RIP Chester Bennington (& belated tribute to Chris Cornell)

The Linkin Park singer was found hanged at his home yesterday (confirmed suicide). He had a long history of battling against drug and alcohol addiction, as well as depression caused by abuse he suffered as a child. He was also a close friend of Chris Cornell and sang at his funeral in May.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40676530

Chester also fronted Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 - 2015 and performed with Dead before Sunrise and Kings of Chaos.

While I can't say I liked LP's later work, I was a big fan up to their Minutes to Midnight album. I also admired Chester's amazing vocal range. He could go from pop ballad style vocals, to full-on metal screams, (and back) seemingly effortlessly in the space of one song.

An ability he shared with the late Chris Cornell - frontman of grunge legends Soundgarden, who passed away in similar circumstances, a little over 2 months ago (May 17th), after a gig in Detroit. Chris's suicide is said to have been triggered by an anxiety attack, which caused him to overdose on his medication, after which he asphyxiated himself with an exercise belt.

One of the most distinctive voices in rock music, Chris was one of the pioneers of the so-called "grunge" scene. In fact Soundgarden formed way back in 1984, before the term had even been invented. He was friends with Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood and made an album with Temple of the Dog as a tribute, following Andrew's death. After Soundgarden's break-up in 1997, he spent some time doing solo work, before joining the three remaining members of RATM (after Zach de la Rocha's departure) to form Audioslave. He went on to make 3 albums with them, before deciding to go solo again, until 2010 when Soundgarden got back together. I saw them perform at Download that year. Their 4th album Superunknown is still one of my all-time favourites.


Two of my favourite singers gone in the space of 2 months. This has been a pretty crappy year so far, musically. May you both rest in peace guys. Just shows that no matter how great your life may appear to outsiders, if you're carrying mental scars or dealing with psychological problems, you can be tipped over the edge at any time.