Linkin park who died. Chester Bennington: biography, personal life, cause of death

The lead singer of Linkin Park, the famous Chester Bennington, passed away on July 20, 2017. The musician's fans, of whom there are an incredible number all over the world, are perplexed - why could a talented, young man, father of six children, take his own life? After all, according to information from official sources, he committed suicide. In this article we’ll talk about the biography and personal life of Chester Bennington, and also try to figure out what caused his early death.

Tragic childhood

The musician was born in Arizona on March 20, 1976. Chester's family had four children. He has an older brother and two sisters. Initially, parents paid quite a lot of attention to their children. Often the whole family went on trips. But not everything was so rosy. Chester's mother and father often quarreled with each other, and this could not but affect the family as a whole.

Chester was versatile developed child- tried himself in sports, played the piano well. It soon became clear that the guy had a great voice. Therefore, he was often invited to become a soloist in musical groups. The boy liked to sing, and he remained faithful to this cause to the end.

Chester Bennington - singer

When Chester was 11 years old, his parents decided to separate. They divided the responsibilities of raising four children among themselves, so the boy remained under the care of his strict father- policeman.

Bennington recalled in an interview that he was bitter that his mother abandoned him. He was youngest child. And so his mother loved and spoiled him. Parting with her was a heavy blow for the boy.

The father devoted a lot of time to his work, but he did not have time to take care of his son. In essence, the child was left to his own devices. At age 11, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Smoked marijuana. This could not but affect my studies. Teachers constantly complained about the boy.

Because of difficult relationships with his father, he often left home. Complicating the situation was the fact that early childhood Chester survived sexual assault by an older friend. He spoke about this more than once in interviews. This happened to him from the age of seven to thirteen. For many years he did not dare to tell anyone about the crazy nightmare in which the child was at the center. He was afraid that they would not believe him or would consider him a homosexual.

Chester's father was investigating similar crimes, but even the guy did not dare to open up to him.

Also, Chester Bennington, whose personal life and biography is causing such a stir today, said that he did not try to somehow take revenge on his offender. He learned that he, too, had once been a victim of harassment and sympathized with him.

Charles Bennington and musical career

As a fragile, insecure teenager, he could not resist bullying. And as a result, the tragedies that the musician experienced in childhood significantly damaged his psyche.

At the age of 17, he voluntarily returned to his mother’s house, in a terrible state. The young guy was addicted to alcohol and drugs. Mom tried her best to rid him of destructive habits - for example, she locked him in the house. For a short time Chester even forgot about his passions. But gradually everything returned to normal. It will take him many more years to finally quit using illegal drugs.

Even in mature age the musician could not remember his childhood and youth without tears and inner trembling. Chester Bennington, whose biography and personal life are so interesting to fans, considers it unsurprising that in adolescence he had to forget himself with alcohol and strong drugs. Try to escape from yourself, or maybe find a drop of warmth in numerous novels...

Even an adult man is scared to experience this, let alone the fragile psyche of a teenager. And it’s great that for some time he managed to break out of this vicious circle - to become legendary musician, husband and father.

Having given up drugs, Chester began working in a city coffee shop. I must say, he liked his first job. He spoke about him warmly in interviews. Then, as a result of working in public catering, he met his first wife.

Musician career

Bennington loved music since childhood and never stopped playing it. Success came to the young man in 1992, when he became the lead singer of Sean Dowdell and His Friends. During the day, the young man worked in a coffee shop, and in the evenings he went to rehearsals. Then with the money young musician it was very difficult. He even saved on public transport and got to the rehearsal facility on a skateboard.

Lead singer Sean Dowdell and His Friends

Soon, the group in which Chester Bennington played, whose personal life we ​​are discussing today, was renamed Gray Daze. Together with this group, the young man recorded three albums, but his creativity and career development did not satisfy the guy’s ambitions.

Bennington recalled that often young musicians were not taken seriously and were literally “driven away” from everywhere. The guys literally had to defend their interests and beliefs with their fists. And Chester wanted real glory, success, full realization of oneself as a vocalist. Because of this, he left the team in 1997. Moreover, he had tempting offers.

Linkin Park

In 1997, Bennington became the vocalist of the group Xero, which at that time was looking for an interesting lead singer. The band's producer took a liking to the talented guy, and he invited Chester to audition. Before the meeting, Bennington was worried, but he couldn't miss good chance for development.

To become the vocalist of Xero, Bennington had to participate in the casting. Then it became clear that the guy had no competitors. Many musicians who passed the selection, after listening to Chester, simply went home. Chester had an unusual voice and manner of performance. So he became the lead singer of the group, which brought him incredible popularity. Or maybe it was Chester who made the group famous.

The name of the group changed several times. At first it was renamed Hybrid Theory. After this event, record company Warner Brothers Records invited young and talented musicians to record their first album. They released it already as Linkin Park.

Chester released Linkin Park

The band's debut album was quite successful. It quickly sold out. Therefore, 10 million copies were produced. So, at the age of 23, Chester Bennington became truly popular. Received many awards. And his vocals were loved far beyond the borders of the United States. The group became the pioneer of a new direction in music - alternative.

The musician not only sang well, he sang amazingly. He was incredibly charismatic. Enthusiastic fans were drawn to him and he reciprocated. However, Bennington also took criticism seriously. He harshly criticized himself for every failure and worried about troubles.

The band's latest album was released quite recently, in May 2017. And until recently, Chester worked actively. And on the day of his death, he had to go to a photo shoot before the tour. There seemed to be no signs of trouble.

But despite the group's popularity, some fans last years talked about Bennington being in creative crisis. The musician reacted painfully to criticism. He assured that everything was fine in the group. And with music critics he is even ready to fight.

Chester always gave one hundred percent during performances. He always sang at the top of his lungs. Many tried to imitate his style, but he was the only one.

In 2009, the musician released solo album, although it was not a huge success. More than once the musician was invited to play in films. And, as a rule, yourself. Perhaps Chester would famous actor. But he chose a different path.

It is also known that after problems with alcohol and drugs in his youth, Chester was in rather poor health. Early in his career he was hospitalized several times. He also rode the bus separately from the rest of the group for some time. He was forced to take such measures because of his alcohol addiction so as not to break down.

Personal life of Chester Bennington

At twenty years old, Chester met his first wife, Samantha. Six years later the couple had a son. At that time, Chester was not yet wealthy and popular, so the couple had to overcome many difficulties together. Instead of wedding rings, the lovers made themselves ring fingers tattoos as a sign eternal love. But despite this promising start relations, in 2005 this union broke up.

Chester and Samantha (singer's first wife)

Samantha and Chester remained friends, and the woman did not interfere with the musician’s relationship with their common son.

Immediately after breaking up with Samantha, Chester Benngton, whose personal life we ​​remember today, entered into new official relations, with model Talinda Bentley. He met this girl at a party and realized that with her he could become truly happy. In an interview, the musician admitted that there were many warm moments in his relationship with his first wife, but something was felt wrong... There were many scandals, mutual insults...

Chester and Talinda (second wife)

With Talinda it was different. She gave Chester three more children - a son and two daughters. In addition, the couple had two adopted sons.

The family lived in Los Angeles for a long time, then in California. Chester, contrary to the image " bad guy" actually was an exemplary family man. He tried to spend almost everything with his family free time. Perhaps he wanted to create a “safe haven” that he did not have as a child.

In 2006, Bennington and his family began to be stalked by an Internet maniac. He constantly wrote threats, said that he knew everything about the musician’s family, promised to harm his children... Chester’s life became a nightmare - he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that someone dared to threaten his children, to hurt them. His childhood fears resurfaced in his thoughts.

It turned out that the “maniac” was an ordinary girl, who in this way entertained herself out of boredom at work. After this story, Chester and his wife began to pay more attention to social networks and even came up with complex passwords for their accounts. But this did not save the family from another scandal, which happened a few days after the death of the performer.

An unknown person hacked the Twitter account of the wife of a deceased performer and began writing that her husband was allegedly killed. And then - that Talinda allegedly cheated on Chester with another member of the group and never loved her husband.

Why it was necessary to mock the family of the deceased is unclear. After all, it was already difficult for loved ones. The musician's widow admitted that she thought nothing could break her heart anymore. But it was not so. Chester pulled the rug from under her feet by leaving.

In addition to music, the talented Chester was fond of tattoos. In 1995, he and a friend opened their own tattoo salon. It turned out to be quite profitable business. In addition, he tattooed on his body many drawings and the initials of people close to him - his children and his wife.

Cause of death of Linkin park leader Chester Benington

Despite the crowds of fans and their ardent love, despite big family and the presence of a beautiful wife, the musician admitted more than once in interviews that it was as if something was devouring him from the inside. He could not remain alone with his thoughts - it was as if something terrible was happening in his head. It turned out to be difficult for the man to survive what was happening to him. In addition, he often received cruel blows from fate.

So on May 20, 2017, Chester’s friend, actor and musician Chris Cornell, committed suicide. This was the day before the presentation last album Chester. And months after the death of his friend, the musician could not write a single line.

And on July 20, 2017, on the day of his friend’s 53rd birthday, Chester was also found dead at home. It would seem that nothing foreshadowed trouble. The group is still loved and in demand. Career at its peak - an album was recently released, planned tour in the very near future. And yet, Chester dies.

Fans refuse to believe that the musician could have died voluntarily. They don’t believe that the man who was madly loved by fans is the father large family, could have given up everything and committed suicide.

In addition, information appeared on the Internet that Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, whose personal life is of interest, helped children who were sexually abused. Allegedly, they identified influential people who were involved in such crimes and were preparing to make this information public. Thus, the musicians’ departure from life could have been planned and organized by someone from outside.

One way or another, now the musician, who could have done and played a lot more, is no longer alive. Undoubtedly, he will remain a bright memory in the hearts of his fans. Having grown up listening to Linkin Park songs, they will not forget his voice, his smile, and large-scale concerts.

Chester passed away on the day the group's last video was released online. The day before, he returned home from Arizona, where he was spending time with his family. He promised his loved ones that he would leave them for a while.

On the day of Chester’s death, a photo shoot with his participation was supposed to take place. His friend even came to pick him up. But the plans fell through - the maid found the dead man in his room. She got scared and immediately called the police. Thus it became known that the legendary vocalist was no longer alive.

In a bitter irony, shortly after the musician’s death, this video was posted on the band’s official website. And the fans were discussing it, not yet knowing what happened. Now it’s clear that with this clip Chester seemed to say goodbye to everyone. He left when no one expected it.

The musicians of the group in which Bennington played expressed their gratitude and love to the man. They published a letter in which they regretted that Chester left. The musician’s relatives believe that he was taken by the “demons” that lived in his head. Those about which he wrote, spoke and sang. Those thanks to which his fans fell in love.

Chester himself said that the “demons” that had haunted him since childhood would take him away. No traces of drug use were found at the scene of the man's death. The impetus for Chester's death was something else.

It was like it was a terrible deal. The man ultimately paid for his talent with his life. Despite the fact that outwardly he had recognition, success, a job he loved and a family, inside he was a lonely man, still tormented by self-doubt.

There is another reason why the musician could commit suicide - the band’s last album was harshly criticized by both fans and professionals. And a couple of days before his death, information appeared on the Internet that Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington had passed away. And, of course, there were people who rejoiced in the comments at such a sad ending. Perhaps this pushed the musician to such a decision - it was another blow to his emotionally unstable psyche. Be that as it may, the person is no longer alive, and he cannot be brought back.