In pictures: Rocker Chester Bennington remembered
- Published
Chester Bennington - who has died aged 41 - was the lead singer of the American rock band, Linkin Park. The Los Angeles County coroner said the singer had apparently hanged himself.
Linkin Park formed in 1996 and Bennington joined two years later. The band achieved international success with the album Hybrid Theory in 2000 and have sold more than 70 million albums. They also won two Grammy awards.
In May Chester Bennington performed at funeral services for Chris Cornell after the Soundgarden frontman hanged himself. The two were close friends.
Bennington spoke of his difficult upbringing in Arizona, involving years of sexual abuse by a family member and his parents' divorce when he was 11. He was troubled by years of alcohol and drug abuse.
More recently, though, the singer's personal problems had seemed to be under control. He said he had not touched alcohol for six years and was pleased with Linkin Park's latest studio album, One More Light, which was released in May. The band was due to embark on a world tour later this month.
But in April this year, while promoting the band's world tour in London, Bennington told a Q&A session that sometimes he hated the world. He leaves a wife and six children from his two marriages.
Bennington often raised money for charities including Music for Relief, Habitat for Humanity and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Here he is seen helping out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in February 2008.
Linkin Park and its lead singer were especially popular in south-east Asia, with the band performing over the years in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia (above in September 2011), They were due to have performed in Japan in November 2017.
- Published20 July 2017
