Linkin Park's Chester Bennington Dead at 41
Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, has died of suicide, according to TMZ. He was 41.
Law enforcement sources say that the singer hanged himself at a Palos Verdes Estates residence in Los Angeles. His body was found on Thursday, just before 9 a.m.
Bennington is survived by six children from two marriages.
Throughout his career, Bennington has struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism. In 2009, Bennington opened up about some of these challenges while talking about recovery. “It’s not cool to be an alcoholic,” he told Noisecreep (via Spin). “It’s not cool to go drink and be a dumbass. 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 the past, he also reportedly said that he considered suicide because he had been abused by an older man when he was a child, according to the TMZ report. “If I think back to when I was really young, to when I was being molested, to when all these horrible things were going on around me, I shudder,” he told Kerrang! in 2011 (via NME).
As the lead singer of Linkin Park, Bennington helped the group garner critical acclaim and commercial success. Fusing hip-hop, rock, and other genres, the group released their debut album Hybrid Theory in 2000. The album went on to sell more than 10 million copies.
Since then, LP has worked with a series of rappers, including Rakim, Bun B, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, and Pusha T. In 2004, they released Collision Course, a platinum mash-up project with JAY-Z.
This year, the group scored their sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with their latest LP, One Light, which moved 111,000 equivalent album units in its first week of availability.
Fans and friends, including Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Machine Gun Kelly, took to social media to mourn Bennington’s passing.
Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) July 20, 2017
RIP Chester. Tragic ending. Condolences his family and friends and Linkin Park 🙏🏾
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 20, 2017
the news can't be true. ive accepted a lot of things, but this one is too much…not Chester. not like this.
— mgk (@machinegunkelly) July 20, 2017
Chester it was truly a pleasure, thank you for sharing your greatness… #RIP #LinkinPark 🙏🏿
— King Push (@PUSHA_T) July 20, 2017
Chester was one of the kindest men I've had on my show. My heart breaks for his family and friends. He will be missed terribly.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) July 20, 2017