Chester Bennington, vocalist for Linkin Park, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in Palos Verdes, California, on Thursday, July 20, 2017. Chester was married with 6 children from 2 wives. Throughout his turbulent life, Chester struggled with substance abuse and had considered suicide following his first divorce in 2005. It isn’t lost on us that Chester was also close friends with Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, who committed suicide in May 2017. Chester and his band played a touching tribute to Cornell on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 19.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=CgwL14IDDJY
Chester Bennington’s death was like a gut punch. To understand Chester’s music, you have to understand that Chester went through almost every trial imaginable. He was sexually abused by a friend. His parents divorced. He was bullied at school. Chester struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism. And it all happened before his 20th birthday.
Rather than wallow in self-pity, or hide behind excuses, Chester realized that he had one simple message for anyone who had experienced any of the pain he had experienced: “You are not alone.” And that was everyone. In a 2009 interview with Spin, Chester explained his message this way: “I have been able to tap into all the negative things that can happen to me throughout my life by numbing myself to the pain, so to speak, and kind of being able to vent it through my music.“
As if it was meant to be, Chester broke into the music scene at the beginning of the nu metal movement. Nu metal’s blend of heavy metal with other genres such as hip-hop and alternative funk gave Chester access to a virtually limitless audience to hear his virtually limitless message — and they devoured it. Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, needed just five years to reach Diamond status, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. It has been recognized as one of the top-selling debut albums of all time.
While the explosion of rock/rap bands dwindled in the ’90s, Chester’s universal message of empathy propelled Linkin Park through six more studio albums, including One More Light, released in May 2017. Along the way, they sold more than 70 million albums. Linkin Park was also the first band to rack up one billion hits on YouTube and is the only band to hold two of Spotify’s “Timeless Songs” — “Numb” and “In the End.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2J7WZdcuDw
In May of 2017, Chester again faced heartbreak; this time it was the death of his close friend, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. The loss shook Chester to the core, but he again turned his pain into inspiration. At the funeral, Chester joined Soundgarden’s Brad Delson to sing Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah.” The funeral was private, but it couldn’t keep Chester’s message of comfort from reaching Chris Cornell’s devastated fans. Chester also wrote a tribute to his lost friend. It should come as no surprise that, once again, Chester transformed his pain into a message that articulates our own pain and will eventually help us heal:
“You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. I suppose that’s what we all are. You helped me understand that.”
Thank you, Chester. Now we do understand.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK [8255]) is a United States–based suicide prevention network of 161 crisis centers that provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. After dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255), the caller is routed to the nearest crisis center to receive immediate counseling and local mental health referrals. The Lifeline supports people who call for themselves or someone they care about.