Chester Bennington - Vokalis Band Linkin Park

Chester Bennington yang lahir di Phoenix, Arizona, Amerika Serikat, 20 Maret 1976 – meninggal di Palos Verdes Estates, California, Amerika Serikat, 20 Juli 2017 pada umur 41 tahun adalah vokalis grup musik Linkin Park. Sebelumnya, Bennington tergabung ke dalam band "Grey Daze". Saat ini Bennington memiliki sebuah proyek musik di luar Linkin Park bernama "Snow White Tan" yang kemudian disebut sebagai "Dead By Sunrise". Bennington mengawali karier musiknya dengan bergabung bersama Sean Dowdell and His Friends? sebagai vokalis. Kemudian, Sean Dodwell dan Chester Bennington keluar dan membentuk band baru beraliran post-grunge bernama Grey Daze. Band tersebut merilis 3 album masing-masing pada 1993, 1994 dan 1997. Pada 1998, Bennington meninggalkan Grey Daze namun kesulitan untuk menemukan band baru.

Chester Bennington sempat merasa frustasi dan hampir meninggalkan kariernya di dunia musik karena tidak kunjung menemukan band baru selepas dari Grey Daze. Namun, Jeff Blue wakil pimpinan A&R di Zomba Music Los Angeles, menawarkan audisi sebagai vokalis untuk sebuah band bernama Xero yang kemudian dirubah namanya menjadi Linkin Park. Setelah sukses menjalani audisi, Bennington yang kala itu bekerja di sebuah perusahaan digital segera meninggalkan pekerjaannya dan membawa keluarganya pindah ke Kalifornia. Chester Bennington dan Mike Shinoda, salah satu personil Linkin Park, berhasil membuat progres yang baik.

Sayangnya mereka berulang kali mendapat penolakan dari beberapa label musik. Atas campur tangan Jeff Blue pula lah, mereka akhirnya berhasil mendapat kontrak rekaman dengan Warner Bros. Records. Pada 24 Oktober 2000, Linkin Park merilis album pertama mereka bertajuk Hybrid Theory. Bennington mengisi posisi vokalis di Linkin Park, tetapi terkadang dirinya dan Mike Shinoda berbagi tugas tersebut. All Music Guide menyebutkan bahwa karakter vokal Bennington dan Shinoda sangat berbeda. Bennington memiliki karakter vokal lebih tinggi, sedangka karakter vokal Shinoda lebih ke arah hip hop.

Chester menikah dengan istri pertamanya, Samantha, pada 31 Oktober 1996. Mereka mempunyai satu anak, namanya Draven Sebastian, lahir pada 19 April 2002. Setelah bercerai dengan Samantha, Chester menikahi Talinda Bentley, mantan model majalah dewasa. Bennington meninggal karena bunuh diri dengan menggantung di rumahnya di Palos Verdes Estates, California. Seorang karyawan menemukan mayatnya sekitar pukul 9:00 PDT pada tanggal 20 Juli 2017. Shinoda mengkonfirmasi kematiannya di Twitter, menulis "Terkejut dan patah hati, tapi itu benar. Pernyataan resmi akan keluar begitu kita memilikinya." Linkin Park akan memulai tur baru di minggu depan.


Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017)[1] was an American singer and songwriter best known as the frontman for the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead singer for Dead by Sunrise and fronted Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015. Bennington first gained prominence as a vocalist following the release of Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, in 2000, which became a commercial success. The album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, making it the best-selling debut album of the decade, as well as one of the few albums to ever hit that many sales.

Linkin Park's following studio albums, Meteora (2003), Minutes to Midnight (2007), A Thousand Suns (2010), Living Things (2012), The Hunting Party (2014), and One More Light (2017) continued the band's success. Bennington formed his own band, Dead by Sunrise, as a side project in 2005. The band's debut album, Out of Ashes, was released on October 13, 2009. He worked on new material with Stone Temple Pilots in 2013 to release the EP High Rise on October 8, 2013 via their own record label, Play Pen. Bennington has been ranked in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader (No. 46). On July 20, 2017, Bennington was found dead in his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California from apparent suicide by hanging.

Bennington died of an apparent suicide by hanging at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California; an employee discovered his body around 9 a.m. PDT on July 20, 2017. Shinoda confirmed his death on Twitter, writing, "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one." Bennington's death occurred on what would have been Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday.[50] Cornell, who was a close friend of Bennington, had also died of suicide by hanging two months prior. Bennington sang Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" at Cornell's funeral. He was also the godfather of Cornell's son, Christopher.