Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington has been found dead at his home in Los Angeles. He was 41 years old. According to the tabloids, the musician committed suicide. recalls Bennington and his team, which became a symbol of the generation of the 2000s.
“I'm shocked, my heart is broken, but it's true. An official statement will follow as soon as we have it," Bennington's colleague, rapper Linkin Park tweeted.
By a strange coincidence, the death of vocalist Linkin Park fell on July 20 - the birthday of the frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave, who committed suicide on May 18 of this year. Cornell and Bennington were friends.
Another grim statistic: this is the second Stone Temple Pilots vocalist to die in two years. In December 2015, former frontman Scott Weiland was found dead. From 2013 to 2015, Bennington took his place in this well-deserved team, which he admired from his youth.
Bennington had a serious and longstanding drug problem, and perhaps Shinoda knows more than people on the outside. For fans of the group and those who simply follow the music, with all the deaths of musicians over the past year and a half, the departure of Bennington - a handsome man, a favorite of girls, a figure albeit pathetic, but not tragic, turned out to be really shocking.
Linkin Park were one of the most commercially successful bands of the 2000s, in an era when alternative music became mainstream. They brought nu-metal to a state close to pop music. They had a lot of haters, but there are still many times more frenzied devoted fans. For the generation of the 2000s, Linkin Park is a symbol, even if someone did not listen to them and did not like them. They were everywhere, there was nowhere to hide from the Numb song.
In the 2010s, the passions around the band did not seethe so violently, but the band released albums regularly, and accusations were regularly made that the musicians were exhausted, completely insane, and so on. In May, the last, seventh disc of the group, One More Light, was released. Discussing this work, the peace-loving Bennington lost his temper and threatened to "stuff the face" of critics and detractors.
Returning to strange coincidences: the album was released the day after the death of Chris Cornell.
Chester Bennington was born on March 20, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona, the son of a police detective. He was 11 years old when his parents divorced, and this had a very strong effect on him. As a teenager, he started drinking and doing all the drugs he could get his hands on.
At the age of 17, he began to sing in a local band, Sean Dowdell and His Friends, but things weren't going well for that band. Chester found another band - Gray Daze and recorded three albums with him in the second half of the 1990s. The result did not suit him, and he was already thinking about quitting music.
Photo: David Longendyke / Everett Collection / East News
But suddenly he was lucky: producer Jeff Blue, who worked with and, appreciated the Gray Daze vocalist and brought him together with a promising young Los Angeles band Xero. Bennington became friends with Mike Shinoda and the other members of Xero. The team after some time was renamed Linkin Park. Jeff Blue also helped with the contract: the group released their debut album not just anywhere, but on the giant label Warner Bros.
It didn't take long to convince listeners of their talent - the first disc became multi-platinum in many countries and diamond (more than 10 million copies) in their homeland.
From an unsettled drug addict and Burger King employee, Chester Bennington at 23 turned into a superstar and a millionaire who owns the minds of millions of teenagers. But this successful and, according to some, "pop" man, the father of a large family, continued to live on the edge of the abyss, from which they could not save him.
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington was found dead at his Palos Verdes Estates residence in Los Angeles, California. Before that, the musician was vacationing with his wife in Arizona, but then decided to return home alone. This circumstance allows the police to claim that Chester committed suicide either on Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. Chester passed away just a couple of hours before the premiere of the group's new video.
In recent years, Bennington's problems with alcohol and drugs have been reported. He was married twice. He left six children.
In total, Bennington recorded seven studio albums with the band Linkin Park. Five of them went on to go platinum. Among other things, the Linkin Park group is a Grammy Award winner. Chester Bennington has been with the band since its inception and also came up with the name.
According to the online edition of TMZ, his death came as a surprise to the rest of the group. On the eve of the musicians planned to arrange a photo shoot, and exactly a week later - to go on tour.
It is also reported that one of the musicians of Linkin Park, vocalist Mike Shinoda, arrived at Bennington's house after law enforcement officers and was "completely shocked" by the news of the death. Chester was going to be taken to a photo shoot that day.
“I'm shocked, my heart is broken, but it's true. An official statement will follow as soon as we have it,” wrote Shinoda.
Bennington's death came on the birthday of Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell, who committed suicide on May 18 this year. Cornell and Bennington were friends.
A number of musicians and representatives of show business have already reacted on social networks to the death of their colleague.
“Chester Bennington was an artist of extraordinary talent and charisma and a man with a big heart and caring soul. Our thoughts and prayers are now with his beautiful family, his bandmates and many friends," the head of record label Warner Bros. Records Cameron Stang.
"He's cute, kind and humble. A rare combination for rock and roll. Deeply saddened,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich wrote. Singer Rihanna, in turn, called Chester's talent the most outstanding of all that she had ever met in her life.
Rest in peace, Chester Bennington. We will never know someone's pain. Prayers with his family in this tragedy. If you need help, reach out," Kiss rhythm guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley said.
“Probably our most famous fan,” this is how the team of the English club “Ipswich Town” recalled Bennington. “It was very sad to hear this news. Everyone at the club sends their best regards to Chester's family and friends."
Russian fans of Linkin Park launched a hashtag on social networks dedicated to the death of the band's frontman.
Vocalist of the Lumen group Rustem Bulatov, who himself is a fan of Linkin Park, commented in an interview with RT on the news of Bennington's death:
“This is a serious blow for the fans, I include myself in this number. Always looking forward to new albums. It's a pity that this creator is no more in the world. The load that fell on him was so heavy that he could not cope. Chester left six children - this is a great human tragedy, ”he said.
In his opinion, the band and Chester Bennington himself changed rock music.
“Very strongly influenced the whole rock with his work. A vivid example of how music of different styles and directions can be mixed into something interesting. This was their hallmark - the lines between hip-hop, rock and electronic music were blurred, ”he told RT.
In turn, the leader of the Crematorium group Armen Grigoryan stated that "the actions of rock musicians are often not related to their commercial success."
“It is not clear why this happened,” he said.
The Los Angeles County coroner confirmed Bennington's death. According to coroner's spokesman Brian Elias, Bennington's death is being investigated as "an apparent suicide, but no further details are available," according to the Associated Press. The date and time of the funeral have not yet been announced.
The group's latest album, One More Light, was recorded in a slightly different direction - the musicians worked with famous pop composers Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, and also collaborated with British grime artist Stormzy.
In 2015, the band collaborated with Steve Aoki on the song "Darker than Blood" for his album Neon Future II. This song was released on April 14 as a single. On February 28 of the same year, part of the song was featured at Aoki's concert in Chicago. On April 15, 2015, a lyric video for the song appeared on Steve Aoki's official YouTube channel, and on June 25, the official video clip was posted online by Ultra Music. The clip shows how Mike Shinoda and Steve Aoki are trying to create a tool that which could to cure people of a virus that turns the world's population into zombies.
The TMZ report also states that Bennington killed himself on his friend's birthday - leader Soundgarden band Chris Cornell, who died on May 18 in a Detroit hotel. Forensic experts confirmed that Cornell also committed suicide.
Soundgarden, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, had a huge impact on the development of American rock music in the early 1990s, becoming one of the "Seattle Four" groups that made the grunge genre popular with the general public. After Cornell's death, Chester Bennington posted an open letter on his Twitter thanking a close friend for his support.
Chester Bennington was born on March 20, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona, the son of a police detective. He was 11 years old when his parents divorced, and this had a very strong effect on him. As a teenager, he started drinking and doing all the drugs he could get his hands on.
"New Divide" quickly made a career on radio, becoming the third single to hit the top ten at the same time on the Billboard Hot 100 and Alternative Songs (up to this point, only two songs had managed to do this - Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" and another Linkin Park track "What I've Done"). In addition, "New Divide" became the band's career-highest debuting song on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the top debut single on the alternative charts in over a year. Linkin Park is one of only five bands to have three singles debut on the Top 10 alternative charts in their 20-year history. In addition to Linkin Park, U2, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers managed to do this.
On May 15, 2007, the album Minutes to Midnight was released, with which the band moved away from the previous hybrid style and approached classic rock in sound. Significantly decreased the number of recitative inserts, the music became more melodic. The group's fans received the album ambiguously, ratings ranged from enthusiastic to extremely negative. Chester Bennington himself said in an interview that on the Meteora album, the band was forced to follow the pressure of the fans, copying the style of the debut Hybrid Theory, but now, with the new sound, Linkin Park "feels comfortable". On September 7, 2008, the group won the MTV Video Music Awards in the Best Rock Clip category. On November 25, 2008, the DVD Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes was released, on which one of the concerts of the European tour was recorded. The song "What I've Done" became the title track of the film "Transformers", and the song "Leave Out All The Rest" was heard in the credits of the film "Twilight".
At the age of 17, he began to sing in a local band, Sean Dowdell and His Friends, but things weren't going well for that band. Chester found another band - Gray Daze and recorded three albums with him in the second half of the 1990s. The result did not suit him, and he was already thinking about quitting music.
On September 12, 2013, the band's official website revealed that Linkin Park's new remix album "Recharged" would be released on October 29, which would be remixes and interpretations of songs from the band's 5th studio album, Living Things. The title of the album is related to the name of Linkin Park's new game LPRecharge. The limited edition album will include an interactive 3D sculpture inspired by the Living Things album art, a 48-page art book, Living Things and Recharged discs, a magnetic stylus that will interact with the liquid in the 3D sculpture to create unique patterns and designs inside sculptures. The album was released October 29 on vinyl, CD and digital download by Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop Recordings.
Linkin Park latest news. Last news.
All these years, when we communicated with you, your passion was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that will never be filled again - your cheerful, ambitious, creative, kind and generous voice no longer resounds in the room. We try to remind ourselves that those "demons" that took you away have always been a part of your life. After all, the way you sang about those demons immediately made everyone fall in love with you. You fearlessly flaunted them and did it in a way that brought us all together and made us more human. You had a huge heart and you didn't have to hide it.
Linkin Park is the greatest band of our time. So strange, because, it seems to me, having achieved such success, only live and live and enjoy. Because this is one of the brightest rock bands in general of our time, ”he said.
Our love for music will never fade. While we do not know what will happen in the near future, but we are sure that thanks to you, the life of each of us has become better. Thank you for this gift. We love you and miss you very much.
You have changed so many lives, perhaps more than you could ever imagine. In recent days, we have received so much love and support from all over the world, publicly and personally. Talinda and the whole family are grateful for this and we want the whole world to know that you were the best husband, son and father; the family will never be complete without you.
Linkin Park's successful gimmick was to combine elements of metal and rock with rap and hip hop, which took the form of nu metal in songs like Crawling, In The End and Numb.
Bennington struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction for many years, which was reflected in many of Linkin Park's songs. The musician has repeatedly stated that he wanted to commit suicide due to the fact that in early childhood he was sexually abused by a man.
According to Zaldostanov, such famous people, having committed suicide, can set a bad example for the multi-million army of their fans.
On September 3, Warner Music Group DE posted a 28-second excerpt from Linkin Park's next single titled "Waiting for the End" on their official SoundCloud audio profile. On September 7, the band presented the full version of this song on MySpace, the full release took place on October 1, 2010. The single allowed the band to top the Alternative Songs chart for the tenth time, and the track became one of the band's most played singles on radio. The music video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards in the Best Special Effects category.
Linkin Park fans. Breaking news today 04.12.2017
Bennington committed suicide on the birthday of his close friend Chris Cornell, the leader of the band Soundgarden, who also committed suicide in May of this year due to prolonged depression. caused by the past drug use problems.
“Shocked and heartbroken, but true. An official statement will be released as soon as it's ready," Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda tweeted.
Tabolide TMZ notes that Bennington had problems with alcohol and drugs for many years. In an interview, he stated that he considered suicide due to the fact that he was sexually abused as a child.
“I'm shocked, my heart is broken, but it's true. An official statement will follow as soon as we have one," Bennington's colleague, Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda tweeted.
Linkin Park photo. New details.
On May 18, 2009, Linkin Park released a new single called "New Divide". The track was specially recorded for the film "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", which was released on June 24. The music video for Linkin Park's "New Divide" was released on June 13. On YouTube, this clip has received more than 290 million views.
The first single "The Catalyst" was released on 2 August, an excerpt of the track was featured by the band in the trailer for the video game "Medal of Honor" directed by Joe Hahn, and the full single premiered on BBC Radio 1. On 26 August, the band released the music video for "The Catalyst" on mtv .com, also directed by Joe Hahn. The video was included in the top ten video clips according to MTV Best Of 2010 - Top 10 Most Watched Videos..
A month after the release of the debut single, the A Thousand Suns promo song "Wretches and Kings" premiered, and on the same day, a new LPTV episode called "Megaphone Brad" was uploaded on the official Linkin Park YouTube channel, which shows how Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson collaborated on the song "When They Come for Me" and several excerpts from the song can be heard on it.
“I'm shocked, I haven't figured it out yet. I really liked the group, the guys were successful, everything was ahead of them. The suicidal story is very popular in the West,” he said.
In 2003, the group's second album, Meteora, was released and topped the Billboard 200. Video clips for the songs "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit" and "Numb" were broadcast on MTV and took first place in the charts. The album received a number of awards: the MTV Award for Best Video ("Somewhere I Belong") and the Radio Music Awards for Best Song ("Numb"). The songs "Numb", "Faint", "Papercut", "Points of Authority", "In the End", "One Step Closer" (from Hybrid Theory) and "Lying from You" were remixed with rapper Jay -Z. After the release of this album, the group increased its popularity in the world to the top of the world charts. The single "Numb" became Linkin Park's most recognizable song. And at the end of 2003, the live album Live In Texas and the video The Making Of Meteora were released.
Linkin park video. Fresh information.
Linkin Park have decided on their status. After the death of Chester Bennington, there were rumors that the group was over, because without a lead vocalist, the show would not be able to continue. On October 27, Linkin Park played their first show without Chester, but in his honor.
A concert titled Linkin Park Celebrates Life in Honor of Chester Bennington was held in Los Angeles. The entire US rock scene took part in the show: Sum 41, Blink-182, No Doubt, System of a Down, Korn, Bring Me the Horizon.
And 17 thousand spectators. They became the main shock of the concert - see how the audience sings the part of Chester in the track In The End in chorus.
And don't forget what it was like with Chester.
Linkin Park is not the first to be left without a main vocalist. The same trouble happened to Queen, Nirvana, INXS, The Doors - the list is long, as is the number of members of the club 27. How did the supergroups manage without a leader?
Nirvana
You haven't heard Nirvana live since 1994. Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl decided that there was no point in performing these songs without Kurt. Dave formed the Foo Fighters, Chris became a political activist, which they did until 2014.
In 2014, Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed live for the first time in 20 years. Dave sat down on the drums, Chris connected the bass, and all the best friends of the band came out to the microphone.
Kim Gordon sings Aneurysm:
Joan Jett with her version of Smells Like Teen Spirit:
Those who started making music after listening to Kurt also performed their own versions of their favorite songs.
Annie Clark performed Lithium:
Lorde sang All apologies:
Nirvana is not going to return with a new album and concert tour - their friendship was too sacred. It remains only to revise the classics in moments of sadness.
Queen
After the death of Freddie Mercury, Queen stopped releasing studio albums, and guest vocalists began to perform at concerts.
Freddie was replaced by Paul Rogers.
And Zemfira.
Lately, Queen have been playing with American Idol finalist Adam Lambert. Look what Adam is like as a frontman:
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness is Queen's biggest concert since Freddie Mercury's death. It brought together 72,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium in 1992. David Bowie, George Michael, Elton John, Annie Lennox and many other famous musicians for whom Freddie was both a friend and an idol performed on stage with Queen.
Look how happy Elton John was when he performed Bohemian Rhapsody:
George Michael did a great job too:
Freddie Mercury knew for sure: as long as there are such friends, the show will continue.
Joy Division
When Ian Curtis passed away, the remaining members of Joy Division gathered in a bar and decided they would start over with a new name. This is how the story of New Order begins. Their starting point was Ian's last two songs, Ceremony and In A Lonely Place. This is how they sounded in the latest recordings of Joy Division:
That's how you heard them from New Order.
Joy Division did not collect any tribute concerts after Ian's death. Few people could repeat Ian.
Only Thom Yorke. On a personal initiative:
Chester Bennington returned to his native Los Angeles from a vacation on Wednesday. Linkin Park had yet another photo shoot, the premiere of the video clip Talking To Myself, and the final rehearsals of the tour, which was supposed to start on July 27th.
Now one can only tragically guess why the 41-year-old singer decided at the peak of his fame - in the midst of work, success. But only now do you begin to pay attention to the fact that, perhaps, Chester has inexorably accumulated fatigue, sorrow and even despair ...
At the time of his death, Chester Bennington was alone in his house in California (his wife stayed in Arizona, where she chose to continue the vacation that they started together) - and it’s hard to say now if they had a fight, had a fight before leaving ?! But if the wife returned with the lead singer of Linkin Park, then perhaps she could save him from the fatal step ... It's a pity that she was not there ...
Actually, now comparing the facts, you can see that the artist has accumulated fatigue. The band's next album, One More Light, was released in May 2017 and out of habit became No. 1 in the charts. Including in the most important - BillboardTop-200 - compiled on the basis of sales of CD, LP and digital copies.
Moreover, the music of this disc was very different from all previous releases, it was no longer screaming, anguish, furious reading, grinding guitars and desperation of riffs that prevailed here. No! "Another Beam Was" was no longer as heavy as the band's previous albums. But rather - albeit tough! - but at the same time even a little relaxed, meditative, piercingly philosophical and nervously suicidal. Yes, and it began with the song Nobody Can Save Me ("No one can save me") with the first lines of the song, and of the entire album I'm Dancing With My Demons ("I dance with my demons" ...). For some reason, I thought about this furiously and sadly right now.
Maybe this disc Chester and conceived how? Yes, and the cover is quite metaphorical and philosophically existential (before Linkin Park was always more straightforward, with the possible exception of the Meteora album) - against the background of gathering twilight, people without clothes (adults and children) enter the ocean ... In the distance - black waves, beyond them - a thickening darkening sky, behind which there is still a little light - that's where the people in the picture from the cover are looking.
Maybe Chester himself saw for himself the truth of eternal life and farewell to the ordinary? Now one can only guess about all this ...
By the way, he himself, though habitually was the inspirer of the next album, but this time composed unusually little. He became a co-author of only two tracks of the disc. Including in the hit Heavy, that is, "Heavy", also, after all, with a rather tragic text, beginning with the words "I don't like what's going on in my head ...." And it's probably not by chance, is it? But everyone didn’t think about it, didn’t understand that he wrote, probably, with the utmost confession and sincerity, sobbing ?! Maybe goodbye? Who now knows?!
In recent months, Chester drank heavily and suffered from depression. But then, too, no one was around.
Now that the leader of Linkin Park is no longer with us, you think about all this with a tragic and no longer able to save furious sadness, pain and grief ...
