[Untitled] · 2:25am Jul 21st, 2017
What can I say that hasn't been said? I'll say what I can, because these words are mine.
One of my heroes killed themselves.
When I wanted to get into music, Linkin Park was the first band to jump out to me. I blared those albums when they first came out, and I still blare them to this day. I was playing them on my roadtrip before I heard the news. And I'll be honest, it cut me like a knife.
In a moment, my mind went back to when I tasted the bottle of pills slide down my throat, and I felt the slick tile floor turn fuzzy at the touch and I slowly fell asleep.
I... Understand. I understand what you must have gone through. But... Can't you see the people you inspire? Was the pressure too much? Look at the hole that has been made in the world. I just...
They say never meet your heroes, and I didn't have to meet you to have my golden image stomped into tiny little pieces. Did I meet or know you personally? No. But you spoke to me. You told me, through your music, that you understand. That you've been there. That it gets better.
And now... Now I don't know how to feel.
I hope you're at peace, Chester. I really do. I hope you can make the music you want without the critics beating you down for selling out. I hope you can rest your troubled mind.
Over here on Earth... Well. We're just going to be telling out friends, our loved ones, our family... Don't do that. Don't do what you did. It's a mistake.
I joke about suicide, maybe I'm part of the problem. But I wish you could have seen the light you brought to this world. Because it just got a lot darker for me.
Rest in peace, my friend.
For the rest of you. Don't you DARE kill yourself. You have too many awesome days in front of you
Every radio station around here has been playing LP all day. This was my personal fave of theirs and one I've heard many a time today.
I wasn't a huge fan of their newest album, but that wasn't important. The man and the band as a whole were phenomenal. I have so many memories of listening to their music all day, playing Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts with my friends and sister. When my father passed after being gone most of my life... some of their music really got to me. My most formative years had Meteora and Hybrid Theory playing in the background.
We lost a great one today.
Damn it. The timing of his passing couldn't have come at a worse time. I've been really struggling for the last few weeks. So many terrible thoughts and plans. I've seen what suicides do to families and I've lost a few friends to it. Hell I've attempted it a few times. Everytime I hear of someone actually succeeding it tears me apart. I understand the struggle and I've had to deal with the consequences of a failed attempt. It can honestly feel like living is worse. No isn't worse, suicide is permanent. Living means we can keep trying. Hang in there priest. I'm right in the trenches next to you.
I felt a little piece of myself die too when I heard... LP is the one band I listen to more than anything else and hearing about Chester was like hearing Christmas being canceled and a friend dying all rolled into one...
For a long time, I was just a casual fan of LP. Whenever I heard all the jokes about them being 'lol, so edgy', I'd laugh along sure, but I legit liked their music without having to be ironic about it. Still, I never really sought them out or anything like that, just passively enjoyed what they had to offer. I've only heard a bit of their new album, the one in which they apparently switched to a more pop'py sound style, and while I didn't like it much myself, I didn't begrudge them the change. I'd always have all their old stuff to listen to anyway, so it didn't make a difference to me.
But hearing this news today, hearing all of their many amazing songs played on the radio over and over, it made me realize that LP was both more valuable than I'd thought and more important to me than I had imagined. The loss is more keenly felt than I expected, and not just for the standard idea of being sad that so much potential was lost too soon. It's also thinking about all the people who looked up to them being struck more deeply. And realizing I was among that number.
Rest In Peace Chester. May you finally find what you were looking for.
my first band im going to play some park in memorial, may
his soul rest in peace.
Me personally i wasn't too into LP i thought they were some high meadow boy band that would be a one hit wonder but then i heard my favorite song Breaking the habit and i was like holy shilsnickles they group is great, hell i remember trying to get one of their CDs with that one song on it and they were alway sold out for the past 3 wks (i think longer but i was in the navy at that time and we had to head out for about a few wks) and i was pissed but when i finally got it i played that entire CD alot. So leave with this R.I.P to one of the great ones
I also was pretty devastated by the passing of Chester. LP has been in my life since Crawling. Hell I still listen to the mashups of LP and Jay Z.
Disturbed shared a few stories, I thought I'd post them here since the best way to remember the dead is through memories and stories.
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I remember Chester.
I remember my first exposure to him.
We were playing a show in Pittsburgh, I think, (location doesn't really matter) and this new band, who's first hit single "One Step Closer", was ALL OVER the airwaves already, called Linkin Park, were opening for us. I remember thinking, "I wonder of they're from Chicago? "linkin' park" and all..."
I remember sitting in our dressing room and hearing that song start during their set. It drew me out of the dressing room and I stood side stage and watched, in awe of his ferocity, precision, and power. I walked back to the dressing room and said to the guys, "Uh oh...we'd better step up our game tonight, these guys are GOOD!"
I remember when the band, Warner Bros. Records label mates, came to say hello when we were shooting our music video for Prayer, also the same day I met the woman who was to become the love of my life...Lena.
I remember sharing a stage with them on Ozzfest, and although they were originally met with some boos and jeers by the often less than open minded metal crowd, Chester and Co. were unfazed, and mid-way through that tour, they had won the crowd over, and were kicking ass and taking names.
I remember doing a side run together at that time, and Chester caught me kind of making fun of him while I was getting some clothes from under the bus. I had my own little version of "Crawling" where I sung the opening line of the verse with my own lyric (JOKINGLY), "I don't know why I have to sing like such a pussy...it hurts me...my pussy...", not knowing that he was standing directly behind me listening!!!
I turned around and noticed he was there and turned white.
"Um...sorry brother! I didn't mean anything by it! I have mad respect for you! Just playing around!!", I said. To which he responded, "We'll at least I actually sing, not just make noises like Oooh wah ah ah ah and ugh ugh!!! (laughing)."
"You got me brother...", I said laughing, "much love".
I remember when us, Papa Roach, and Linkin Park were all on a chartered jet together headed to The World Famous KROQ acoustic christmas show, or twisted acoustic christmas show, or weenie roast, or SOMETHING, and it was basically a contest of who could be the loudest, most drunk, and most obnoxious at the time...lol, and Chester and Jacoby were trying to outdo each other each minute, with me playing the part of the grumpy old man, trying to get some sleep in my seat, unsuccessfully, because Chester and Jacoby kept accosting me every 5 minutes trying to get me to join in...lol!!
I remember when I met his family, his children, and saw what a loving father he was, and how much he adored them.
I remember when they got the lead track on the Transformers soundtrack (I was a little jealous, admittedly...lol), I heard the track, saw its copious usage in the film and said, "OK..THIS IS THE GAME CHANGER. They will now go from being nu-metal sensations, to global superstars."...and they DID.
I remember him reaching out to me right after our performance of "The Sound of Silence" on Conan O'Brien Presents: Team Coco.
He said, "Dude! That was fucking amazing!!! I had no idea you could sing like that!!! Why don't you sing that way more often???!!"
I was humbled.
I remember talking to him just recently, right after the new record came out, and I told him that I hoped he didn't mind me saying how proud of him I was. That it took great courage to break new ground stylistically for the band, and that the song ("heavy") was a HUGE HOOK, and to pay no mind to the idiots out there who didn't get it.
AND I will always remember when I first heard of his passing today.
Lena and my son Sam were swimming outside, and the text chain began between my brothers in Disturbed and I about the horrible news. I remember feeling the hot stinging tears streaming down my face as I watched my wife and son playing, with a greater appreciation for them, and my life, than ever...SHOCKED, and in disbelief of what I had just been told.
I remember Chester Charles Bennington....
...I cherished and admired him...
...and for all the reasons I listed above, and many more...
...I will never forget him.
-David Draiman
We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.
By going to Youtube and searching for any random shitty anime music video set to Linkin Park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs5OZdxnBj8
These will always be how my life was touched.
Linkin Park and Evanescence was the two bands that I grew up with. Having heard of his death... It hurts. I pray that Amy won't suffer the same fate.