Australian tour in 2013.

Michaels is also a big fan of two Australian acts — Lisa Mitchell and Missy Higgins.

“I had a friend when I was younger who loved Missy Higgins, so I discovered her through that,” Michaels said.

“My favourite Missy song is probably The Special Two, that’s such a beautiful song. I’d seen Lisa Mitchell cover a Dire Straits song, I loved her voice. So I looked her up and found Coin Laundry and Clean White Love, Valium and I thought her writing and her voice was so special.”

However local fans shouldn’t expect her take on her Australian favourites during her first tour down under.

“I don’t know if I could do them justice but I could try!”

Michaels has just released a video for her new single Uh-Huh and is particularly proud of the clothes-swapping scene in the clip, which has ruffled some particularly conservative feathers online.

“That’s the only version of the video, I’m not editing that scene out for anyone,” she stated.

Her first EP, Nervous System, was released today.

Shawn Mendes, with Julia Michaels — Brisbane Entertainment Centre November 29, Qudos Bank Arena Sydney December 1, Rod Laver Arena Melbourne December 3, Perth Arena December 6.

Missy Higgins — Julia Michaels approves.

Lisa Mitchell has a famous fan.