Mix of guitars, hiphop defined course of rock
CHESTER Bennington, who died recently, aged 41, was the lead singer of the Los Angeles hard rock band Linkin Park, leading the sextet to become one of the biggest acts of the 2000s, its mix of guitars and hiphop defining the ensuing years in rock.
The act’s debut, Hybrid Theory, reportedly sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone. The group was signed to Warner Bros, and its beatdriven sound — when paired with heavy guitars and the dual vocals of
Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda — was long a force on rock radio.
Bennington helped drive the group to megastardom with its 2000 debut, which combined heavy metal and hiphop with angsty melodic choruses on songs such as Crawling and In the End.
The followup, Meteora, was a worldwide hit as well. The group was a powerhouse in rock music throughout its career, and released a new album, One More Light, in May. It debuted atop the Billboard album charts.
Bennington was born in Phoenix and joined the Agoura Hillsbased group in the late ’90s. After years of struggling to win a record deal, they became instant superstars with Hybrid Theory. With videos in constant MTV rotation, they led a legion of bands pairing hard rock, electronic music and hiphop that defined a particular moment in music.
The group released a 2004 collaborative album with Jay Z, Collision Course, and Bennington would later front Stone Temple Pilots between 201315 and a side project, Dead by Sunrise.
Bennington had always been frank about his struggles with addiction, and said he was sexually abused as a youth.
‘‘I think it’s a lot more common than people think. If you look at it, there’s almost two different types of kids these days in this country. There’s kids who are really together and then there’s, like, train wrecks,’’ Bennington told the Los Angeles Times in 2004.
‘‘I think people don’t get told enough that they have the power to make themselves feel better. So if you can do that as much as possible . . . I think that’s a positive thing, and I think we do that with our music. I think that’s why a lot of kids relate to it, whether they’ve got their [stuff] together or whether they’re messes . . . I’m both those things myself.’’
In 2004 Warner Bros Records’ thenchairman and CEO Tom Whalley said Linkin Park ‘‘represent[s] what we all miss in rock music. What we loved about bands in what we think of as the golden age of rock music was that each record took on a new dimension, and you would follow that band through those dimensions, and you would become a fan of whatever they’re trying to do next.’’
In 2014, Bennington said he was frustrated with the state of mainstream rock.
‘‘We see a void,’’ the singer said, with too much ‘‘safety rock sold as edgy alternative music.’’
Bennington was friends with Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who committed suicide in May. Bennington performed Hallelujah at Cornell’s memorial service.
Bennington is survived by his wife Talinda and six children. —
Los Angeles Times