Sad! (From Wikipedia)
Chester Charles Bennington was born on March 20, 1976, in Phoenix, Arizona. His mother was a nurse, while his father was a police detective who worked on child sex abuse cases.[5][6]
Bennington took interest in music at a young age, citing bands Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as his earliest inspirations,[7] and dreamed of becoming a member of Stone Temple Pilots, which he later achieved when he became their lead singer.[8]
Bennington suffered sexual abuse from an older male friend when he was seven years old.[9] He was afraid to ask for help because he did not want people to think he was gay or lying, and the abuse continued until the age of 13.[10]
His parents divorced when he was 11 years old. The abuse and situation at home affected him so much that he felt the urge to kill people and run away.[10] To comfort himself, he drew pictures and wrote poetry and songs.[10]
After the divorce his father gained custody of him.[6] Bennington started abusing alcohol, marijuana, opium, cocaine, meth, and LSD.[7][11][6] He was physically bullied in high school. In an interview, he said that he was “knocked around like a rag doll at school, for being skinny and looking different”.[12]
At the age of 17, Bennington moved in with his mother and was banned from leaving the house when his mother discovered his drug activity.[6] He worked at a Burger King before starting his career as a professional musician.[7]
Eventually, Bennington was able to overcome his drug addiction and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews.[13] During one Linkin Park tour, he started drinking heavily.[5] In 2011, he said he had quit, noting, “I just don’t want to be that person anymore.”[14]
Years later he revealed the abuser’s identity to his father but chose not to continue the case after he realized the abuser was a victim himself.[11]
Linkin Park
Bennington performing in 2008
Bennington was frustrated and almost ready to quit his musical career altogether when Jeff Blue, the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered him an audition with the future members of Linkin Park.[15] Bennington quit his day job at a digital services firm[6] and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called Xero.[15] He managed to record the song for his audition in a day, missing his own birthday celebration in the process. Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal.[15] After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.[15]
Bennington performing in 2010
On October 24, 2000, Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory, through Warner Bros. Records. Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics to Hybrid Theory based on some early material.[5] Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as “everyday emotions you talk about and think about.”[16][17] Bennington later described the songwriting experience to Rolling Stone magazine in early 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 taking 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.”[5]
Bennington primarily served as Linkin Park’s lead vocalist, but occasionally shared the role with Shinoda. All Music Guide described Bennington’s vocals as “higher-pitched” and “emotional”, in contrast to Shinoda’s hip-hop-style delivery.[7] Both members also worked together to write lyrics for the band’s songs.[18]
Death
Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone wrote: “Bennington’s voice embodied the anguish and wide-ranging emotions of the lyrics, from capturing life’s vulnerable moments to the fury and catharsis found in his belted screams, which he would often move between at the turn of a dime.”[64]
Talking about his favorite bands and influences, Bennington mentioned Alice in Chains, Arcade Fire, Circle Jerks, Descendents, Deftones, Jane’s Addiction, Metallica, Ministry, Minor Threat, Misfits, The Naked and Famous, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Refused, Skinny Puppy, Soundgarden and A Tribe Called Quest.[65][66]
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