Chester Charles Bennington was an popular American singer, songs writer, musician & actor as well . He was known as the best lead vocalist for Linkin Park . He was also the lead vocalist for the bands Dead by Sunrise,Stone Temple Pilots & Grey Daze.
He was appeared in cameo roles in several reel films which includes Crank, Crank: High Voltage & Saw 3D. He was widely regarded as one of the top rock musicians of the 2000s. Bennington was born on 1976 March in Phoenix ( Arizona ) .His mother was a staff nurse & his father was a detective on police who worked on child sexual abuse cases. He took an interest in music at very young age, citing the bands Depeche Mode & Stone Temple Pilots as his earliest inspirations, and dreamed of becoming a member of Stone Temple Pilots, which he later achieved becoming their lead singer.
He even suffered sexual abuse from one of his older male friend when he was seven years old. He was afraid to ask help b’cause he didn’t want people to think he was gay or he was lying, and the abuse continued until he was 13.After many Years later, he revealed the abuser’s identity to his father, but chose not to pursue him after he realized the abuser was a victim himself.
His parents got divorced when Bennington was 11 . The abuse & his situation at home affected him too much. To comfort himself, he used to pictures and wrote poetry and songs.After the divorce, Bennington’s father gained custody of him. Bennington started abusing alcohol, marijuana, opium, cocaine, meth & LSD. He was physically bullied even in high school.
At the age of 17, he moved in with his mother. He was not allowed to leave house for a time when his mother discovered his drug activity. He used to work at Burger King before starting his career as a professional musician.
He first started singing with a band called Sean Dowdell & His Friends? They released an eponymous three- track cassettes in 1993. Later, Dowdell & Bennington moved on to form a new band, Grey Daze, a post grunge band from Phoenix. The band recorded three albums I.e Demo – 1993, Wake/Me – 1994 & no sun today – 1997. Bennington left Grey Daze in 1998 .
He was very frustrated and almost ready to quit his musical career altogether when Jeff Blue, the V. President of artists & repertoire at Zomba Music , Los Angeles offered him for audition with the future members of Linkin Park. Bennington quit his day job at a digital services firm & took his family to California, where he made successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called Xero.
He recorded the song for his audition in a day & missed his own birthday celebration in the process. Bennington & Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal. After facing many rejections, Blue, now a V. President of artists & repertoire at Warner Bros, intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.
On Oct’24 2000, Linkin Park released their first debut album, Hybrid Theory through the Warner Bros. Records. Bennington & Shinoda wrote lyrics to Hybrid Theory . Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions & experiences, and as “everyday emotions you talk about and think about. Bennington later described the songs writing experience to Rolling Stone magazine in 2002, “It’s easy to fall into that thing – ‘poor, poor me’, that’s where songs like ‘Crawling’ come from: I can’t take myself but that song is about responsibility for your actions. I don’t say ‘you’ at any point. It’s about how I’m the reason that I feel this way. There’s something inside me that pulls me down.
On July 20 , 2017 Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Esta. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. Mike Shinoda confirmed his death on Twitter . On July 21, Brian Elias, the chief of operations for the office of the medical confirmed that a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found at the scene, but no other drugs were present.
Bennington’s funeral was held at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes on 2017 July 29. In addition to his family members & close friends, many musicians who toured or played with Linkin Park were also in attendance. The service also included a full stage for musical tributes.Bennington was cremated.
On Dec 5, 2017, Billboard magazine wrote that Bennington’s toxicology report showed “a trace amount” of alcohol in the singer’s system at the time of death.
– Wiki
This is what severe depression looks like , Bennington a day before committing sucide .
