Chester Charles Bennington (1976–2017) is the frontman and vocalist of the American alternative rock band Linkin Park, who also participated in the projects Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots. The owner of one of the best voices in modern rock, whose personal life is interesting to everyone. During his participation in Linkin Park, the group won two of the most prestigious Grammy awards and went multi-platinum, having sold more than one hundred million copies of its albums.
In July 2020, he passed away at the age of 41, committing suicide.
Relationships with parents and difficult childhood
Chester was born on March 20, 1976 in the city of Phoenix, Arizona, in the family of a police officer and a paramedic. His childhood was tragic: when he was only 7 years old, an older friend began to sexually harass him.
Chester Bennington as a child
The abuse continued until Bennington's thirteenth birthday. The child was afraid to tell anyone about this, including his father, who was responsible for investigating cases of child abuse.
Chester Bennington with his mother
Another traumatic childhood experience was his parents' divorce when he was eleven. Father Lee Bennington received custody. But from the age of seventeen, Chester lived with his mother, Susan Eubanks.
Chester Bennington's father
His father already had another family, and soon Chester had a half-brother and sister.
Chester's brother Brian Bennington
Due to psychological trauma and rejection by peers, Bennington began using drugs as a child. In an interview, he said that he first tried marijuana at age eleven.
“I used to be an athletic kid, but as soon as I stopped playing sports, I stopped doing well in school. I started smoking weed and going to parties. I think I was 11 when I started smoking marijuana."
When his mother caught a seventeen-year-old teenager doing this, Chester was forced to leave home and get a job at one of the Burger King fast food chain outlets.
Three reasons why the Linkin Park singer might have committed suicide
On July 20, the lead singer of the cult American rock band Linkin Park, 41-year-old Chester Bennington, hanged himself in his home in Los Angeles. Shock. Shock for my wife, children, friends, colleagues, millions of fans. Despite the fact that Chester once had problems with alcohol and drugs, now he gave the impression of an absolutely happy person. Beloved wife, six children, the tour schedule is scheduled for six months in advance.
On May 19, Linkin Park presented their 7th studio album “One More Light” and immediately went on tour. The last concert took place on July 3 in London, after which Bennington and his wife went to Arizona for a little rest. On the eve of his suicide, he returned to Los Angeles. On the day of his death, July 20, Linkin Park released a new video for the song Talking To Myself and a photo shoot was supposed to take place. And on July 27, the musicians were going to perform in Massachusetts (USA). The concert schedule is scheduled until October 22. Linkin Park planned to tour American cities in support of the album.
Bennington was an active Twitter user. Basically, he shared his impressions of the concerts, communicated with fans, and talked about the group’s plans for the future. He published this entry on May 27: “Last week I felt a surge of creative energy. Wrote 6 songs and I'm happy with all of them. This is just the beginning." And here is an entry made a week earlier: “For today, my goals in life are love and understanding. The world must change, and this change comes from within. Hatred, pride, revenge and fear are the plague of the earth. Love, kindness, compassion, empathy and service to others are the healing.”
WHAT COULD PUSH CHESTER TO SUICIDE
Death of my best friend
On May 18, 2917, Chester's close friend, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, hanged himself in his Detroit hotel room. Before his death, the musician took seven different medications, but medical examiners determined that they did not contribute to his death. At Cornell's funeral, Chester performed Leonardo Cohen's song Hallelujah.
The Linkin Park leader took his friend's death seriously and even wrote an open letter. Here is an excerpt from it: “You inspired me in so many different ways that you didn’t even know about. I can't imagine life without you. I hope you find peace in your next life." Chester hanged himself on Cornell's 53rd birthday.
Album criticism
The new LP "One More Light" received mostly negative reviews in the press. It did not have heavy guitar riffs, it was recorded in the pop and pop rock genre, which was an unpleasant surprise for fans. Music portal NME wrote: "It's hard to criticize a great band for trying to do something different. The problem isn't even that it's a pop album. The thing is, it's a weak and contrived commercial move (perhaps to compete with bands like Twenty One Pilots). Maybe classic Linkin Park will return for the eighth album. But will anyone listen to them? On Twitter, Chester wrote that despite criticism from fans, he still loves them.
Problems with alcohol and drugs
Bennington had a very difficult childhood, which he talked about more than once in interviews. The parents divorced when the boy was 11 years old. At this age, Chester began drinking and smoking weed, which later led to the use of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Bennington suffered from drug and alcohol addiction for many years, and it is not entirely clear whether he was able to completely get rid of it. In an interview, he said that he no longer has problems with this, but doctors believe that there are no former alcoholics and drug addicts.
— I lived on alcohol. One day my wife announced that she was leaving me, although we had only lived together for 7 months! I tried to dissuade her, and suddenly I discovered that I was holding alcohol in my hands!! From the age of 13 I drank God knows how much alcohol... I used LSD and then switched to powder, it was disgusting,” Chester recalled.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2011, he himself spoke about suicide. Allegedly, such thoughts visited him due to severe childhood trauma, when Chester was raped as a child.
“When I was young, I was beaten and pretty much raped, it wasn’t fun.” Nobody wants this to happen to you and honestly, I don't remember when it started. But about four years ago I went to visit my mother and I saw a photograph of myself and I remember very well when that picture was taken. All of a sudden, because I had kids, I looked at him and thought, "Wow, that's what I looked like." And then I remembered. Oh my God. What happened to me at this stage makes me want to cry. Oh God, this happened to me and I was so small. My God, no wonder I became a drug addict. No wonder I went crazy for a while.
It is possible that it was after the death of his best friend that alcohol and drugs returned to the life of the Linkin Park vocalist.
First serious relationship. Jamie's illegitimate son
During his last year at school, Bennington dated his blond peer Elka Brand for about a year. They separated after graduation, but it turned out that Elka was pregnant. In 1995, she gave birth to a son, Jamie, from Chester.
Chester and son Jamie
The couple did not restore the relationship, but the famous vocalist recognized the child. Moreover, in 2006 he adopted her son Jordi. At the moment, Elka Brand has five children: three daughters and two sons, and only one of them (Jamie) is from Bennington. There were various rumors about the origin of Yordi, but the biography of the vocalist is hidden from the curious here.
Perhaps by adopting him, the musician tried to atone for part of his guilt towards Elka, whom he left alone with the child.
According to Bennington himself, Yordi is still an adopted son, and not by blood.
Family
Chester Bennington was married twice throughout his life. He met his first wife, Samantha, even before the advent of popularity. At that time, he worked at Burger King during the day and sang in a band in the evening, using a skateboard as a means of transportation, since there was no money even for a cheap car. This relationship lasted from 1996 to 2005. The marriage produced a son, who remained with his mother after the divorce.
The singer's two eldest children were born out of wedlock in a relationship with Elka Brand. He even adopted her youngest son.
His last marriage was in 2005 with Talinda Ann Bentley, a former Playboy model, who bore him three children (a son and two daughters).
First marriage to Samantha Olith and son Draven
After breaking up with Elka, the vocalist’s personal life developed very rapidly. Already at the end of October 1996, Chester decided to legalize his relationship with a girl for the first time by marrying Samantha Mary Olite.
Chester Bennington with Samantha Mary Olite
Now Samantha is a singer, producer and founder of the music label SAM Records. Chester met her when he was still singing in the little-known group Gray Daze.
Chester Bennington's first wife greatly influenced his character and musical career. Among fans of the group Linkin Park, a popular story is that Chester got into the group Xero by singing a vocal part at his birthday into a telephone receiver, at the other end of which other members of the group listened to him. Xero is the predecessor band to Linkin Park, which included most of the current lineup, including Mike Shinoda.
In fact, it was probably his wife, Samantha Mary Olite, who had a hand in finding a higher-level group for her boyfriend. The newlyweds were unable to have a child for a long time. Only six years after their marriage in 1996, the couple had their first child, who was named Draven Sebastien Bennington.
Chester Bennington with his ex-wife and son Draven
In the 2000s, the growing popularity of Chester Bennington's band, which became known as Linkin Park, began to harm the family. Fame and endless concert tours alienated the musician from his family, and Chester Bennington’s personal life fell apart.
After almost ten years of marriage, Samantha and Chester split up in 2005. Draven's son remained with his mother, but Samantha did not forbid Chester to communicate with him.
Instead of real rings, Chester and Samantha got tattoos on their ring fingers.
Throughout his relationship with Samantha Mary Olite, Chester rose from a teenager who couldn't afford wedding rings to the star of one of the most influential bands of his generation.
Samantha Mary Olits family
After the divorce, Samantha remained without a serious relationship for a long time, but in July 2020, via social networks, she announced that she had partnered with the famous American football player AJ Williamwood.
New details about the death of Chester Bennington
The year 2017 will go down in history for many reasons, but one of them will certainly be the death of Chester Bennington , lead singer of the popular band Linkin Park - the father of six children was found hanged in his own residence.
This happened in the summer, in July, and the main version was initially considered to be the suicide of a musician who, according to rumors, had problems with alcohol and drugs, plus Bennington was deeply worried about the suicide of his friend and colleague, Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell, who had taken his own life earlier in a very similar way.
Recently, new details of Bennington's death became known.
First, the results of a post-mortem toxicological examination appeared. Moreover, the tabloids rushed to report that traces of alcohol and ecstasy were found in the deceased’s blood. This information was refuted by another Linkin Park member, Mike Shinoda , who stated that drugs did not play any role in the death of his friend and colleague. The tabloid TMZ later changed its reporting, and Shinoda urged other media outlets to follow suit.
Just clearing this up: TMZ erroneously printed CB had MDMA in his system when he passed. That was incorrect, they misread the report. They have since corrected their piece, see below. I hope other publications have the Decency to do the same. pic.twitter.com/MwglKqjsOc — Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) December 6, 2017
To be precise, TMZ did not issue a full refutation of their news, but clarified that the connection between the cause of death and the presence of substances in the body had not been proven. At the same time, relatives of the deceased insist that no traces of ecstasy were found in his blood.
Secondly, information emerged that Bennington had previously attempted suicide at least twice. According to his widow, in 2006, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Bennington was prescribed antidepressants - but before committing suicide, the musician had not taken them for more than a year.
Again, the same TMZ claims that sources connected to the investigation told them that Bennington's widow, Talinda, told the coroner that back in November 2020, Chester, after getting drunk, tied himself up and threw himself into the pool, but at the last moment changed his mind dying, was able to free himself from his bonds and get out of the water.
Friends, in many countries of the world - and in Russia too - there are services that you can call if you begin to seriously think about suicide. We managed to find out the number of such a hotline for our country. Call if you feel like you are being overcome by demons. They can help you there:
Copyright © 2009 — 2020 Horrorzone.ru
Wow!
Average rating: 9 out of 10. Total votes: 17.
Talinda Ann Bentley. Son Tyler and twin daughters.
The vocalist's family biography did not consist of one wife for long. As a matter of fact, the acquaintance with Talinda Ann Bentley took place even before the official divorce from Samantha.
Chester Bennington and Talinda Ann Bentley
Talinda and Chester were introduced to each other by a mutual friend, musician Ryan Shack. The relationship developed quickly, and a week after they met in December 2004, Talinda moved into Bennington’s apartment. Almost exactly a year later, on December 31, 2005, they got married.
Chester Bennington's second wife was known as a fashion model before meeting him. A brunette with brown eyes, she starred for the most famous men's magazine, Playboy. Like many models, her biography includes a difficult and poor childhood.
Talinda, working several jobs, managed to earn money to study at the Los Angeles Music Academy. This education helped her build a modeling career.
Chester Bennington's wife Talinda supported him in his desire to quit drugs. Being in mental discord after a divorce and giving up drugs, the musician always felt her support.
Love is a feeling that inspires us to become better people. It is the thing that keeps us connected to others. This is the thing that gives us compassion. This is the thing that gives us the energy to accomplish great things in our lives, and it is also the thing that you can always rely on when there is nothing else to rely on.
The rock star soon had children with Talinda: on March 16, 2006, she gave birth to a son, Tyler, who was given the middle name Lee in honor of Chester’s father, and on November 6, 2011, twin girls Lily Grace and Lila Rose.
Talinda Ann Bentley with children
With the arrival of Talinda, Chester Bennington's personal life seemed to improve. In the last years of his life, Bennington began to spend much more time with his family and children. At the same time, he always tried to protect them from the attention of the press.
Gorky Park
The frontman of one of the world's most popular bands, Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, was found dead in his home in Los Angeles. He was 41 years old. According to the tabloids, the musician committed suicide. Lenta.ru remembers Bennington and his team, which became a symbol of the 2000s generation.
“I’m shocked, heartbroken, but it’s true. An official statement will follow as soon as we have it,” Bennington’s colleague, Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda, wrote on Twitter.
By a strange coincidence, the death of the Linkin Park vocalist occurred on July 20 - the birthday of Chris Cornell, 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 2020, former frontman Scott Weiland was found dead. From 2013 to 2015, Bennington took his place in this distinguished team, which he admired since his youth.
Bennington had serious and long-standing problems with drugs, and Shinoda probably knows more than people on the outside. For fans of the group and those simply following the music, with all the number of deaths of musicians over the past year and a half, the departure of Bennington - a handsome man, a favorite of the girls, a figure, albeit pathetic, but not tragic, was truly shocking.
JAY-Z, Paul McCartney and Chester Bennington at the Grammy Awards, 2006
Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Linkin Park were one of the most commercially successful bands of the 2000s, an era when alternative music entered the mainstream. They brought nu-metal to a state close to pop music. They had a lot of haters, but they still had many more rabidly 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, passions around the team did not seethe so violently, but the group regularly released albums, and accusations were also regularly made that the musicians had worn themselves out, had become completely oppressed, and so on. In May, the group’s last, seventh album, One More Light, was released. Discussing this work, the peace-loving Bennington lost his temper and threatened to “punch” critics and detractors.
Returning to the 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 it affected him greatly. As a teenager, he began drinking and using every drug he could get his hands on.
At the age of 17, he began singing in the local group Sean Dowdell and His Friends, but the team was not doing well. Chester found another band, Gray Daze, and recorded three albums with them in the second half of the 1990s. He was not satisfied with the result, and he was already thinking about quitting music.
Bennington with his wife and six children
Photo: David Longendyke/Everett Collection/East News
But suddenly he got lucky: producer Jeff Blue, who had worked with Macy Gray and Limp Bizkit, appreciated the Gray Daze vocalist and brought him together with the promising young Los Angeles group Xero. Bennington became friends with Mike Shinoda and other Xero members. After some time, the team renamed itself 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 his talent - the first record became multi-platinum in many countries and diamond certified (more than 10 million copies) in its homeland.
From an unemployed drug addict and Burger King employee, Chester Bennington at the age of 23 turned into a superstar and millionaire, owning 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 he could not be saved.
Devon Townsend's attacks on the Bennington family
Talinda and Chester Bennington's children were victims of cyberstalking by one Devon Townsend (not to be confused with Canadian musician Devin Townsend). She managed to hack Talinda's email password and gain access to family photos of the couple and a copy of the recording contract for the new Linkin Park album. For almost a year, Townsend prevented the Benningtons from living in peace.
Fortunately, the anonymous stalker was identified and Townsend was found guilty of forging email and sending threatening messages. Devon Townsend was sentenced to two years in prison.
Hackers hacked Chester Bennington's wife's Twitter
The wife of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, who committed suicide, became a victim of hackers. Talinda's Twitter account was hacked, and through it unknown people published several posts on behalf of the musician's wife. In these posts, “Talinda” wrote that she only started dating Chester because of his money and was generally glad that he was dead.
“It was I who made him commit suicide... It’s time for me to admit that I cheated on Chester with Mike Shinoda...” - this is the message that poured in from “Mrs. Bennington” on the social network. Also, the following entry appeared on the old woman: “It was I who prompted him to commit suicide. I told him that no one needs him...”
Followers reacted with lightning speed: they began to repost Talinda’s recordings and express indignation at the confessions of the wife of the deceased musician. After some time, by the way, the entries were deleted from Talinda’s account. Among Talinda’s subscribers, there were still those who expressed the opinion that these posts did not belong to her. And now there is no longer any doubt that Talinda’s page was hacked by hackers.
Scandal after the funeral
On July 20, 2020, the great musician Chester Bennington could not stand the depression and committed suicide by hanging himself in the doorway between the bedroom and the bathroom.
The funeral was closed, only the most important people in Chester were able to attend.
Among them was his ex-wife Samantha Olite, who after the ceremony harshly criticized widow Talinda Bentley on social networks for the way the funeral was organized.
She stated that the funeral turned into memories of Bennington's musical achievements, while the rest of his life and relationships with people were forgotten. Samantha also pointed out that not all of Chester Bennington's children, including her son Draven, were given the right to give a speech at the grave, which is completely unacceptable.
Be that as it may, Chester Bennington left his mark on world music. Not only his family, but also numerous fans of the genius will forever remember him alive.
Mike Shinoda on the album "Post Traumatic"
On September 1, Mike Shinoda, one of the founders and key members of the Linkin Park group, will perform a solo program in the capital's Adrenaline Stadium hall. This is his first visit to Russia since the suicide of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. Mike Shinoda's program will feature songs from his album “Post Traumatic,” released this summer, as well as compositions from the repertoire of Linkin Park and Fort Minor. About how his solo album was created, Mike Shinoda
asked
Boris Barabanov.
— In your life there was a side project Fort Minor, it was well received by the public. Why did you now decide to perform under your own name?
— The first reason is the album “Post Traumatic”, which contains new songs, very personal in mood. I needed to somehow explain to the listeners that it was me, and not my lyrical hero. Well, the music is still very different from what I did for Fort Minor. I don't think I can describe these differences in words. Rather, I can describe the process. The album "Post Traumatic" was recorded in my home studio, I did most of the work myself.
— What does this studio look like?
- Yes, just a room. It contains a small drum kit, a guitar amplifier, a minimal set of keyboards, a computer, a microphone and DJ turntables. The palette, as you can see, is modest, but it happens that even with small means you can achieve results. The songs that make up Post Traumatic grew out of musical sketches made in this studio, as well as on tour, over the past two to three years. Sometimes they were born from a very simple instrumental ring. The poems were born later, during a unique period in my life, when my emotions could change dramatically in a week. I'm talking about the period after Chester Bennington's death. So, I was trying to capture a moment that I felt could very quickly turn into something completely different. When the lyrics appeared, I tried to finish the entire song that day. It was different in Linkin Park and Fort Minor. I brought the demo to the guys, they made their changes: like, let's add an organ here, and let's change the sound of the drums here. Two weeks later I showed them the new version. And this could happen for a very long time.
“However, on “Post Traumatic” you have very talented collaborators: Chino Moreno from Deftones, Kay Flay and Machine Gun Kelly. Who was the initiator of these duets?
- Always me. Chino Moreno is an old friend of mine. Machine Gun Kelly and I played together in California, and that’s how we met. He is a very young man, but his career has been a roller coaster. He's interesting to watch. But we have known Kay Flay and a guy named Grandson not so long ago. Kay Flay has an interesting story. I heard her music before her first album came out. I really liked her poems, she is undoubtedly smart, and besides, she has a special musical style, unlike anyone else. But poetry comes first - for some time she positioned herself as a rapper. When Linkin Park recorded their 2017 album One More Light last year, we did a few sessions with Kay Flay. It never came to a full-fledged track, but we fell in love with each other. And when I was recording my album, I remembered the chorus that we wrote back then, and that’s how the song “Make It Up As I Go” was born. I think I was able to show in it that now, after the departure of Chester Bennington, we will not be able to live as before.
— Unfortunately, Chester Bennington was followed by several musicians from the new wave of rap, you know, one of those guys with tattoos on their faces. What kind of generation is this anyway? What do you think about them? Do you know them?
— Of course, I know who we’re talking about, I listen to all the new music. For me, they are a new embodiment of the emo style, remember, all these groups like My Chemical Romance, The Used and others... The similarity is primarily in the verses. They are very emotional and dark. If you listen to Tentacion or Lil Yati's tracks, you will agree that the lyrics delve into the darkest depths of consciousness. There are no prohibited topics for them. By writing poetry at this level of honesty, it seems to me that they pay less attention to the music. And their tracks work in contrast to the optimistic and happy pop music that sounds around.
