41 year old singer, Chester Bennington, was found dead in his home in California, from apparent suicide by hanging. Chester was an American singer and songwriter best known as the frontman for the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead singer for Dead by Sunrise and fronted Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015.
Why Did He Commit Suicide?
According to law enforcement officials, Bennington was suffering from depression for years. Bennington has spoken publicly about his mental health and admitted that he had considered suicide before. The rock star also struggled with alcoholism in the past, saying in 2011 that he used to be a "full blown, raging alcoholic." He also alleged that his depression stemmed from being sexually abused by an older male when he was young.
In fact, Bennington said that his alcoholism inspired the Linkin Park superhit "Crawling" from 2001. He told Spin in 2009 the song is "about feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol. That feeling, being able to write about it, sing about it, that song, those words sold millions of records, I won a Grammy, I made a lot of money.”
"When I was young, getting beaten up and pretty much raped was no fun," Chester told The Guardian in 2011. "No one wants that to happen to you and honestly, I don't remember when it started."
Bennington last year opened up in an interview with Metal Hammer about his lengthy battle with drug addiction some years back, which came to a head when his bandmates decided to stage an intervention. Bennington said that at one point he was smoking crack and using crystal meth, explaining: "I was on 11 hits of acid a day. I dropped so much acid I'm surprised I can still speak! I'd smoke a bunch of crack, do a bit of meth and just sit there and freak out. Then I'd smoke opium to come down. I weighed 110 pounds. My mom said I looked like I stepped out of Auschwitz. So I used pot to get off drugs."
Chester was married to Talinda Bentley. The couple share three children, and he has three children from previous relationships.