Farewell, Chester Bennington

The Linkin Park frontman took his own life at a private residence in LA County

I'm too heartbroken to write this, but I must try. As one of the millions of Linkin Park fans from around the world, I owe Chester Bennington this much. According to a report in BBC News, the charismatic Linkin Park frontman took his own life at a private residence in LA County on the morning of Thursday, July 20.
My earliest and most vivid memory of a Linkin Park song is In The End blaring from someone's boombox back in the early 2000s as I, a clueless twenty-something at the time, sat at a roadside tea stall with my friends in India trying to figure life out. The powerful lyrics struck an emotional chord with me, as did Chester Bennington's piercing, shrill voice that seemed to pervade the atmosphere long after the music had died down.
Formed in 1996, Linkin Park have two Grammy Awards and sold over 70 million records worldwide. Their music seemed to cut across all barriers of race and country and resonate with almost every age group. I remember a father and son having an animated conversation about why Crawling (who can forget those haunting, sad lyrics "crawling in my skin, these wounds will not heal") was a brilliant and unforgettable track.
Chester, who also fronted the Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015, had spoken openly in the past about his struggles with substance and alcohol abuse.
As Audioslave and Soundgarden fans are still reeling from the loss of one of grunge's founding fathers Chris Cornell, who took his own life in May, Chester's death comes as another big blow to the music world. Chester, a good friend of Cornell's, performed Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at his funeral recently. July 20, the day he committed suicide, also happens to be Chris Cornell's birthday. RIP Chester Bennington. Your music will never die.
enid@khaleejtimes.com