Quote:Quote:http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/c...41-w493387
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died of an apparent suicide by hanging Thursday morning, according to The Associated Press. Police in Palos Verdes Estates, in Los Angeles County told TMZ that the singer's body had been discovered just before 9 a.m. The singer was 41. A representative confirmed the death to Rolling Stone.
Rock outfit, singer confront their worst selves in harrowing new clip
"Shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, we were notified by law enforcement of a death in Palos Verdes Estates," Brian Elias, chief of operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, tells Rolling Stone. "We responded to the scene and unfortunately confirmed that Mr. Chester Bennington was deceased at the scene."
Elias added that the coroner's department is currently conducting a death investigation, with more information set for release Thursday afternoon.
"Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true," Bennington's fellow Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda said on Twitter. "An official statement will come out as soon as we have one."
Bennington's many fans, peers and collaborators in music and entertainment offered their condolences and shared their memories of the singer on social media, including Rihanna, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Chance the Rapper, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ryan Adams, Pusha T and Jimmy Kimmel. Others, such as Thursday's Geoff Rickly and Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, took the opportunity to speak out about the importance of addressing mental health issues as well.
Bennington's screamed and emotional vocals provided a gritty counterpoint to co-frontman Mike Shinoda's raps on the group's nu-metal hits like "In the End" and "One Step Closer." He sang the poppy melodies on the band's recent hit "Heavy," which featured singer Kiiara and reached Number Two on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart and Number 11 on the Top 40. In addition to working with Linkin Park, he also fronted Stone Temple Pilots between 2013 and 2015 and the side project Dead by Sunrise and supergroup Kings of Chaos.
Linkin Park were a breakout hit when they released their debut, Hybrid Theory, in 2000. Its blend of rap, metal and electronic music propelled it to Number Two on Billboard, and the RIAA has subsequently certified it diamond, signifying sales of more than 10 million copies. With the exception of 2014's The Hunting Party, which debuted at Number Three, each subsequent Linkin Park release would claim the Number One spot. Over the years, they've proven themselves to be a malleable act, focusing more on electronic music sometimes and harder rock at others, and even teaming with Jay-Z on the platinum-selling Collision Course EP in 2004 and Steve Aoki on the remix release A Light That Never Comes in 2014. Their most recent LP, One More Light, came out this past May. The band has won two Grammys.
Bennington was born March 20th, 1976 in Phoenix, the son of a police officer. He had a rough childhood and was molested and beaten up by an older friend beginning around age seven. "It destroyed my self-confidence," he told Metal Hammer. "Like most people, I was too afraid to say anything. I didn't want people to think I was gay or that I was lying. It was a horrible experience."
When he was 11, his parents divorced and he was forced to live with his father. He eventually discovered drugs, taking opium, amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine alongside alcohol. "I was on 11 hits of acid a day," he told the magazine in 2016. "I dropped so much acid I'm surprised I can still speak. I'd smoke a bunch of crack, do a bit of meth and just sit there and freak out. Then I'd smoke opium to come down. I weighed 110 pounds. My mom said I looked like I stepped out of Auschwitz. So I used pot to get off drugs. Every time I'd get a craving, I'd smoke my pot."
After a gang broke into a friend's house where he was getting high and pistol-whipped his friends, he ditched drugs in 1992, though addiction would creep back into his life later. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where he auditioned for the band that would become Linkin Park.
The band had formed as Xero in Agoura Hills, California in 1996, the brainchild of Shinoda, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, drummer Rob Bourdon and turntablist Joe Hahn. After Bennington, who had been fronting the Phoenix alt-rock band Grey Daze, replaced original vocalist Mark Wakefield, who'd left in 1998, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory lineup was set.
Hybrid Theory came at the peak of the nu-metal explosion and quickly dominated the Billboard chart, thanks in part to heavy MTV airplay. The singles "One Step Closer," "Crawling" and "In the End" all charted high on the mainstream rock chart, and "In the End" also crossed over to the pop chart, reaching Number Two and becoming gold-certified. "Crawling" earned the band its first Grammy, for Best Hard Rock Performance.
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Despite all of Linkin Park's album sales and Bennington's well-received with Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots, he always tried to stay grounded. "The idea that success equals happiness pisses me off," he told Metal Hammer in 2016. "It's funny to think that just because you're successful you're now immune to the full range of the human experience. But we also realize that we're not kids any more, we're not youngsters with this teen angst and this feeling of 'why does the world piss me off?' and finding a way to express it. We have had a lot of success and there are a lot of great things going on for us, but there are things that really matter to us. When we talk about lyrical content we can't just go back to being that angry kid, we need to talk about something that makes sense to who we are today."
Bennington was married and had six children from two marriages.
Pretty shocking news, especially so soon after Chris Cornell's own suicide.
Was never a huge fan, but I will always have a lot of memories attached to the songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory given how absolutely massive they were while I was growing up.
Rest in peace.
RVF Fearless Coindogger Crew
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