Rolling_Stone_Australia_October_2017

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the afternoon of may 26th, linkin park

frontman Chester Bennington gave a performance un-

like any in his career. His close friend, Soundgarden

frontmanChrisCornell,wasbeinglaidtorestatthe

HollywoodForeverCemeteryinLosAngeles.“MynameisChes-

ter,” Bennington told the mourners gathered there. “I had the

greatprivilegeofbeingafriendofChrisandinvitedtobeamem-

berofhisfamily.”Then,accompaniedbyLinkinParkbandmate

Brad Delson on guitar, he sang “Hallelujah”. Bennington had be-

come famous in the early 2000s as the powerhouse voice of one

ofrock’sbiggestbands,expressinghimselfthroughanangst-rid-

denscream,butthatdayhissingingwasdifferent:plaintive,som-

bre, fragile. He also paid tribute to Cornell on Twitter: “Your voice

wasjoyandpain,angerandforgiveness,loveandheartacheall

wrapped up into one. I suppose that’s what we all are. You helped

me understand that.”

Less than two months later, Bennington, too, was being mourn-

ed. He died of suicide by hanging and was found on the morning of

July20thinhisPalosVerdesEstateshomeinLosAngelesCoun-

ty,aweekbeforeLinkinParkweretosetoutona29-dateNorth

Americantour.Thesinger,41,hadbeenonvacationinArizona

with his wife, Talinda, and his family, but came home alone, say-

ingheneededtowork.(LinkinParkhadaphotoshootscheduled

forthe20th.)TMZreportedpolicehadfoundapartiallyempty

bottle of alcohol in the room where he had died.

Bennington had always been open about his struggles with ad-

diction and depression, but those close to him were shocked by his

suicide. The day after Cornell’s memorial, Bennington tweeted

that he was “feeling very creative” and had written six new songs.

Around the same time, he told a friend, Rene Mata, “We have to

sticktogether,andwehavesomuchtolivefor.”

Bennington had reason to be happy: Linkin Park’s new album,

OneMoreLight,hadtoppedthechartswhenitwasreleasedin

May,andasingle,“Heavy”,wasdoingwellonrockradio.Inaddi-

tion to the Linkin Park tour, he was planning a reunion with his

prefamegrungeband,GreyDaze,forSeptember.“Hewasontop

of the world,” says Sean Dowdell, drummer for Grey Daze and a

friend of Bennington’s since their teens, who last talked to him two

days before his death.

Steve Stevens, who plays guitar with Billy Idol, remembers Ben-

ningtonholdinganewpuppywhilegreetingeveryonewhocame

backstageataneventlastOctoberforRocktoRecovery,anor-

28 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com October, 2017

TRIBUTE

R&R

1976-2017

GETTY IMAGES

Chester Bennington

At the end, the Linkin Park singer’s life was a

mix of hope and heaviness

BY KORY GROW

POWERHOUSE

Bennington

onstage in 2014