An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.” Bennington was the rock band’s lead singer. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda confirmed Bennington’s death, writing on Twitter: “Shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true. Tragically, Bennington died by suicide on what would have been Cornell’s birthday. Bennington was so close to Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, who also died of suicide in a similar manner, that he was godfather to one of Cornell’s children. The singer’s cause of death was suicide by hanging, according to the entertainment website. Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has died by suicide at the age of 41 on the birthday of his close friend, Chris Cornell. We have lost a truly dynamic member of the music community and our sincerest condolences go out to Chester’s family, friends, collaborators, and all who have been impacted by his work.Chester Bennington of Linkin Park performs on stage at the iHeartRadio Album Release Party presented by State Farm at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on in Burbank, California. Having put as much passion into charitable causes as he did his musical craft, we were honored to pay tribute to him at our 2013 MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert, where he lent his time and talents to help raise money to assist members of the music community with the addiction treatment process. His riveting stage presence made every live performance magnetic, earning him millions of fans around the globe. As the cutting-edge lead vocalist of Linkin Park, Chester’s powerful range, paired with his impressive songwriting skills, made him a bona fide hard rock hero. "Our Grammy family is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of two-time Grammy winner Chester Bennington. Chester just told me how happy he was… He was such a sweet and talented man.”Īdditionally, Neil Portnow, CEO of The Recording Academy, issued a statement about the Grammy winner that also addressed his charity work to assist others in the music community dealing with addition issues. Rihanna called Bennington “literally the most impressive talent I’ve ever seen,” while Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx tweeted, “I am in tears. Among the upcoming dates were six West Coast shows in October with rapper Snoop Dogg as special guest.īennington’s fellow artists immediately took to Twitter to mourn his passing. on July 28 and Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pa., July 30.
That show was to be followed by two stadium dates with Blink-182 at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. leg of its One More Light world tour on July 27 in Boston.
Linkin Park played in Europe earlier this summer, including June 12 date in Berlin at the Mercedes Benz Arena, as part of their ongoing partnership with Mercedes-AMG which began in 2015.īennington's death comes one week before the band was to start the U.S. All of us at WBR join with millions of grieving fans around the world in saying: we love you Chester and you will be forever missed.” Our thoughts and prayers are with his beautiful family, his band-mates and his many friends. Watch the pair duet on Temple of The Dog's "Hunger Strike," from when they toured together in 2008 or on Linkin Park's "Crawling."Ĭameron Strang, Chairman/CEO of Warner Bros., the act's longtime label home, said in a statement, “Chester Bennington was an artist of extraordinary talent and charisma, and a human being with a huge heart and a caring soul. Today would have been Cornell's 53rd birthday.
Among the songs on the album was the sadly prophetically titled “Good Goodbye.” For a rock world still reeling from the suicide of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, a close friend of Bennington's, in May, the news is especially tough to take. The band’s most recent album, One More Light, came out May 19 and debuted at No. With hits like “Faint,” Crawling,” “In The End,” “Numb,” “What I’ve Done” and “New Divide,” often bolstered by Bennington’s existential howl, the band was a staple at alternative radio.