Chester Bennington

Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017)^[1] was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the lead singer for Linkin Park.

Chester Bennington
Bennington in 2014
Born	Chester Charles Bennington (1976-03-20)March 20, 1976 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Died	July 20, 2017(2017-07-20) (aged 41) Palos Verdes Estates, California, U.S.
Cause of death	suicide by hanging
Occupations	Musician singer songwriter actor
Years active	1992–2017
Spouse(s)	Samantha Olit ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2005)​ Talinda Bentley ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	6
Musical career
Origin	Palos Verdes Estates, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative metal nu metal hard rock alternative rock electronic rock heavy metal post-grunge pop rock
Instruments	Vocals guitar piano
Labels	Machine Shop Warner Bros.
Signature

Biography

Early years

Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. He was interested in music since he was young and he liked mostly Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots. His parents separated in the late 1980s, and was raised by his father. Later he had problems with drugs.

Professional music career

At the beginning he was a vocalist in a grunge band called Grey Daze. He left Grey Daze in 1998. After that, the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with Linkin Park. Bennington went to California and joined the band. Their name was “Hybrid Theory” back then. The other vocalist was Mike Shinoda. After some rejections, Jeff Blue operated to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.

In spite of the success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had personal problems outside of the public interest.

Personal life

Bennington had a son in 1996 by Elka Brand and in 2006 adopted her other son who was born in 1997. In 1996 Bennington married Samantha Marie Olit. Their child was born in 2002. The couple divorced in 2005. In 2006, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former Playboy model. He had three children with Bentley, a son born in 2006, and twin daughters born in 2011.

Death

Bennington died by suicide by hanging himself on July 20, 2017 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California at the age of 41, the day on what would have been his close friend, Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday who also died by suicide a few months earlier.^[2][3][4][5]

Discography

With Grey Daze

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS	AUT	GER	SWI	UK	UK Rock	US
Wake Me	Released: 1994 Formats: CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
...No Sun Today	Released: May 23, 1997 Formats: CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Amends	Released: June 26, 2020 Formats: CD, LP, download	30	29	9	17	62	1	75
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		US Main. [6]	US Rock [7]	US Rock Air. [8]
"What's In the Eye?"	2020	—	—	—	Amends
"Sickness"		2	35	11
"Sometimes"		—	—	—
"Soul Song"		—	40	—
"B12"		29	—	—

Music videos

• "What's In the Eye" (2020)
• "Sickness" (2020)
• "Soul Song" (2020)
• "B12" (2020)
• "In Time" (2020)
• "Shouting Out" (2020)

With Linkin Park

• Hybrid Theory (2000)
• Meteora (2003)
• Minutes to Midnight (2007)
• A Thousand Suns (2010)
• Living Things (2012)
• The Hunting Party (2014)
• One More Light (2017)

With Dead by Sunrise

• Out of Ashes (2009)

With Stone Temple Pilots

• High Rise (2013)

Album contributions and singles

Year	Artist	Song	Release
2001	DJ Lethal	"Cry To Yourself" (also known as "State of the Art")	N/A - originally intended for DJ Lethal's unreleased album "State of the Art"
2002	Stone Temple Pilots	"Wonderful (Live)"	The Family Values 2001 Tour
2002	Chester Bennington	"System"	Queen of the Damned soundtrack
	Cyclefly	"Karma Killer"	Crave
2004	Handsome Boy Modeling School featuring DJ Q-bert, Grand Wizard Theodore, Jazzy Jay, Lord Finesse, Mike Shinoda, Rahzel & Chester Bennington / Tim Meadows	"Rock N' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) (Part 2) / Knockers"	White People
2005	Z-Trip	"Walking Dead"	Shifting Gears
	Mötley Crüe	"Home Sweet Home" (remake)	Non-album charity single
2006	Chester Bennington	"Morning After (Julien-K Remix)"	Underworld: Evolution (soundtrack)
	Mindless Self Indulgence	"What Do They Know? (Mindless Self Indulgence Vs. Julien-K & Chester Bennington Remix)"	Another Mindless Rip Off
2007	Young Buck	"Slow Ya Roll"	Buck the World
2008/2010	Chris Cornell	"Hunger Strike (Live at Projekt Revolution 2008)"	Songs from the Underground A Decade Underground
2010	Santana featuring Chester Bennington & Ray Manzarek	"Riders on the Storm" (The Doors cover)	Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time
2019	Mark Morton featuring Chester Bennington	"Cross Off"	Anesthetic[9][10]