Linkin Park lead remembered for diverse vocals
CHESTER BENNINGTON
LOS ANGELES — Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington, whose vocals helped the rock-rap band become one of the most commercially successful acts in the 2000s, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles on Thursday, the Los Angeles County coroner said. He was 41.
Coroner spokesman Brian Elias said authorities are investigating Bennington’s death as an apparent suicide at Palos Verdes Estates, but no additional details were available.
“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 bandmates and his many friends,” Warner Bros. Records CEO and Chairman Cameron Stang said in a statement.
The Grammy Award-winning group sold more than 10 million copies of its 2000 debut, “Hybrid Theory,” which featured the megahit and anthem “In the End.” Linkin Park sold another 6 million with 2003’s multiplatinum “Meteora.” Both albums explored feelings of frustration and fury, and Bennington’s vocals could soar with piercing strength or descend to a whisper.
The success helped Linkin Park become Billboard’s No. 1 act of the decade for rock songs and alternative songs.
The band released its most-recent album, “One More Light,” in May. It was a CD that divided critics and fans alike for its embrace of moody pop. Some said Linkin Park had sold out, which Bennington denied.
“If you like the music, fantastic. If you don’t like it, that’s your opinion, too. Fantastic,” Bennington told NME magazine. “One More Light” became the band’s fifth No. 1 album debut on the Billboard 200.
Bennington was close friends with Chris Cornell, who died by hanging earlier this year, and performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the Soundgarden singer’s memorial in late May. He was the godfather of Cornell’s 11-year-old son, Chris. Cornell’s 53rd birthday would have been Thursday.
“The Cornell family is overwhelmed by the heartbreaking news about Chester Bennington, which tragically comes so soon after their family’s own loss,” said a Cornell family spokesperson. “They open up their loving arms to Chester’s family and share in the sorrow with all those who loved him.”
Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol addictions at various times. He said he had been sexually abused as a child and was homeless for months before the band found fame.
When he got his break in 1999, Bennington was an assistant at a digital-services firm in Phoenix. A music executive sent him a demo from the band Xero, which needed a lead singer. Bennington wrote and recorded new vocals over the band’s playing and sent the results back. He got the gig with the band, which changed its name to Hybrid Theory, then Linkin Park.
He is survived by his second wife, Talinda, and six children.
Linkin Park was next scheduled to perform next week in Massachusetts and New York.