Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington
Chester Bennington (right) with Brad Delson performing in Houston, Texas
Background information
Birth name	Chester Charlie Bennington
Born	March 20, 1976 (1976-03-20) (age 33)
Origin	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Genre(s)	Alternative metal, nu metal, rap metal, alternative rock, rap rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, keyboard
Years active	1993-present 1993-1998 (with Grey Daze) 1999-present (with Linkin Park) 2004-present (with Dead By Sunrise)
Associated acts	Linkin Park, Dead By Sunrise, Julien-K, Grey Daze

Chester Charles Bennington (born on March 20, 1976) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of two lead vocalists in the rock band Linkin Park, and was previously associated with the bands Grey Daze, among others. As of 2008 Bennington has released three studio albums with Linkin Park and planning to release his debut album with Dead By Sunrise in 2009.

Bennington's first release with Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, was a commercial success, and he has released several major albums and singles since then. He has worked with Jay-Z, Jonathan Davis, Young Buck, Busta Rhymes and Aaron Lewis . In 2007, Bennington was placed at 46th on Hit Paraders list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".^[1]

Biography

Early years

Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona.^[2] He took interest in music at a young age, citing Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as early inspirations. Bennington's parents separated in the late 1980s. He later struggled with cocaine and methamphetamine addictions.^[2] Bennington eventually overcame his drug addiction, and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews.^[3] He worked at a Burger King restaurant before starting his career as a professional musician.^[2]

Before joining Linkin Park, Bennington was a vocalist in Grey Daze, a now-defunct post-grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona.^[4] He left Grey Daze in 1998, but struggled to find another band to play in.^[4] After nearly quitting his musical career altogether, Jeff Blue, then the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with the future members of Linkin Park.^[4] Bennington quit his day job, and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called "Xero".^[4] Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal.^[4] After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.^[4]

Despite having prodigious success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had medical issues outside of the limelight. He suffered a severe bite from a recluse spider while touring with the OzzFest in 2001.^[5] Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the album’s record sessions.^[6] He fell ill during the summer of 2003, and eventually underwent surgery.^[7] Bennington sustained a wrist injury in October 2007 while attempting to jump off a platform during a show in Melbourne, Australia. Despite the injury, he continued to perform, and went to the emergency room after the show.^[8]

Linkin Park

Main article: Linkin Park

On October 24, 2000 Linkin Park released their debut album through Warner Bros. Records, the album became a commercial success selling over 10 million units in the US alone, peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 and reaching high positions in charts all around the world.

Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics to Hybrid Theory based on some early material.^[9] Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as “everyday emotions you talk about and think about.”^[10][11] Bennington later described the songwriting experience to Rolling Stone magazine in early 2002:

Hybrid Theory was released in the United States on October 24, 2000 following the debut of "One Step Closer" on the radio.^[12] It entered the U.S. Billboard 200 charts at #16 in late 2000,^[13] and was certified gold by the RIAA five weeks after its release.^[14] In 2001, Hybrid Theory sold 4.8 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the year,^[15][16] and it was estimated that the album continued selling 100, 000 copies per week in early 2002.^[9] Throughout the following years, the album continued to sell at a fast pace and was certified diamond by the RIAA in 2005 for selling 10 million copies in the U.S.^[17] It has sold 16 million copies worldwide as of 2007,^[18] including over 10 million in the U.S. which makes it the band's best-selling album and the best-selling debut album of the 21st century.^[19]

Bennington appears on the band's behalf at MTV Asia Aid

The follow up to Hybrid Theory would ultimately become Meteora. The band began to work on new material amidst their saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.^[20] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing their new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.^[21] Meteora featured a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.^[22] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,^[22] going to #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in Australia.^[23]

Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.^[24] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.^[25] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from their previous nu metal sound.^[26] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.^[27] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.^[28] Minutes to Midnight sold over 600,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.^[29]

In an interview with Q101's Kevin Manno at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, Bennington stated Linkin Park will be returning to the studio sometime in November to begin recording for their next album.^[30]

Personal life

Bennington married his first wife, Samantha, on October 31, 1996.^[31] They had one child, named Draven Sebastian, who was born on April 19, 2002.^[31] Bennington’s relationship with his first wife declined during his years with Linkin Park, leading to their divorce in 2005.^[32] After divorcing his first wife, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former Playboy model,^[31] with whom he has had one child Tyler Lee and has two children from a previous relationship Jaime and Isiah. ^[31] Bennington and his family live in a 6,000-square-foot house in Newport Beach Orange County when he is not on tour.^[33] He is also a tattoo enthusiast.^[33] In addition to sporting many tattoos and piercings all over his body, Bennington has done work and promotions with Club Tattoo, a recognized tattoo parlor in Tempe, Arizona.^[34][35] Bennington also made a cameo in the 2006 film Crank.^[36] Bennington and his second wife were harassed by a cyberstalker, Devon Townsend, for almost a year. Townsend was found guilty of tampering with the couple's email, as well as making threatening messages, and was sentenced to two years in prison.^[33] Bennington is an expressed fan of bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, Depeche Mode, Fugazi, Pantera and Rammstein.

Solo work

For Bennington's work with Linkin Park and Dead By Sunrise, see Linkin Park discography and Dead By Sunrise.

Featured vocals

• "Karma Killer" - Cyclefly on the album Crave (2002)
• "System" - Written by Jonathan Davis of Korn (2002)
• "Wonderful" (the Family Values tour 2001 album)"- Stone Temple Pilots (2001)
• "State of the Art" - DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit (2004)
• "Rock 'N' Roll (Could Never Hip-Hop Like This) Part 2" - Handsome Boy Modeling School on the album White People (2004)
• "Walking Dead" - DJ Z-Trip on the album Shifting Gears (2005)
• "Home Sweet Home" (remake) - Mötley Crüe (2005)
• "Slow Ya Roll" - Young Buck (2007)
• "We Made It" - Busta Rhymes (2008)
• "Head Like A Hole (Nine Inch Nails cover)" - Korn (TBA)

References

External links

• Bennington's official LPN page from LinkinPark.com