Linkin Park released an episode of “Carpool Karaoke” on Facebook featuring comedian Ken Jeong, and dedicated to the memory of band member Chester Bennington. 
 
 Bennington, who was Linkin Park’s lead singer, was found dead on July 20 at age 41. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The episode was filmed on July 14, only six days before Bennington’s death, and was aired with the permission of his family. 
 
 The episode begins with Jeong joining Bennington and fellow band mates singer and songwriter Mike Shinoda and DJ Joe Hahn. Jeong expresses his excitement and appreciation for the band, asking them to add him as another member and even rename themselves “Lin-Ken Park” to incorporate his name. 
 
 Throughout the episode the four sang some classic Linkin Park hits like “Numb,” “In the End,” and “Talking to Myself” as well as song by other artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “City of Angels.” Jeong revived his character Leslie Chow from the “Hangover” series while singing “In the End,” and Bennington gave him a lesson in “scringing,” a portmanteau of “screaming” and “singing” referencing his trademark style of harsh vocals. 
 
 Jeong offered to become the band’s dancer and demonstrated his skills for the band on the sidewalk, reciprocating Bennington’s lesson by teaching the band his “hotdog and ketchup” dance. 
 
 When Jeong asked questions to try to connect with the band more, and Bennington shared that he once worked as a leaf blower, making $4 an hour and only got paid for three and a half hours of work. When he was asked if he wanted his kids to pursue music, Bennington said, “For me, I just want my kids to find something they’re passionate about.” 
 
 Watch the video below: 

 Apple has announced the release date for its first — and so far biggest — original series. Carpool Karaoke will debut August 8th on Apple Music, iTunes leader Eddy Cue tweeted out this afternoon. New episodes will debut on Tuesdays and will only be available to Apple Music subscribers. 
 
 The Apple Music incarnation of Carpool Karaoke will replace regular host James Corden with a series of guest stars, including actors, comedians, and athletes, giving the show an excuse to get even more famous names in the mix. There are going to be 16 episodes, and stars include Will Smith, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Ariana Grande, and Metallica, among many others. Corden will make an appearance, too. 
 
 Carpool Karaoke was supposed to launch in April but was delayed at the last minute for undisclosed reasons. It’s still not clear what happened; nor is it entirely clear yet what Apple’s broader plans are for original content. Rather than go after Netflix, so far Apple seems more interested in augmenting Apple Music with related content to help it stand out from Spotify. Carpool Karaoke is a natural fit, but we’re about to find out whether its viral appeal holds up when stretched out to TV-show length and locked inside a single service. 

 YouTube 
 
 Apple has emerged as the surprise buyer of the unscripted TV series based on the “Carpool Karaoke” segment of CBS’ “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” 
 
 The tech giant’s Apple Music service will distribute the series to its members in 100 countries worldwide. Apple sees the show as a natural vehicle to drive online activity for its streaming-music venture. 
 
 “Carpool Karaoke” segments, in which Corden drives around in a compact car with a musician or celebrity singing hit songs, has been a spur for sales and streaming activity for the songs featured in the segments — which made it a natural acquisition for Apple Music. The show sparked a bidding war among cable and subscription VOD outlets because of the segments have been such viral sensations for “Late Late Show,” which impressed by nabbing an Emmy nomination for talk-variety show in its first year of eligibility. 
 
 “We love music, and ‘Carpool Karaoke’ celebrates it in a fun and unique way that is a hit with audiences of all ages,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services. “It’s a perfect fit for Apple Music — bringing subscribers exclusive access to their favorite artists and celebrities who come along for the ride.” 
 
 The most recent installment with first lady Michelle Obama and Missy Elliott has grabbed nearly 32 million views on YouTube since July 20. “Carpool” segments to date have generated more than 800 million views, according to CBS. 
 
 “We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Apple Music on this exciting new series of ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ ” said Winston. “The joy of ‘Carpool’ is both the intimacy it creates, while seeing the love our passengers have for music. Where better to showcase that than with Apple Music.” 
 
 Apple has licensed 16 episodes of the show, to be exec produced (but not hosted) by Corden and “Late Late Show” exec producer Ben Winston for the pair’s Fulwell 73 banner and CBS TV Studios. Scott Koondel, CBS’s chief content licensing officer, spearheaded the sale process and helped drive the initiative to adapt the segment as a regular series. Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Internet software and services, Jimmy Iovine and Robert Kondrk steered the deal for the company. 
 
 “We’re delighted to bring one of the biggest viral hits, ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ to Apple Music, where our new series will be available on this phenomenally popular subscription service,” said Koondel. 
 
 While centered around streaming music, Apple Music has been turning to original video content as an exclusive bonus for its 15 million-plus paying subscribers as it fights in the competitive segment against the likes of Spotify and Google Play. 
 
 Apple is still in the nascent stages of developing original TV-style content, and given that it’s still new to the process of traditional series licensing deals sealing the deal with CBS took nearly three months. 
 
 The tech giant is said to have greenlit a scripted series from Dr. Dre, co-founder of music company Beats, which Apple acquired for $3 billion. This spring, Apple Music launched a music docu-series from Vice Media and last December exclusively live-streamed a Taylor Swift concert special from her “1989” tour. In addition, Apple has ordered “Planet of the Apps,” a reality-competition TV show featuring 100 aspiring app developers, from Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman and Howard Owens and musician-entrepreneur Will.i.am, which is designed to highlight Apple’s App Store business. 
 
 Apple Music will release the “Carpool Karaoke” episodes on a weekly basis. Production is expected to begin soon with a premiere date to be announced. In becoming a regular series, “Carpool Karaoke” will emphasize a travelogue element with celebrities taking the host (who is still be cast) on a trip to places of personal significance to each guest. 
 
 CBS still has the option of licensing a second window of the show to a traditional TV outlet. And just as CBS has set up an eye-popping deal for “Carpool Karaoke,” Koondel is said to be hitting the market with a series adaptation of another “Late Late Show” segment, the celebrity “rap battle” showdown “Drop the Mic.” 
 
 Todd Spangler contributed to this report. 

 On Thursday, Apple Music and Linkin Park decided to release the Carpool Karaoke video that the rock band and comedian Ken Jeong had filmed together in July, about a week before frontman Chester Bennington’s death. 
 
 In the lighthearted 24-minute video, Jeong, Bennington and Linkin Park bandmates Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn rock out to everything from Outkast’s “Hey Ya” to some of the bands most popular tunes from over their many years of popularity, with Bennington at the wheel. Jeong makes an attempt to convince the guys that he should be added to their band, too. (Luckily, Bennington gives him some singing lessons.) 
 
 There’s also some insight into Bennington’s likes and dislikes: he’s a big fan of tacos, is deeply into the game Dungeons & Dragons, and is willing to learn an impromptu dance called the “hot dogs and ketchup,” courtesy of teacher Jeong. He also reminisces on getting paid $4 per hour as a leaf blower in his past, before getting into the karaoke segment with the rest of the guys in a party bus while bedecked in faux flower leis and a feather boa. 
 
 In a more serious part of the drive, he reflects on his kids’ interests, including music and songwriting. “I just want them to find whatever it is,” he says of his hope that his children find and follow their passions. 
 
 Dedicated to the memory of Bennington, the video also includes a link at the end to the One More Light Fund, established to honor their bandmate. 

 The episode of Carpool Karaoke that Linkin Park filmed with actor Ken Jeong a week before the death of the band’s frontman, Chester Bennington, is now available to watch. The group published the 24-minute episode on its Facebook page saying it was doing so with the blessing of his family. 
 
 The episode opens with Jeong joking that he wanted to join the group, as Bennington sat next to him in the driver’s seat and the band’s Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn sat in the back. “We’ll see [if you can join the band],” Bennington said. “It feels like a band already. We’re already fighting,” Jeong said. 
 
 Over the course of the episode, the group and Jeong joyously sing Outkast’s “Hey Ya,” Linkin Park’s “Numb,” “In the End,” “Talking to Myself” and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge.” Eventually, they decamp for a party bus for a more proper karaoke experience and sing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” The episode begins with an encore of “Numb.” 
 
 In between, they goof off, with Bennington discussing his love of Dungeons & Dragons, saying “I am a seventh-level mage,” and Jeong breakdancing. At the end of “Numb,” Bennington leaned over to Jeong and said, “Dude, you don’t realize, I realize I was driving without my hands for like half that ride, because we were rocking.” 
 
 The episode ends with a link to the One More Light Fund, which the band has established to honor Bennington. People interested in contributing can visit the group’s Music for Relief fund. 
 
 After the taping, Linkin Park tweeted out a photo of them with Jeong and said they had a fun day, to which Jeong wrote, “Lin-Ken Park.” After news of Bennington’s death broke, Jeong tweeted, “I am in shock and heartbroken. All my thoughts and prayers go out to Chester and his family and friends at this time.” 
 
 Bennington died by suicide by hanging on July 20th. The group will honor his memory later this month with a tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl. At the event, the band members will perform alongside members of Korn, System of a Down, Blink-182, Avenged Sevenfold and others. 
 
 Revisit 12 great Linkin Park songs that showcase the talents of the band’s late singer Chester Bennington. Watch here.
– On July 14, Linkin Park recorded an episode of "Carpool Karaoke." On July 20, the band's lead singer, Chester Bennington, was found dead by suicide. Now, with the blessing of Bennington's family and the band, the 23-minute episode has been released. Linkin Park posted the video on Facebook Thursday. It features the band driving around with comedian Ken Jeong as they rock out to hits from Linkin Park and other bands, per Variety, with Bennington giving Jeong a lesson on his trademark "scringing" (a combination of screaming and singing). The segment—released by Apple Music, which bought the series that was developed on The Late Late Show With James Corden and debuted it, featuring a series of guest hosts in Corden's place, in August—also features some more personal talk, like Bennington discussing his love for Dungeons & Dragons ("I am a seventh-level mage," he says, per Rolling Stone) and his kids. "I just want them to find whatever it is," he says after being asked whether he hopes they'll go into music. "I just want my kids to find something they’re passionate about." The segment ends with an invitation to donate to the One More Light Fund the band established in Bennington's memory.