Chester Bennington’s Life, Death, and Struggles with Addiction

On July 20, 2017, musician Chester Bennington of Linkin Park was found dead inside his Los Angeles home. The coroner’s office later released the cause of death as suicide by hanging.

Needless to say, his death has rocked the entire world.

As the lead singer for Linkin Park, he wrote many poignant songs that resonated with an entire generation of people. His honesty and ability to put his personal experiences into his music and performances made him an icon for many who felt similar to him. Much of his music revolved around his experiences with addiction and substance abuse and how he felt about himself and the world around him.

Early Life

When Bennington was seven years old, he was sexually abused by an older male in his life. For years he kept the abuse a secret, fearing that no one would believe him if he were to come forward.

This feeling of isolation only intensified when his parents divorced when he was 11 years old and he started living with his father, who worked long hours as a police officer.

He often blamed his trauma from these experiences for his drug and alcohol addiction, saying that the assault had left him with no self-confidence. He felt his confidence return when he started drinking, however, and at the young age of 13, he started relying on drugs and alcohol to cope with the turmoil that was festering inside him.

Struggles with Addiction

“My life was falling apart in many ways that I was writing about on this record in terms of getting divorced, in terms of diving very hard into alcohol and drugs throughout this process.”

Chester’s struggles with substance abuse continued through his adult life, with the other members of Linkin Park staging an intervention in 2006 to encourage him to get help. Chester later said about the intervention, “I had no idea that I had been such a nightmare. I knew that I had a drinking problem, a drug problem and that parts of my personal life were crazy but I didn't realize how much that was affecting the people around me until I got a good dose of 'Here's-what-you're-really-like.' It was a shock.”

Though he continued to struggle with substance abuse, Chester Bennington remained open about his life experiences and using them to inspire his music.

“That feeling, being able to write about it, sing about it, that song, those words sold millions of records, I won a Grammy, I made a lot of money. I don’t think I could’ve been inspired to create something like that by watching someone else go through that. So in a lot of ways that’s been very constructive for me.”

His Final Months

Just two months prior to his own death Bennington lost a very close and dear friend, Chris Cornell, to suicide by hanging. Chris Cornell was known best for being the lead singer of the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, and like Chester, he too struggled with addiction. At Chris’s funeral, Chester sang a heart-rending version of Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah, as well as performing the song One More Light with his band on Jimmy Kimmel in tribute of his good friend.

A few days before his death, Chester Bennington filmed a Carpool Karaoke for Apple, a show based on the popular sketch by James Corden on his talk show, and his band was scheduled to start a tour later this week. The tour has now been cancelled, and tickets are being refunded.

His Legacy

Since the release of Linkin Park’s first album, Hybrid Theory, Chester was the voice for all those who felt they were on the fringe of society, all those who also felt the deep anger and despair so apparent in Bennington’s voice and lyrics.

In a letter addressed to him post-mortem from the other members of Linkin Park, they wrote, “We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place…You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve.”

Chester’s legacy of bearing his soul and connecting with his fans will live on through the music he left behind.

He is survived by his wife, Talinda Bennington, and 6 children.

If you or anyone you know is in need of help, please call the Nation Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

You can also text the Crises Text Line, a free, nationwide 24/7 text message service for people in crises. Text HELLO to 741741 or message them at facebook.com/CrisesTextLine