Linkin Park frontman died by hanging, coroner says
LOS ANGELES — Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington died by hanging at his Palos Verdes Estates, California, home, the Los Angeles County coroner confirmed Friday.
An employee discovered the 41-year-old’s body Thursday morning hanging from a belt on a bedroom door inside his home in the 2800 block of Via Victoria, said Ed Winter, spokesman for the L.A. County medical examiner-coroner. A halfempty bottle of alcohol was found in the room, he said.
Bennington did not leave a suicide note, Winter said.
An autopsy had not been performed on Bennington on Friday.
Firefighters received a call about 9 a.m. regarding a cardiac arrest at the Palos Verdes Estates’ home, said Joey Napoli, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The report indicated the male victim had hanged himself, he said.
On Thursday, Linkin Park cofounder Mike Shinoda reacted to Bennington’s death, saying he was “shocked and heartbroken.”
Warner Bros. Records CEO and chairman Cameron Strang said in a statement, “Chester Bennington was an artist of extraordinary talent and charisma, and a human being with a huge heart and a caring soul. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beautiful family, his band-mates and his many friends. All of us at WBR join with millions of grieving fans around the world in saying: we love you Chester and you will be forever missed.”
In a 2007 interview with Noisecreep, Bennington opened up about his struggles with drugs and alcohol addiction.
“I’m not one of those guys who thinks being anonymous is all that great,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with people knowing that I had a drinking problem. That’s who I am, and I’m kind of lucky in a lot of ways ’cause I get to do something about it. I get to grow as a person through it. It’s kind of a cool thing. It’s not cool to be an alcoholic, meaning it’s not cool to go drink and be a … It’s cool to be a part of recovery. This is just who I am, this is what I write about, what I do, and most of my work has been a reflection of what I’ve been going through in one way or another.”
In interviews with Kerrang! magazine and Team Rock, Bennington said he was sexually abused as a child.
“It destroyed my self-confidence. Like most people, I was too afraid to say anything. I didn’t want people to think I was gay or that I was lying. It was a horrible experience,” he told Team Rock.