Chester Bennington obituary: Linkin Park front man’s rise to fame
The lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, will be remembered for his distinct voice that defined the band’s sound.
Chester Charles Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona and when he joined Linkin Park nearly 20 years ago, his unique voice immediately set him apart.
Bennington was signed up to front the-then named Hybrid Theory, which later changed its name to today’s famous moniker, Linkin Park.
In May this year, Bennington mourned the loss of one of his good friends, Audioslave and Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who was found dead in his Detroit hotel room after a concert.
The Papercut singer’s death at the age of 41, in a suspected suicide, coincides with what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday on July 20.
In the note, Bennington said he was “weeping, with sadness, as well as gratitude for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family”.
“You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. Your talent was pure and unrivalled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one.”
He continued: “I can’t imagine a world without you in it. I pray you find peace in the next life… Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. ”
Throughout his life, Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol problems. In 2008, he is quoted as having told music magazine Kerrang that he was abused as a young child, although he never revealed who the alleged abuser was.
From an aesthetic point of view, Bennington looked every inch the rock and roll star, covered in tattoos and piercings.
His gravelly voice, that captured the band’s signature sound of hard rock, hip-hop and rap, was behind their massive hits, such as Crawling and In The End.
After their debut album, Hybrid Theory sold 10 million copies, they followed up that success with 2003’s Meteora.
In May this year they released their seventh album, One More Light, ending the three-year wait for fans since their previous album, The Hunting Party.
During an interview about the album this year, Bennington spoke about how they’d not only collaborated with a female vocalist for the first time, but about how they’d approached their sound differently.
“That really changes the dynamics of the sound, because we’re letting our emotions and our feelings tell the songs what to do, as opposed to the songs telling us what the emotion of the song should be.”
The previous day, during a Q&A session following a playback of a few songs in front of a small audience, Bennington also spoke openly about his state of mind when they started the album.
“I hated the world. I had a song in my phone at the start of the process called I
Hate The World Right Now. I was pretty suicidal. I hated my life,” he said frankly.
“Mostly the suffering that I was bringing on was self-imposed. All these thoughts were stuck in my head. It was not healthy. I remember thinking that I wanted to be left alone.”
But he credited the writing process and band with lifting him up out of the darkness into a better place.
He explained: “I don’t like feelings. I don’t want to have any feelings at all. Even now, through all this process, that was the beginning point, I worked on all this stuff and started changing my perspective. I started reaching out and talking about my feelings.
“At the end of the process, I was surprised I was ever in this place. I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t see myself getting in that place again because I have such good friends’. I have a beautiful wife, great kids, awesome job.”
Off the stage, Bennington’s personal life saw him get married twice and father six children.
He also lent his voice to other music projects, which saw him front rock band Stone Temple Pilots for a short stint. He also formed a band called Dead By Sunrise.
Hours before Bennington’s death the band released new music, a single called Talking To Myself.
Shinoda remembered Bennington on Twitter, writing: “Shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.”
The singer ended his April interview with the Press Association saying: “We are never going to sit in one place for too long. Our musical journey doesn’t have a destination, it just has stops. It has places we like to visit and move on.”
