Chester Bennington

**Chester Charles Bennington** (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the lead singer for Linkin Park.

### Early years

Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. He was interested in music since he was young and he liked mostly Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots. His parents separated in the late 1980s, and was raised by his father. Later he had problems with drugs.

### Professional music career

At the beginning he was a vocalist in a grunge band called Grey Daze. He left Grey Daze in 1998. After that, the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with Linkin Park. Bennington went to California and joined the band. Their name was “Hybrid Theory” back then. The other vocalist was Mike Shinoda. After some rejections, Jeff Blue operated to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.

In spite of the success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had personal problems outside of the public interest.

### Personal life

Bennington had a son in 1996 by Elka Brand and in 2006 adopted her other son who was born in 1997. In 1996 Bennington married Samantha Marie Olit. Their child was born in 2002. The couple divorced in 2005. In 2006, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former _Playboy_ model. He had three children with Bentley, a son born in 2006, and twin daughters born in 2011.

### Death

Bennington died by suicide by hanging himself on July 20, 2017 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California at the age of 41, the day on what would have been his close friend, Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday who also died by suicide a few months earlier.

### With Grey Daze

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Album details|colspan="7"|Peak chart positions|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Released: 1994 * Formats: CD|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|* Released: May 23, 1997 * Formats: CD|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|* Released: June 26, 2020 * Formats: CD, LP, download|30|29|9|17|62|1|75|
|colspan="14" style="font-size:90%"|"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.|||||||

#### Singles

|rowspan="2" scope="col"|Title|rowspan="2" scope="col"|Year|colspan="3" scope="col"|Peak chart positions|rowspan="2" scope="col"|Album|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="5"|2020|—|—|—|rowspan="5"|_Amends_||
|2|35|11||||||
|—|—|—||||||
|—|40|—||||||
|29|—|—||||||

#### Music videos

- "What's In the Eye" (2020)
- "Sickness" (2020)
- "Soul Song" (2020)
- "B12" (2020)
- "In Time" (2020)
- "Shouting Out" (2020)

### With Linkin Park

- _Hybrid Theory_ (2000)
- _Meteora_ (2003)
- _Minutes to Midnight_ (2007)
- _A Thousand Suns_ (2010)
- _Living Things_ (2012)
- _The Hunting Party_ (2014)
- _One More Light_ (2017)

### With Dead by Sunrise

- _Out of Ashes_ (2009)

### With Stone Temple Pilots

- _High Rise_ (2013)

### Album contributions and singles

|Year|Artist|Song|Release|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2001|DJ Lethal|"Cry To Yourself" (also known as "State of the Art")|N/A - originally intended for DJ Lethal's unreleased album "State of the Art"|
|2002|Stone Temple Pilots|"Wonderful (Live)"|_The Family Values 2001 Tour_|
|2002|Chester Bennington|"System"|_Queen of the Damned_ soundtrack|
|Cyclefly|"Karma Killer"|_Crave_||
|2004|Handsome Boy Modeling School featuring DJ Q-bert, Grand Wizard Theodore, Jazzy Jay, Lord Finesse, Mike Shinoda, Rahzel & Chester Bennington / Tim Meadows|"Rock N' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) (Part 2) / Knockers"|_White People_|
|2005|Z-Trip|"Walking Dead"|_Shifting Gears_|
|Mötley Crüe|"Home Sweet Home" <small>(remake)</small>|Non-album charity single||
|2006|Chester Bennington|"Morning After (Julien-K Remix)"|_Underworld: Evolution (soundtrack)_|
|Mindless Self Indulgence|"What Do They Know? (Mindless Self Indulgence Vs. Julien-K & Chester Bennington Remix)"|_Another Mindless Rip Off_||
|2007|Young Buck|"Slow Ya Roll"|_Buck the World_|
|2008/2010|Chris Cornell|"Hunger Strike (Live at Projekt Revolution 2008)"|_Songs from the Underground_ _A Decade Underground_|
|2010|Santana featuring Chester Bennington & Ray Manzarek|"Riders on the Storm" <small>(The Doors cover)</small>|_Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time_|
|2019|Mark Morton featuring Chester Bennington|"Cross Off"|_Anesthetic_|

## Other websites

- Linkin Park official website

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **embed**: yes
- **background**: solo_singer
- **origin**: Palos Verdes Estates, California, U.S.


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Chester Bennington
- **image**: Linkin Park-Rock im Park 2014- by 2eight 3SC0327.jpg
- **caption**: Bennington in 2014
- **birth name**: Chester Charles Bennington
- **birth place**: Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
- **death place**: Palos Verdes Estates, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Suicide,  suicide by hanging
- **years active**: 1992–2017
- **spouse**:

- **children**: 6
- **signature**: Signature of Chester Bennington.svg