SONiC Remembers Chester Bennington

Three years ago today on July 20th, 2017, the world lost Chester Bennington when he took his own life. He was 41. He is remembered by his fans, his wife and his six children. A week after his passing fans left flowers, notes, drawings, crosses, and guitar picks outside of his house, which was being guarded by police.

During his life, he struggled with addiction. Although during the times that he celebrated his sobriety, he used that motivation for music. “It’s not cool to be an alcoholic, it’s not cool to go drink and be a dumbass,” he said to Spin in 2009. “It’s cool to be a part of recovery. … Most of my work has been a reflection of what I’ve been going through in one way or another.”

Linkin Park formed in 1996, although it has been said that Chester joined in 1998. Their debut album Hybrid Theory was released back in 2000, and brought them to success quickly, going diamond and selling more than 30 million albums. The band’s first Grammy win was in 2001 for Best Hard Rock Performance with their song “Crawling”. That year they had also been nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album (Hybrid Theory). Their second Grammy was won in 2005, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with “Numb/Encore”.

When Chester passed away, Linkin Park had sold approximately 70 million albums in total.

Linkin Park had played in Edmonton once, at Sonic Boom back in September of 2012. Many fans remember that show for Chester’s incredible vocals, stage presence, and Linkin Park’s cover of The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”.

Throughout his life, Chester contributed to many musical projects other than Linkin Park, he even fronted Stone Temple Pilots between 2013 and 2015. He left to focus back on Linkin Park and his family.

The year Chester Bennington passed away a live tribute concert was held at the Hollywood Bowl called “Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington”. It was held on October 27th, 2017. There were performances from artists including Blink-182, No Doubt, Sum 41, Alanis Morissette, and many more.

Mike Shinoda hosted the night and performed a tribute song titled “Looking For An Answer”, which you can watch below:

Blink-182 performed their song “I Miss You” as well as a rendition of Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” with Mike Shinoda.

Here is the full 3-hour tribute special: