It’s been nearly a week now since we learned the news that Chester Bennington, the singer from Linkin Park, had committed suicide.
It’s still kind of hard to believe, isn’t it?
So many of us grew up listening to Linkin Park and their music that allowed us to feel all our feelings.
He was so young, too — just 41 years old — and he left behind six children.
As the coroner’s report confirmed earlier this week, he died after hanging himself from a bedroom door. His body was found by his housekeeper.
Though Chester didn’t leave a note, many people believe his suicide was tied to Chris Cornell’s — the two were close friends, and the day he died was Chris’ birthday.
Chester even sang at Chris’ funeral.
It’s all extremely tragic, so tragic that many of Chester’s fellow musicians have taken the time to pay tribute to him.
The latest to do so is Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame.
Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park go way back, so Fred and Chester had been friends for years and years. In a letter he shared with Variety, Fred recalled one of his first memories of him.
"I’m sitting here with my brother Cory and we were talking about when Linkin Park played before us on their first ever show in Europe," Fred’s letter begins.
"They came in our dressing rooms and they were clearly both so excited and so shy. Wes [Borland, Limp Bizkit’s guitarist], myself and my brother went and watched their show and doused them in champagne after their performance to congratulate them."
He wrote that as he watched them perform, he thought to himself "Chester’s voice is going to blow these kids the f-ck up."
And, of course, he was right.
Read the rest of the letter in full below:
I can say so many wonderful things about the Chester I knew. He had a way of making anyone he spoke to feel heard, understood and significant.
His aura and spirit were contagious and empowering. Often those types of people have so much pain and torture inside that the last thing they want is to contaminate or break the spirit of others.
He would go out of his way to make sure you knew he truly cares. As real and transparent as our conversations would be, he was always the one projecting light on the shadows.
In my last conversation with him, he was holding his two cute puppies and giving me the most selfless and motivational compliments in regards to Limp Bizkit and myself and thanking me for paving the path for bands like Linkin Park.
In return, I told him if it weren’t for him and his voice and his words, this genre would never have reached the masses and affected so many lives.
I thanked him for being so courageous and humble and for always being such a gentleman. We laughed and hugged and told jokes as if there would always be a tomorrow for us to meet again.
I want to hug him now and let him know that we all experience our own pain and deal with it our own ways. I know his torture is unique to him, but I would always be here to listen and help in any way I can.
But I won’t get that hug and that moment now, which makes me so sad.
Again, our condolences to Chester’s friends and family.