Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington dead at 41

Chester Bennington: 1976-2017
Chester Bennington: 1976-2017 (Image credit: Wikipedia Commons)

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington has died at the age of 41.

The Los Angeles Times say that emergency serives were called to a private residence in Palos Verdes Estate in Los Angeles, California, regarding a cardiac arrest, with the report indicating the male victim had died of suicide by hanging.

Chief of operations for the LA County Department Medical Examiner’s office Brian Elias tells Rolling Stone: “Shortly after 9am this morning, we were notified by law enforcement of a death in Palos Verdes Estates. We responded to the scene and unfortunately confirmed that Mr. Chester Bennington was deceased at the scene.”

An investigation into Bennington’s death is now being carried out by the examiner’s office.

Bennington’s Linkin Park band mate Mike Shinoda has now spoken via Twitter, saying: “Shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.”

Bennington played in several bands in the 90s but it was Linkin Park’s 2000 debut album Hybrid Theory that catapulted him and his band mates into the limelight, with the record peaking at no.2 on the Billboard 200.

Linkin Park released six more studio albums, their latest being One More Light which arrived in May this year.

Bennington also sang with Stone Temple Pilots and appeared on 2013 EP High Rise. He left the band amicably in 2015 to concentrate on his work with Linkin Park.

His death comes on what would have been late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday, with Bennington writing a heartfelt tribute to his friend shortly after the news broke.

Bennington is survived by his widow Talinda and six children – Jamie, Isaiah, Draven, Tyler Lee, Lily and Lila.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.