Lead singer of band Linkin Park
LOSANGELES— Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington, who sold millions of albums with an ever-changing mix of hard rock, hiphop and rap, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles on Thursday, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday. Hewas 41.
Coroner spokesman Brian Elias said authorities are investigating Bennington’s death asanapparent suicide at Palos Verdes Estates, a small coastal city near Los Angeles.
Band co-founder and producer Mike Shinoda said on Twitter he was “shocked and saddened.”
“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,” Warner Bros. CEO and Chairman Cameron Stang said in a statement.
The Grammy Awardwinning group sold 10 million copies of their 2000 debut, “Hybrid Theory,” and then another 4million with 2003’s multiplatinum “Meteora.”
Both feelings fury.
Bennington’s voice could soar with piercing strength or descend to a whisper. Rolling Stone once called it a “shrapnel-laced howl that sounds like it comes from someone twice his size.”
The band also sold millions with its remix album, “Reanimation,” and its mash-up record with Jay-Z, “Collision Course.” They wonGrammys for best hard rock performance in 2001 for “Crawling” and best rap/sung collaboration for “Numb/Encore” in 2005. LinkinParkwas ontour and had a show at New York’s Citi Field scheduled for nextweek with Blink 182.
Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol addictions at various times during his life. He said he had been sexually abused as a child and was homeless for months before the band found fame.
Linkin Park released their most recent album, “OneMore Light,” inMay. It was a CD that divided critics and fans alike for its embrace of moody pop. One song on the album, “Heavy,” opens with the words: “I don’t like my mind right now.”
Although the band had always experimented with albums explored of frustration and different sounds, some claimed Linkin Park had sold out, which Bennington denied.
“One More Light” became the band’s fifth No. 1 album debut 200.
Bennington was married to his second wife, Talinda, and is survived by six children. on the Billboard