Chester Charles Bennington
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Chester Bennington, born March 20, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona, was the lead vocalist of Linkin Park, a band he named after Lincoln Park in Santa Monica. He also fronted Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015 and acted in films like Crank and Saw 3D. Bennington died by suicide on July 20, 2017, at age 41, the same day as his friend Chris Cornell’s birthday.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Chester Bennington — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Chester Bennington by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Chester Bennington — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Chester Bennington’s parents divorced when he was 11, and he grew up with two half-sisters and a half-brother in Phoenix, Arizona. Susan Elaine Johnson, a nurse, and Lee Russell Bennington, a police detective, had welcomed their son Chester Charles on March 20, 1976. At Greenway High School, he formed his first serious band, Grey Daze, which recorded the albums No Sun Today and Wake Me before breaking up. He later graduated from Washington High School in 1994.
Chester Bennington co-founded Linkin Park in 1996. The band’s debut album Hybrid Theory 2000 became a global phenomenon, blending nu-metal with electronic elements. He suggested the band name, originally spelled Lincoln after a Santa Monica park, but changed to Linkin Park to secure the domain name. In 2003, Linkin Park toured with Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, and Mudvayne, followed by a 2004 Meteora World Tour with P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year. From 2013 to 2015, he served as lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. He also pursued acting, appearing as a pharmacy stoner in Crank 2006, a Hollywood Park guy in Crank: High Voltage 2009, and Evan in Saw 3D 2010. He made numerous TV appearances as a musical guest on shows like Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Chester Bennington married Samantha Bennington on October 31, 1996; they divorced on May 2, 2005. He then married Talinda Ann Bentley on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2005, at the Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, California. Mary Jean Valente conducted the custom-designed ceremony. He had four sons: Jaime, Draven, Tyler born March 16, 2006, and Isaiah, after adopting his oldest son’s brother. He underwent lasik eye surgery in March 2004 and designed clothing for Replicant, a company owned by Korn’s Head and Orgy’s Ryan Shuck.
Chester Bennington died by suicide on July 20, 2017, the birthday of his friend Chris Cornell, who also died by hanging three months earlier. His emotional intensity and wide vocal range shaped nu-metal. His influence extends to many modern rock acts. His legacy includes naming Linkin Park after Lincoln Park, fronting Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015, and the albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora that defined a generation.
Browse the complete filmography of Chester Bennington — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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A wall of memorable lines from Chester Bennington — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
The Fans Are the Biggest Reason We Do What We Do.
I Always Wanted to Be a Rock Star. That Was My Childhood Dream. That’s What I Told Everybody I Was Going to Be When I Grew Up.
It’s Not Cool to Be an Alcoholic.
I Don’t Drink. I Choose to Be Sober Now. I Have Drunk Over the Last Six Years, but I Just Don’t Want to Be That Person Anymore.
I Don’t Like to Hold Back, Because That’s How You Hurt Yourself.
For Me, You Say the Words Concept Record‘ and the First Thing I Think of Is Theater or the Opera or Something.
When I’m Writing, I’m Constantly Thinking About Myself, Because It’s the Only Experience I Have to Draw On. and I Don’t See an Exact Reflection of Myself in Every Face in the Audience, but I Know That My Songs Have Validity to Them, and That’s Why the Fans Are There.
We’d Like to Think That Our Music Will Always Be Bigger Than Any One of Our Individual Personalities.
This Is a Business of Love and Labor.
As an Artist, I Want a Reaction.
It’s Cool to Be a Part of Recovery. This Is Just Who I Am, This Is What I Write About, What I Do, and Most of My Work Has Been a Reflection of What I’ve Been Going Through in One Way or Another.
We’re Not a Political Band, We’re a Socially Minded Band.
If Fans Come up to Me, I Talk to Them.
Asking Someone to Describe What Something Sounds Like Is Like Telling a Blind Person to Guess What I Look Like.
You’re Constantly Trying to Prove Yourself, Even After You’ve Made It.
Well, We Promised Our Fans That We’d Put Out Records Faster, and That’s What We’re Doing. We Figured Out a Way to Condense Our Cycle, so to Speak, by . . . Continuing to Write, Trying to Keep the Creative Ball Rolling as Often as Possible.
We Like Playing Smaller Venues, but We Know How Many People Want to Come and See Us so We Don’t Ever Want to Stop Anyone Who Wants to Come to a Show from Coming.
I Have Been Able to Tap into All the Negative Things That Can Happen to Me Throughout My Life by Numbing Myself to the Pain so to Speak and Kind of Being Able to Vent It Through My Music.
All of Our Songs Take These Really Big Creative Turns and Twists Throughout the Process, so Sometimes Songs Will Start Out as a Melody or Some Musical Chord Progressions.
We’re Shooting for the Title of Hardest Working Band in America.
We Don’t Sit Down and Go, People Are Uneasy About the Economy. Let’s Write About That.
Touring for Two Years Is Excruciating.
To Pigeonhole a Genre as Being Successful or Unsuccessful Is Weird.
There Are Always Going to Be Encounters That You Kind of Wish Went Differently. but the Average Fan Really Isn’t Fanatical.
Once We Start Hitting Lyrical Themes That Can Whack You from All These Different Perspectives, We Know We’re Onto Something Special.
My Favorite Jellybean Is the Pink One with the Flavor Inside.
I Don’t Go Out and Pick Fights.
Little-known facts about Chester Bennington — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Chester Bennington came up with the name Linkin Park, originally spelled Lincoln after a park in Santa Monica, but the band changed the spelling to linkinpark.com because they could not afford the lincolnpark.com domain.
He died on the same day and by the same manner as his friend Chris Cornell’s birthday; Cornell died by hanging three months earlier in May 2017.
Bennington adopted his oldest son’s brother and raised four sons: Jaime, Draven, Tyler, and Isaiah.
He and wife Talinda welcomed son Tyler Lee on March 16, 2006, weighing 9 lb. 3 oz.
He designed clothing for Replicant, a company owned by Korn’s Head and Orgy’s Ryan Shuck.
At age 15, he sang in a band called Sean Dowdell and Friends, which produced a three-song tape including Painted Pictures, Kill The Flies, and God’s Afraid.
In 2003 he toured with Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, and Mudvayne.
At 16, he played in Grey Daze, which recorded the albums No Sun Today and Wake Me before breaking up.
His biological parents divorced when he was 11; his siblings are from a stepparent’s previous marriage.
In January 2004, Linkin Park headlined the Meteora World Tour with P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year.
He was the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015.
He was one of two lead vocalists in Linkin Park.
He married Talinda Bentley on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2005, at Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, California, in a custom-designed ceremony by Mary Jean Valente.
He had two half-sisters and one half-brother named Brian.
In March 2004 he underwent lasik eye surgery.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Chester Bennington.
Celebrities similar to Chester Bennington — same craft, ranked by reach.
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