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BONUS! Chester Bennington and or Chris Cornell’s Suspicious Deaths

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Zack’s Script: Google Doc

Wikipedia: BONUS! Chester Bennington and or Chris Cornell’s Suspicious Deaths

Created/Accessed:

Chester Bennington

timeline of Chester Bennington‘s backstory:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unless otherwise specified (i.e., listed under a specific month/date), the events listed under each year MAY NOT be written in chronological order, so double check if you need to!

March 20th, 1976

  • Chester Bennington is born in Phoenix, Arizona a mother who was a nurse and a police detective father who investigated child sexual abuse cases as a police detective. 9
  • He had two sisters and an older brother.10
  • Since he learned how to talk, Chester told everybody that he was going to grow up to be a singer.1
  • His brother played Foreigner records all the time and by the time Chester was two he used to run around singing their songs.2
  • His mother recalls how he would sing and act out all the parts from the 1980 musical comedy film Popeye for everyone that came over to the house.3
  • Bennington took an interest in music at a young age, citing the bands Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as his earliest inspirations.11 He dreamed of becoming a member of Stone Temple Pilots, and would later become their lead singer for a time.12
  • Bennington struggled with depression and substance abuse for most of his life, starting in his childhood.
1983 (approximately)
  • At age seven, an older male friend sexually abused him.
  • Bennington was afraid to ask for help, not wanting people to think he was gay or a liar, and the abuse continued until age 13.10
  • He said in an interview with NWE: “If I think back to when I was really young, to when I was being molested, to when all these horrible things were going on around me, I shudder.”
  • Years later, he revealed the abuser's name to his father but chose not to press charges.14
1987 (approximately)
  • Bennington's parents divorced when he was 11 years old. 15 The abuse and his situation at home affected him so much that he felt the urge to "kill everybody and run away." To comfort himself, Bennington drew pictures and wrote poetry and songs.10
  • After the divorce, his father gained custody of him.10 Bennington started using alcohol, marijuana, opium, cocaine, meth, and LSD.10,11,14
1989 (approximately)
  • this is (approximately) when Chester's sexual abuse ended
  • He went to Greenway High School
    • He was bullied in high school, stating in an interview that he was "knocked around like a rag doll at school, for being skinny and looking different".16
  • joined local Arizona-based band Grey Daze
  • As Chester grew older, he started developing his distinctive singing style. "I did it all the wrong way. I basically went at it till it didn't hurt anymore. Its something I've been blessed with." 4
  • His favorite band was Ministry and he would always try to mimic Al Jourgensen's highly produced/compressed vocals the best he could, without using any effects.5
  • Other groups he listened to were Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Misfits, Fugazzi, Minor Threat, The Smiths, Skinny Puppy and Neitzer Ebb.6 In school, he got into musical theater, started playing music, and traveled the country with a stage production of You Are The Child.7
1993
  • In 1993, at the age of 17, Bennington moved in with his mother. He was banned from leaving the house for a time when she discovered his drug use.10
  • He worked at a local Burger King before starting his career as a professional musician.11
1993
  • Bennington first began singing with a band called Sean Dowdell and His Friends?, and together they released an eponymous three-track cassette in 1993.
  • Later, Sean Dowdell and Bennington moved on to form a post-grunge band called Grey Daze & recorded a demo in 1993
1994
October 1994
  • After playing dozens of shows in their local Arizona, Grey Daze recorded their debut Wake Me in 1994 (one of two albums). The band has continued gigging endlessly playing all sorts of events and venues, including bars, restaurants, warehouses, private house parties, desert gigs, proving themselves as a household live band. That led them to be able to play and sell out bigger venues and open for many international acts playing in the area.
1996
  • Linkin Park formed under the name "Xero" (the original lineup consisting of Mike Shinoda, Mark Wakefield, Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon, Joe Hahn, and Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – Vocalist Mark Wakefield left the band to pursue a different career as things weren't working out with Xero)
May 12th, 1996
  • Child with Elka Brand is born: Bennington had a son (Jaime), born in 1996, from his relationship with Elka Brand. 50
1997
  • Thanks to Kerry Rose's work and the fact that Mace Beyers was the Electric Ballroom's production manager, Grey Daze became the club's resident band and played a huge number of shows there until it was closed in October 1997.
  • Once getting a record deal with Real Records, Grey Daze began work on their second album, ...No Sun Today and released it in 1997.
1998
  • Sometime in the second half of 1998, shortly after Grey Daze’s tour to Southern California that included showcases for major label executives, the band members separated their ways. Even though the band was planning to release their third CD sometime that year 13, the fact that none of the label executives came forward and the overall frustration over the band's seeming disability to make it to the next level has led to more personal conflicts between the band members, so Chester and Mace Beyers decided to leave the band.
  • Bennington left Grey Daze in 1998. 17
1999
  • Bennington had been frustrated and nearly quit his musical career altogether until Jeff Blue, the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered him an audition with the future members of Linkin Park (then known as Xero). 17 He quit his day job at a digital services firm10 and traveled to California for the audition, in which he successfully won a place in the band. He left his own birthday party early to record his audition.18
  • Chester Bennington joined the band in 1999, after auditioning via recommendation of his lawyers to Jeff Blue of the A&R Recordings branch of Zomba Music Group. They independently released the Hybrid Theory EP under the name Hybrid Theory in 1999.
    • Some background context: The first problem was the name Hybrid Theory. Another band in the label was called Hybrid and was considered "the next big thing", so they didn't want Hybrid Theory getting confused with them. Each band member wrote different names on separate lists and met to decide which one they liked better. Some of the proposed names for the band were Plear (as in "Clear Plastic", but the label didn't like it), Probing Lagers, and Platinum Lotus Foundation.15 Chester came up with "Lincoln Park" when driving and coming across a hometown park with that name.16 Among 30 potential names, this was the only one all members of the band liked.
  • Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band's other vocalist, made significant progress together but failed to find a record deal and faced numerous rejections.17 Blue, who had since become vice president of A&R at Warner Records,17 intervened again to help the band sign with the label.
  • Bennington was Linkin Park's primary lead vocalist, but he occasionally shared the role with Shinoda. All Music Guide described Bennington's vocals as "higher-pitched" and "emotional", in contrast to Shinoda's hip-hop-style delivery.11 Both members also worked together to write lyrics for the band's songs.21
2000
  • Spawning singles like 'One Step Closer' and 'Crawling' that showcased the power of Bennington's voice, the band and its members went on a world tour in support of their debut, Chester's voice becoming an iconic staple of early 2000's rock and metal music. The band would go on to record and release multiple number one records across multiple genres, selling out arenas around the world in support of each.
May 24th, 2000
  • Brad suggested that it would be important to acquire the domain lincolnpark.com, but it was already taken. It would take around $10,000 to acquire the domain, so they changed the new potential band name from "Lincoln" to "Linkin" in order to get it. linkinpark.com was registered on May 24, 2000,17 and the park has since been renamed to Christine Emerson Reed Park.18 The band also registered one domain name for each of the rejected names.
October 24th, 2000
  • Hybrid Theory album is released: Bennington first gained prominence as a vocalist following the release of Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory (2000) through Warner Records, which was a worldwide/international commercial success and launched the band into fame.
    • Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics to Hybrid Theory based on some early material.9 Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as "everyday emotions you talk about and think about".19,20
2001
  • Before joining the band, Chester had previously guested with Stone Temple Pilots while Linkin Park was on tour with them in 2001 on the Family Values Tour, coming out to perform 'Dead & Bloated' with them.
2002
  • Chester's guest appearances go as far back as 2002, appearing on the song 'Karma Killer' from Cyclefly's second album, Crave. Chester has made a number of solo appearances as a guest on other artists' songs as well as some of his own music.
Early 2002
  • Bennington later described the songwriting experience for Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, to Rolling Stone magazine in early 2002, "It's easy to fall into that thing – 'poor, poor me', that's where songs like 'Crawling' come from: I can't take myself. But that song is about taking responsibility for your actions. I don't say 'you' at any point. It's about how I'm the reason that I feel this way. There's something inside me that pulls me down."9
February 22nd, 2002
  • Chester's sole solo credit comes from the original score of 2002's Queen Of The Damned movie, creating the track 'System' with Richard Gibbs and Korn's Jonathan Davis.
April 19th, 2002
2003
  • Health issues: Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the album's recording sessions. 66 In the summer of 2003, he began to suffer from extreme abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues while filming the music video for "Numb" in Prague. He was forced to return to the United States for surgery, and filmed the remainder of the music video in Los Angeles. 67,68
2005

  • Chester and Mike Shinoda both appeared on Handsome Boy Modeling School's 'Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2' in 2005. Chester appeared by himself on DJ Z-Trip's 'Walking Dead' in 2005 as well, performing the song with him at the Coachella festival that year.

  • Co-founded new side project: Bennington formed/co-founded his own band, Dead By Sunrise, as a side project in 2005. Dead By Sunrise was an electronic rock band from Los Angeles, California, with Orgy and Julien-K members Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck.30,31

  • Chester became even closer to Ryan and Amir Derakh and executive produced their album Death To Analog after becoming involved in Julien-K‘s music as well. Chester taught Ryan how to sing in new ways and laid down demo vocals for quite a few Julien-K songs so Ryan could go back and record them at a later time for the Julien-K debut album.

  • At this point, the three of them began to work on Chester's solo material. At this point, they were referring to the project under the name “Snow White Tan”. Chester said that he’d give Ryan and Amir a song, come back later in the day and be blown away at how great the work was that they did to the track… turning it into a full song from just an acoustic demo.

  • In an LPTV episode about 'Let Down,' Chester said, “The very first song that kind of sparked this whole project is a song called "Let Down." I think I was playing it at my house and Ryan heard me singing and he was like “what’s that?” and I told him that it was a song that I had written. And he pretty much told me that he really liked the song… in many words. And he asked if I had more and I said, “yeah I have more and I can write more”. And that’s kind of what started the whole thing.

  • Although the album was completed and ready to release, Chester decided to put the project on hold in 2005 because Linkin Park was beginning to record their album Minutes To Midnight.

  • Originally formed to play the 2005 Club Tattoo Anniversary Party, Bucket of Weenies played five shows throughout their career in 2005 and 2006.

    • Bennington was a tattoo enthusiast. 56 He had done work and promotions with Club Tattoo, a tattoo parlor in Tempe, Arizona. Club Tattoo is owned by Sean Dowdell, Bennington's friend since high school with whom he played in two bands.57,58
    • Bucket of Weenies is the name of the defunct cover band that Chester was a member of from 2005 to 2007.
January 7th, 2005
February 2005
  • After the Meteora touring cycle for Linkin Park, the band wanted some down time after the hectic world tour in support of the album. At the same time, they were facing issues with their record label Warner Bros which made the band angry. In a February 2005 press interview about Music For Relief that asked about progress on new Linkin Park music, Chester replied, "The last thing on my mind is making a record."
Spring 2005
  • Bitter divorce with his 1st wife: Bennington's relationship with his first wife, Samantha Olit, declined during his early years with Linkin Park, and they divorced in 2005.53
    • Chester was not coping well and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with it.
    • His good friend Ryan Shuck, whom Chester knew from the days when Orgy and Linkin Park would record at NRG Studios at the same times and also play together, eventually saved Chester's life by being a strong support for him. Around the same time, Chester played some solo music for Ryan that he had worked on and Ryan was instantly a big fan. The first song that sparked the project was 'Let Down.'
August 2005
  • In August 2005, news of the project began to surface. A Blabbermouth article from August 4, 2005 mentioned, "LINKIN PARK frontman Chester Bennington is currently in the studio recording his debut solo album with producers (and ORGY members) Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck. The as-yet-untitled CD is expected to be completed before the end of the year for an early 2006 release." Additionally, Rolling Stone that month said, "LINKIN PARK screamer CHESTER BENNINGTON will release a solo record, and he breaks the news in the Smoking Section. "We took Nineties rock, mixed it with Eighties pop like DEPECHE MODE, THE CURE, and BAUHAUS and smashed them together," says Bennington. "It's fuckin' driving beats and walls of guitars." Songs like 'Morning After' and 'Walking in Circles' are in the can, and Bennington is especially psyched about a new song, which a friend says "sounds like T.REX."
September 10th, 2005
  • The first public appearance of Snow White Tan in any form was after Hurricane Katrina. A benefit show was organized in Nashville, TN for September 10, 2005 and "Chester Bennington" was listed as a performer.
  • Chester, Ryan, and Amir debuted a beautiful acoustic version of 'Let Down'
September 27th, 2005
  • Hurricane Katrina benefit: Chester appeared on a version of Mötley Crüe's 'Home Sweet Home' in benefit of victims of Hurricane Katrina, performing the song with them at the ReAct Now: Music & Relief benefit, which raised $30 million for relief aid.
October 27th, 2005
  • Amir said on October 27, 2005, "What would have been the first performance of Chesters solo project with Julien-K at the Taste The Music Festival in Arizona Nov 5th has been cancelled... WE WILL NOT BE PERFORMING! It was decided today not to play the show... SORRY!!! Let's just say it had nothing to do with us being "ready" to play and BTW we were only doing 3 songs acoustically anyway..."
November 5th, 2005
  • On November 5, 2005, the group was going to perform an acoustic set at Tempe, Arizona's Taste The Music Festival but it was canceled.
2006
  • Suicide attempt:One of Chester's suicide attempts/threats according to his wife, Talinda
    • exact month/date unknown
    • According to his wife Talinda, Chester was consuming alcohol heavily and threatened to commit suicide. He had left their home with a gun and she had to call the police to find him. (A few sentences are redacted here in the investigation report on pages 26-27 within his autopsy report).
  • Film cameo: Bennington made two appearances within the Crank movie series, appearing in the first movie in 2006 as a customer at a pharmacy (and appearing in the sequel, Crank: High Voltage in 2009 as a spectator of a horse race).
  • Remix: A remixed studio version of 'Morning After' with Julien-K was released in 2006 for the Underworld: Evolution original soundtrack, and again working with them plus Mindless Self Indulgence that same year on a song called 'What Do They Know?'
  • Adoption: In 2006, Chester adopted Brand's other son (Isaiah) who was born on November 8th, 1997.50
March 16th, 2006
  • Child with 2nd wife is born: Chester & 2nd wife, Talinda welcome their first born (Tyler Lee) in 2006. 54
July 2006
  • Bennington struggled with depression, anxiety and substance abuse.74 He overcame his drug addiction and denounced drug use in later interviews.75 He battled with alcoholism during his tenure with Linkin Park, which he overcame following an intervention from his bandmates.76 In July 2006, he said he had quit drinking, noting: "I just don't want to be that person anymore."
2007

  • Relapse: Bennington suffered several relapses, once in 2007 and once in 2008.

  • Album feature: Chester featured on hip-hop artist Young Buck's 'Slow Ya Roll' from his second album, Buck The World in 2007.

  • Tour performance for Julien-K: On Projekt Revolution 2007, Chester came out during Julien-K‘s set to perform 'Technical Difficulties' with the band on multiple occasions. Lead vocalist Ryan Shuck had to attend a wedding during the day of the band's show at Tinley Park, Illinois, so Chester performed the whole set with Julien-K as its vocalist.

  • Disappointing beginnings for Bucket of Weenies: Bucket of Weenies‘s sole 2007 show, for the Club Tattoo Anniversary Party, was canceled when the event did not end up taking place. Bucket of Weenies disbanded/fell apart this year unsure of the exact circumstances

  • Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight (2007), also reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart 24,25

  • Bennington was also the godfather of Cornell‘s son Christopher.82 year may be wrong but seems important to note

July 16th, 2007
September 2007
  • Statement about Julien-K: In the Artisan News Service interview from September 2007, Ryan says, "It turned into literally in a few days Julien-K became Chester's band Dead by Sunrise so we literally stopped our record and recorded a record with Chester which is complete. Of course, the reason that didn't come out is because you have the Linkin Park record in front of it. There was a little bit of back up in timing and complications but basically Julien-K is two bands. With Chester singing it's Dead by Sunrise and when I sing it's Julien-K. Julien-K is decidedly a bit more Electro but Dead by Sunrise a little bit heavier, a little bit more rocky and it's still got, Chester loves Electro music and he loves what we're doing."
October 2007
  • While touring for Minutes To Midnight, Bennington sustained a wrist injury in October 2007 while attempting to jump off a platform during a show in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena. Despite the injury, he continued to perform the entire show with a broken wrist, before heading to an emergency department after the show.69

2008

  • Stalker: Chester and Talinda Bennington were harassed by a cyberstalker, who was later found guilty in 2008 of tampering with the couple's email and other personal information, as well as sending threatening messages, and was sentenced to two years in prison.55
  • Relapse: Bennington suffered several relapses, once in 2007 and once in 2008.
May 2008
February 2008
  • Illness on tour: Bennington fell ill on the U.S. Arena Tour for Minutes To Midnight in late February 2008, which resulted in having to cancel a couple of shows.70,71
2009
August 2009
  • In early August 2009, it was confirmed that 'Crawl Back In' would be the first single, and it was released on August 16th on the Dead By Sunrise MySpace page. The song was originally on the Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen soundtrack for May 2009 but it was removed before release.
February 4th, 2009
  • On a February 4, 2009 blog post, Mike Shinoda said, "I was just hanging out with Chester, and got a chance to hear some of his new solo material! In case you haven't heard, he's doing a solo record (he's doing double-duty, working on his album and the LP album simultaneously). The project is called Dead By Sunrise, and the album is being produced by Howard Benson. He played me 9 songs, two of which had amazing vocals. I thought I could hear influences from T-Rex, overall it's a pretty punch-you-in-the-gut rock record. Very cool...look for it later this year, probably September-ish. It's going to be incredible!"
November 9,th, 2009
  • Amir Derakh in a November 9, 2009 interview with The Rebel Yell describes how they (the band members of Julien-K) became close to Chester: "We met Chester when we were in Orgy. We were recording our second record in a studio in Hollywood and Linkin Park was in the same studio in a different room. Chester was kind of singing in the hall, warming up and stuff. We heard him so Ryan went down and quickly made friends with the guys from Linkin Park. This is when they were doing their first record. It turns out that they were on our label and when our record came out their record came out. We ended up taking them out on tour and we all became friends very quickly. We’ve really been friends ever since and it was just a natural progression to do something together. It was something we had always talked about."
October 13th, 2009
2010
  • As an actor, he appeared in Saw 3D (2010) as Evan, a racist character who met a terrible fate in typical gory Saw-fashion.
2011
  • Film cameos: Chester has made a number of cameos in films, as well. Chester had plans to create a TV show with his friend Church and television producer and writer Trip Taylor in 2011 called Mayor Of The World, but the show never made it through production.
  • Tour illness: In 2011, Bennington fell ill again, and Linkin Park was forced to cancel three shows and reschedule two from the A Thousand Suns World Tour.72 He injured his shoulder during the band's tour in Asia and was advised by doctors to have immediate surgery, canceling their final show at Pensacola Beach, Florida, and ending their tour.73
January 2011
  • In a January 2011 interview, in response to the 2011 Tucson shooting, Bennington said, "There's a non-violent way to express yourself and get your point across – regardless of what you're saying or what your point is. In a free society, people have a right to believe whatever they want to believe. That's their business and they can speak their mind. But nobody, even in a free society, has the right to take another person's life. Ever. That's something that we really need to move beyond." 62
November 2011
  • Twins with 2nd wife are born: Chester & 2nd wife, Talinda welcome their twins (Lily and Lila) born in 2011. 54 
2012
2013
  • Speaking to MusicRadar on October 15, 2013, Dean DeLeo explained how they started working together: "We kind of did it a little backwards, actually [laughs]. We spoke with him on the phone, and we all agreed that we wanted to do this. The second thing we did is what we should have done first – we probably should have gotten in a room. But it's something I felt in my bones. I felt that it was going to be productive and creative. Oh, goodness… My timeline isn't so great. I'd say it was a few weeks or maybe a month later, if that. The songwriting process started a little bit before that with the use of technology and kind of MP3ing each other ideas. When we got in a room together, Robert had already fooled around with a rough idea of Out Of Time. We came into the session and dove right into that."28
  • The band embarked on a U.S. Tour in the fall of 2013 in support of the record, squeezing in two shows in Japan in November. The band drew from their entire discography for these tracks, playing classic tracks like 'Dead & Bloated' and 'Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart,' tracks they had never played before like 'Church On Tuesday,' as well as 'Out Of Time' and 'Black Heart' from the new EP. On some dates, the band opened for Mötley Crüe.
February 2013
May 18th, 2013
May 19th, 2013
  • Stone Temple Pilots’ first single with Bennington on vocals called "Out of Time" debuted on May 19 and was available for free download via their official website.
  • (date may be wrong, but this was announced sometime around here) It was later announced by Bennington and the band in an exclusive KROQ interview that he was officially the new frontman of Stone Temple Pilots and discussed the possibility of a new album and tour.
October 8th, 2013
May 2013
  • One of Chester's first favorite bands was Stone Temple Pilots. As a child, he would sing songs and dream of being the lead singer of Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots.27 These childhood dreams came true in May 2013, when he was announced as the band's new lead singer following the departure of Scott Weiland a few months earlier in February. The announcement came with their first performance together, with a surprise set at the 2013 KROQ Weenie Roast, performing before Thirty Seconds To Mars. On top of performing the band's classics, they debuted the brand new song 'Out Of Time,' which featured on their High Rise EP that was released later that same year.
2014
  • Stone Temple Pilots had planned an international tour in 2014 with stops in India, Hawaii, Indonesia, and the Soundwave festival in Australia, but this was cancelled due to Chester's commitments to Linkin Park (who were recording The Hunting Party at the time). The band did, however, manage to play some tour dates throughout the year in the United States between gaps in Linkin Park's touring schedule.
2015
January 2015
  • Injury: Bennington injured his ankle in January 2015 during a basketball game.78 He attempted to cope with the injury and perform with the aid of crutches and a knee scooter. Linkin Park later canceled the remainder of their tour to allow Bennington to undergo surgery and recover.79,80,81
Spring 2015
  • Stone Temple Pilots embarked on another U.S. Tour in the spring of 2015 in the United States, debuting 'Adhesive' and 'Pruno' for the first time live.
Late 2015
  • Relapse: In late 2015, Bennington had started drinking again. exact date unknown
October 2015
November 2015
2016
March 2016
Summer of 2016
  • Relapse: Bennington went back to treatment for addiction (alcohol & drug –unsure which in this scenario), but suffered a 3 day relapse in the summer of 2016. 77
December 2016
  • Tour with Kings of Chaos: Bennington performed with rock supergroup Kings of Chaos during their six-show 2016 concert tour.41 The lineup at this time consisted of Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses) on drums, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Billy Duffy (The Cult), and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) on guitar, Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) on bass, and Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour) and Chester on vocals. Chester would come out to sing a number of covers with the band, including Stone Temple Pilots' 'Interstate Love Song' and 'Sex Type Thing,' The Cult's 'Edie (Ciao Baby),' Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love,' and more.
2017
January 29th, 2017
April 2017
  • Following Cornell's suicide in May 2017, 85 Bennington wrote an open letter to him on Instagram, stating that he could not imagine a world without Cornell in it 82:
    • "Thoughts of you flooded my mind and I wept. I’m still weeping, with sadness, as well as gratitude for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family. You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one," he wrote. "I suppose that’s what we all are. You helped me understand that ... I can’t imagine a world without you in it. I pray you find peace in the next life. I send my love to your wife and children, friends and family. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life."
  • Shinoda noted that Bennington was very emotional when the band performed "One More Light" in Cornell's honor on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,86,87,88 and Bennington could not finish singing the song during rehearsal due to this.89 The band was due to record a live performance of their single "Heavy" on the show, but Bennington decided instead to play "One More Light" after hearing the news about Cornell's death.89
May 26th, 2017
July 14th, 2017

July 20th, 2017

  • Chester Bennington dies at his house // his death is declared a “suicide by belt” at 9:08pm at his Palos Verdes Estates home in California at age 41
    • Found or pronounced by LACFD Engine 2 note that it may be the time the engine FOUND him, not necessarily the exact TOD

July 29th, 2017

  • Bennington's funeral was held on July 29 at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes. In addition to his family members and close friends, many musicians who toured or played with Linkin Park also attended. The service also included a full stage for musical tributes.95

2017 – 2024

  • Following Bennington's death, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst said that Bennington "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... As real and transparent as our conversations would be, he was always the one projecting light on the shadows." 107
  • Several publications have commented on the musical legacy Bennington left behind.113,114 While describing the success of Bennington and Linkin Park, AllMusic's Andrew Leahey said, "Although rooted in alternative metal, Linkin Park became one of the most successful acts of the 2000s by welcoming elements of hip-hop, modern rock, and atmospheric electronica into their music ...focusing as much on the vocal interplay between singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda." 115 Writing for Billboard, Dan Weiss stated that Bennington "turned nu-metal universal," as he was "clearly an important conduit for his far-ranging audience." 7
  • Fred Durst stated that if it were not for Bennington's voice and his words, nu metal "would never have reached the masses and affected so many lives." 107
  • The New York Times' Jon Caramanica commented that Bennington's ability to "pair serrated rawness with sleek melody" separated him from other contemporary singers, and also from the artists he was influenced by. Caramanica noted, "He was an emo sympathizer in a time when heavy metal was still setting the agenda for mainstream hard rock, and a hip-hop enthusiast who found ways to make hip-hop-informed music that benefited from his very un-hip-hop skill set." As Bennington acquired influences from industrial and hardcore punk acts, the journalist believed this was the factor that made Linkin Park survive the "rise and precipitous fall of the rap-rock era", calling the musician "a rock music polymath." 116 Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times argued, "Perhaps more than Linkin Park's influential sound, Bennington's real artistic legacy will be the message he put across – the reassurance he offered from the dark." 117
  • BBC's Steve Holden called Bennington the "voice of a generation", saying his voice was arguably Linkin Park's greatest asset. 118 Jonathan McAloon of The Daily Telegraph commented, "Bennington's death will have an impact on many millennials because his voice was the sound of their millennium." 119 While talking about Linkin Park's popularity, Corey Apar, of AllMusic, commented, "Bennington's oft-tortured vocals became one of the most distinctive in the alternative rock scene." 120 Writing for the Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas noted, "Bennington's decision to sing clearly and openly was, therefore, more radical than he is given credit for, and indeed more socially valuable." The journalist continued to discuss Bennington's impact, commenting, “His cleanly articulated tales of emotional struggle gave millions the sense that someone understood them, and the huge sound of his band around him magnified that sense, moving listeners from the psychic space of their bedrooms into an arena of thousands of people who shared their pain.” 121
  • James Hingle echoed this sentiment, writing for Kerrang!, "Bennington was one of the most honest vocalists out there when it came to his mental health." 122 In the same topic, William Goodman from Billboard said Bennington and fellow musicians Chris Cornell and Scott Weiland "helped define a generation of the hard rock sound, who were tied together artistically and personally." 6
  • The Straits Times' music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi stated Bennington was an inspiration to many artists in the Singapore music scene. 123 Calum Slingerland, editor of the Canadian periodical Exclaim!, expressed, "[H]is influence has been felt in the worlds of rock, metal, rap, and beyond." 124
  • After Bennington's death, his widow Talinda Bennington launched a campaign called 320 Changes Direction in honor of her husband to help break the stigma surrounding mental illness.125
August 27th, 2017: MTV awards ceremony tribute
October 12th, 2017
October 27th, 2017
  • They performed a tribute show to Chester on October 27, 2017, performing a set featuring tracks from throughout the band's career with guests from throughout the music industry filling in for Chester's parts.
2019
  • Some collaborations with Chester were either released or came to light posthumously. Lamb Of God's Mark Morton worked with Chester on his debut solo album in April 2017, with the record being released in 2019 along with the single 'Cross Off' featuring Chester.
2020
July 2020
2023
  • A demo of Slash's 'Doctor Alibi,' entitled 'Crazy,' was played on Chris Flores' interview on Episode 428 of the Guns N' Roses-themed podcast Appetite For Distortion in 2023, with apparently no plans to release it in the future. Additionally, a live version of the song 'Waiting For Tomorrow' by Martin Garrix featuring Mike Shinoda reveals that Chester was originally planned to feature in the song as well.
  • The band instead released 20th-anniversary reissue of Meteora in 2023 111
2024
  • The band released a greatest hits compilation in early 2024 entitled Papercuts, wrapping up the Chester-era of the band with their most popular songs as well as the reveal of One More Light-era track 'Friendly Fire' and the release of 'QWERTY' as a single.
  • CONTROVERSIAL: Linkin Park officially revealed Emily Armstrong as their new vocalist in the place of Chester in September 2024.
  • During an interview with Zane Lowe in 2024, Bennington's successor in Linkin Park, Emily Armstrong, called the band's debut album Hybrid Theory her favorite album and specifically cited Bennington's performance in the song "One Step Closer" as her inspiration to be a singer, commenting, "That was the moment I was like, 'I want to sing and scream', you know? 'One Step Closer', I was like, 'I could do that'. At the time I wasn't even a good singer. I was a guitar player in a band, you know? . . . And obviously, on the side of the feelings and the emotions of it, like, I would love to do him proud."130
February 23rd, 2024
September 5th, 2024
  • On September 5, 2024, Linkin Park announced they would reunite after a seven-year hiatus to release a new album, From Zero
November 15th, 2024
  • Linkin Park released their new album, From Zero. It was supported by a six-date international tour. The band also introduced two new members, new co-lead vocalist Emily Armstrong (succeeding Bennington) and new drummer Colin Brittain (in place of Rob Bourdon, who had left the band during the hiatus and declined to return).112

His singing and screaming were a beacon of hope and healing for his millions of fans struggling with mental health issues as he did himself, inspiring many musicians and helping countless others through their own difficulties.

Sean Dowdell And His Friends?

For further information, see Sean Dowdell And His Friends?

One of Chester's friends, Jason Abner, was a pretty good guitar player and was looking for someone who could sing, to which Chester said, "I can sing." So they both broke into the church behind a house, stole a microphone and started doing music together.8 They learnt every The Doors song they could play and when Chester started doing his first compositions, they were very influenced by them. He said, "We liked them as they were so poetic, spacey and deep. So it was something along those lines."2 This opened the door to some other young musicians that have been in bands and they invited Chester to audition in his first band, Sean Dowdell And His Friends? The second he opened his mouth to sing Pearl Jam's 'Alive,' everyone in the room was blown away by his immense potential and they immediately decided to recruit him.9

Once the band was put together, they wrote about 10 songs and learnt about 10 cover songs including 'I Wanna Be Sedated' by The Ramones, 'Would' by Alice In Chains and other songs by Stone Temple Pilots, Guns N Roses, and Pearl Jam.10

None of the members took the band very seriously, but soon they had a following and started producing marketing material such as t-shirts, flyers, stickers, and pictures of the band. They also recorded a self-titled cassette tape containing 3 of their original songs — their only songs ever recorded in studio. The photographer responsible for the demo tape cover was Sean's uncle Mike Walliser.11

For over a year and a half, they played 50-70 shows around the Phoenix area, some of them taking place at the Greenway High School, where Chester and bass player Jason Cekoric went to school.

Chester was constantly late to practice and it became a problem for everybody in the band after a while. When he got in trouble with drugs at school and his dad (a police officer at the time) grounded him for a long time, it also affected things with the band. Chester was reportedly kicked out after he had a fight with Rob Rogers. The band brought in an older singer named Jack Shoots with whom they played a few rehearsals and one show before Chester returned. However, the band had run its course by that time and it ultimately ended.10

Grey Daze

For further information, see Grey Daze.

Shortly after the split up of Sean Dowdell And His Friends?, Sean Dowdell met bassist Jonathan Krause through Sean's brother and decided to form a new band. They put up an ad on the Phoenix New Times to find a guitar player and vocalist, meeting guitarist named Steve Mitchell. They tried out a few different singers, but it didn't work out. After listening to the Sean Dowdell And His Friends recording, Steve suggested to try and ask Chester Bennington to come back and audition for this new band as well, so the band invited him and Chester joined the band right away.12

Linkin Park

The band decided that they wanted to make an impression with their new "teammates" at Warner Bros. Records and immediately put out a message to the entire staff saying they wanted to meet them. They set a date, and took over their conference room. They sat them down, exchanged pleasantries, and gave them some paperwork that outlined who the band were, what they intended to do, and how they thought their music, marketing, and fan club should be treated.

The band didn't realize how risky it was at the time, but luckily, label employees were enamored by their stunt, and decided to roll with them. The entire Warner staff was suddenly talking about the new band they just signed.14 Despite this, the band would soon start facing many problems within the label.

The next problem was their music. In the lyrics of Fort Minor's 'Get Me Gone,' which Mike describes as "a little glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes,"19 Mike claims someone suggested they should just be a rock band and he should quit rapping. Chester was the first to receive the news through Don Gilmore. Chester was told he was "the star" and that Linkin Park should be his band. Mike would be relegated to just being the keyboard player or, worse, jettisoned. The band positioned themselves against it. Then the label wanted to bring in another rapper, a reggae vocalist called Matt Lyons. After that, they told Mike to try and rap like Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. This led the band to cut off all communications with the label unless absolutely necessary.20

"At one point, one of the label reps came into the studio and was like 'I don't know, man. This doesn't sound right. This song was weird. This song doesn't sound right.' So our producer was like 'Hold on. Let me try something real quick.' He reaches over and turns a nob. Dude's like 'I don't know whatever you did, man. That's fucking perfect like this. So cool.' All he did was turn the volume up," said Chester.21

The band's image was also questioned by the label. When Mike submitted the original logo for Hybrid Theory to the record label, it was shot down by an A&R for appearing "too Asian."22 Someone brought an image consultant who suggested the band should have a gimmick, saying Joe should wear a lab coat and a cowboy hat and call himself "The Doctor".23

Although Phil Quartararo, who was president of Warner Bros. Records at that time, takes credit for personally directing and overseeing the signing, recording and marketing of the band,24 Chester says the president of the company didn't like the band25 and didn't want to release their album. "We had support from a couple people within the record company but the top guy at the time was not a fan. He made that very clear that he was not a fan, made it very clear that he couldn't care less about the record and that we were literally the last item on the priority list beyond, below even probably getting the toilets cleaned. So it was pretty clear."26

Despite all of these hardships, Linkin Park eventually released their debut album Hybrid Theory in October 2000, achieving international fame and success. Spawning singles like 'One Step Closer' and 'Crawling' that showcased the power of Bennington's voice, the band and its members went on a world tour in support of their debut, Chester's voice becoming an iconic staple of early 2000's rock and metal music. The band would go on to record and release multiple number one records across multiple genres, selling out arenas around the world in support of each. ⬅️ added the strikethrough text to the timeline above

Dead By Sunrise

For further information, see Dead By Sunrise.

Julien-K performed an eight song set, with Chester joining for 'Technical Difficulties,' which he also lends his voice to on the studio version. After the Julien-K set, the band stayed on stage and performed three Dead By Sunrise songs. This was the first official Dead By Sunrise performance and the first official use of its new name after the switch from Snow White Tan. 'Walking In Circles,' 'Morning After,' and 'My Suffering' were all debuted in demo forms. This would be the third time Chester performed 'Morning After' with a different band, following its 2001 Linkin Park solo acoustic performance in Berlin and the Bucket Of Weenies performances of the song in 2005-2006.

Bucket of Weenies

For further information, see Bucket of Weenies.
The band performed covers from The Cure's 'Boys Don't Cry' to '20 Eyes" by The Misfits (which later was recorded by Dead By Sunrise), as well as original songs - 'The Morning After' by Chester, and 'Dark Lover' and 'Beer N' A Cigarette' by Mike Brown.

Stone Temple Pilots

Further information: Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots released a version of their song 'Wonderful' from their album Shangri-La Dee Da featuring Chester in May 2002 for The Family Values Tour 2001 live album. Originally thought to have been recorded live on the tour, it was later revealed that Chester's parts were actually recorded after the tour, with the instrumental being recorded live.30 Chester said 'Wonderful' is his favorite song off Shangri-La Dee Da31and, overall, one of his favorite Stone Temple Pilots songs.32

Music Production

Chester acted as an executive producer for Julien-K‘s debut album Death To Analog, featuring in the music video for their song 'Kick The Bass.'

Solo Ventures

Chester made a number of live appearances on top of his in-studio appearances throughout his career, guesting during sets of bands like (hed) p.e. (singing 'Bartender'), Disturbed (performing Pantera's 'Walk'), Chris Cornell (performing Temple Of The Dog's 'Hunger Strike'), and more. Chester rarely played any full sets by himself, with the exception of the 2012 Stars Of The Season Gala, where he performed covers of The Beatles, David Bowie, Oasis, The Cure, Bob Dylan, and The Who with some of his friends as a backing band. Chester made a number of appearances with supergroup Camp Freddy as well, the last time bringing Mike Shinoda along to perform covers of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way,' Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage,' and Linkin Park's 'One Step Closer.'

Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various points in his career.

Children 6[1|1]
Musical career
Genres - Alternative metal
- nu metal
- hard rock
- alternative rock
- electronic rock
- pop rock
- grunge
Signature

On July 20, 2017, he was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California. The coroner concluded that his death was a result of suicide by hanging. Hit Parader magazine placed Bennington at number 46 on their list of the "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time." 5 Bennington has been ranked by several publications as one of the greatest rock vocalists of his generation.6 Writing for Billboard, Dan Weiss stated that Bennington "turned nu-metal universal".7

Career

Early acts


Bennington performing in 1994

Linkin Park


Bennington performing with Linkin Park at the 2009 Sonisphere Festival

Linkin Park's second album, Meteora (2003), reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, 23

Linkin Park has sold more than 70 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide.[26|26] In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium.[27|27] Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.[28|28] In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1.[29|29]

Dead by Sunrise

Further information: Dead by Sunrise


Bennington performing with Dead by Sunrise in 2009

Dead By Sunrise made their live debut in May 2008, performing at the 13th anniversary party for Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona.32

The band released their lone album, Out of Ashes, on October 13, 2009.[33|33]

Other works

In 2005, Bennington appeared on "Walking Dead," the lead single from turntablist Z-Trip's debut album Shifting Gears. Bennington also made a surprise guest appearance during Z-Trip's performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2005.37 Bennington re-recorded the Mötley Crüe song "Home Sweet Home" as a duet with the band as a charity single for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005.38 
Chester also joined Alice in Chains and performed the song "Man in the Box" at KROQ's Inland Invasion Festival in 2006.39,40

In 2007, he was featured on Young Buck's song "Slow Ya Roll" from his Buck The World album.[42|42]Bennington recorded a track for Slash's 2010 eponymous debut solo album entitled "Crazy" but it was blocked from release due to his commitments to Linkin Park with Slash stating that the band "wasn't having it". Slash rerecorded it with Lemmy on vocals and the retitled "Doctor Alibi" was added instead. In May 2021, a snippet of the original Bennington track was finally released.[43|43]

Musical style and influences

Bennington was described as being a "warm tenor",44 with his voice showing "tremendous durability" for the entirety of his career.45 Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone wrote, "Bennington's voice embodied the anguish and wide-ranging emotions of the lyrics, from capturing life's vulnerable moments to the fury and catharsis found in his belted screams, which he would often move between at the turn of a dime."44,46

Bennington stated that he was influenced by Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Arcade Fire, Circle Jerks, Descendents, Deftones, Jane's Addiction, Metallica, Fugazi, Refused, Ministry, Minor Threat, Misfits, the Naked and Famous, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Skinny Puppy, Soundgarden, and A Tribe Called Quest.47,48 Bennington also considered himself as "a huge Madonna fan", crediting her for making him grow up wanting to be a musician.49

Personal life

Family and views

Bennington was an avid sports fan and supported NBA team Phoenix Suns,59 NFL's Arizona Cardinals, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, NHL's Arizona Coyotes,60 and English football team Ipswich Town.61

Death

Wikinews has related news:


Bennington performing on July 4, 2017, sixteen days before his death

Remembrances and tributes

Some of his former bandmates from Dead By Sunrise and Grey Daze united to perform a tribute for Bennington during a concert on September 2 in Las Vegas.99 Linkin Park also hosted a public tribute for Bennington in Los Angeles on October 27, titled Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington. The event featured the band's first performance following his death, along with performances from Blink-182, members of System of a Down, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, Bring Me the Horizon, Sum 41, Yellowcard, and the singer Kiiara, among others.100,101,102

Rapper Jay-Z paid tribute to Bennington on several occasions by performing "Numb/Encore" live. Jay-Z and Bennington (with Linkin Park) collaborated on the song. Coldplay's Chris Martin paid tribute to Bennington during the band's North American tour concert at MetLife Stadium, playing an acoustic version of "Crawling" on piano.103 Several other artists, including Muse, Ryan Key(lead vocalist and guitarist of Yellowcard), Machine Gun Kelly, Imagine Dragons, Billy Talent and Godsmack, also either covered Linkin Park songs (usually "Crawling") or played their own songs during concerts as tribute to Bennington in the days and months following his death. During the 60th Annual Grammy Awards's annual in memoriam tribute, rapper Logic performed the song "1-800-273-8255" live alongside Alessia Cara and Khalid as a tribute to both Cornell and Bennington. The song's title was, at the time, the phone number of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.104

Producer Markus Schulz made a trance remix of the Linkin Park song "In the End" as tribute to Bennington after his death, which he debuted at Tomorrowland.105

Bennington and other late musicians were honored in the music video for "Hold on to Memories" by Disturbed.106

Legacy

At the time of his death, Bennington just finished a collaboration with Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton for Morton's solo album Anesthetic entitled "Cross Off"; Morton later said in interviews that Bennington was "very, very excited about the idea of screaming and doing something heavier than what he's been doing lately." 128 The music video for "Cross Off" later featured an empty microphone as a tribute to Bennington. 129

In 2025, Stephen Andrew Galiher of Vice included him in his list of "4 Metal Vocalists Who Mastered Both Screaming and Singing." 131

Important People Surrounding Chester Bennington‘s life

Chester Bennington:

According to the phone interview she had with Investigator Cholakians on 7/20/2017:

  • Chester had a history of depression, suicidal ideations, and past suicide attempts. He would have suicidal ideations after consuming alcohol (which DID show up in his post-mortem blood lab results).
  • see 2006 episode mentioned on the main timeline
  • Chester's primary medical doctor was Dr. William Lang. Chester had been prescribed antidepressants in the past but hadn’t used them in over a year. He also used Ambien (a.k.a. the “zolpidem” that the autopsy tech requested be added to the post-mortem blood/urine labs)occasionally.
  • Chester was currently in an outpatient treatment program and was supposed to be sober. Talinda stated the journal found on the nightstand was one Chester maintained for his outpatient treatment program.
  • Talinda also stated that she did not find a suicide note in his phone.
  • Investigator Cholakians also asked Talinda about the fingernail pieces (I heard on a podcast that some of his own fingernail pieces were found in his EYE?!) ⬅️ corroborate this and she stated that he often does that when anxious. does “what”? how does this even happen??
Talinda Bennington
Chester Bennington’s Housekeeper (name unknown)

this is what she told Investigator Cholakians on the scene:

  • She had known and was employed by Chester for approximately 2 years
  • She routinely came to the residence daily and let herself in with a key

Timeline of Events

Timeline of Events Surrounding Chester Bennington‘s Death

Unknown/Unspecified Time:
  • Chester flew home from their family cabin in Arizona on the night of 7/19/2017 because he had a work event scheduled for 7/20/2017 (this work event is corroborated by his housekeeper’s interview with police).
  • Talinda last communicated with Chester over text on the night of 7/19/2017 after his plane landed in Los Angeles.
  • Chester's housekeeper arrives at his house (he is en route from his family vacation in Arizona)
Around 10:30pm:
  • Chester Bennington returns home from a family vacation in Arizona (his wife, Talinda, stayed in Arizona) while his housekeeper is in the bathroom
    • She did NOT see him enter the house and saw him when he was already upstairs after he had put his bags away
Around 10:35pm:
  • Chester's housekeeper leaves his house – this is the LAST TIME Chester was seen alive (by his housekeeper) and nothing out of the ordinary was reported about his behavior.
  • As she was leaving, Chester tells her that he would be leaving for work early the next morning, around 4:30am
Around 4:30am
  • the time Chester told his housekeeper he was supposed to be leaving for work
    • this work event is also corroborated by his wife, Talinda
Around 8:30am:
  • Chester's housekeeper returns to his house & let herself in with her key. She didn’t hear anything and assumed he had already left.
Around 8:45am:
  • An Uber pulls into the driveway
  • This prompts Chester's housekeeper to go upstairs to check if he was there. She knocks on his bedroom door but he doesn’t answer, so she let herself into his unlocked room.
Around 8:50am:
  • His housekeeper discovers Chester unresponsive & hanging with a ligature around his neck in his bedroom. She did not move him or touch/move any items in the room.
  • she dials 911 & Los Angeles Fire Department Engine 2 responded
9:08am:
  • Captain Avedissian pronounced Chester's death on scene without medical intervention
    • According to Alex: Paramedics won’t medically intervene if someone is clearly dead and has been for a long time. Alex will look at the eyes to see if they’re fixed/cloudy, look for lividity (blood pooling), if they’re cold to the touch, and check for rigor mortis. If they’ve been dead for a while and there’s no chance at bringing them back, paramedics can sometimes pronounce TOD (I say “sometimes” because it depends on the county/EMS service, sometimes there’s a coroner/medical examiner available and sometimes not – nothing particularly unusual about that element of the story IMO)
  • Paramedics removed a prescription bottle from the nightstand and placed it on a dresser
  • Chester's wife, Talinda Bennington was notified by an officer (officer’s name redacted) and Officer Belda also spoke with her from the scene
9:15am:
10:50am:

11:25am
11:28am
  • Livor mortis was observed & was consistent with the found position, on the distal arms and legs, and blanched with hard fingertip pressure (as noted by Investigator Cholakians
12:05pm:
4:46pm:

Summary of Chester’s Autopsy Report

Katie’s To Do:
Katie’s Comments:

This is NOT a complete overview of Chester Bennington‘s autopsy report (which you can view using the link below). I only pulled the info that seems relevant for our story, but you’re more than welcome to view the comprehensive report if you’d like. Any information omitted below honestly seemed way too granular and irrelevant. Also, if anything got too “medical” sounding, I added a tl;dr section based on my conversations with my paramedic husband 😂

Autopsy Files: Chester Bennington’s autopsy report

Anatomical Summary:

tl;dr

There’s evidence he was found hanging from a belt that pulled the hardest behind his right ear. And an alleged history of suicidal ideation. will need to corroborate this

  1. Hanging
    a) belt ligature on neck
    b) “rare conjunctival petechia” - Alex (critical care paramedic) says it sounds like “popped blood vessels in his eyes”
    c) ligature mark on neck
    d) hemorrhage of left sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle - basically hemorrhaging on the left side of his neck (the paired muscle responsible for various head & neck movements that also assists in breathing
  2. History of suicidal ideation - seems to be true so far

External Examination:

Description of the state of the body
tl;dr

While there ARE abrasions on the front of his neck, he does NOT have wrist scars so at least his “suicidal ideation” doesn’t appear to be self-harm related. Nobody knocked his teeth out, either.

Evidence of therapeutic intervention
tl;dr

a.k.a. He wasn’t intubated, no signs of EKG pads being used, no IV lines, no catheter, etc, etc

Evidence of external traumatic injury
Clothing
Initial incision
Neck
Chest/Abdominal Cavity

Systemic and Organ Review:

Musculoskeletal system
Cardiovascular system
Gastrointestinal system
tl;dr

what was the fluid (likely) in his stomach?? Check his IG and whatnot
didn’t seem to do “overkill” by overdosing on pills & if he WAS medicated for his alleged suicidal ideation/mental health, also probably didn’t take his medication that day

Urinary system
tl;dr

  • unsure if his urine is consistent with whatever he was doing the night he died
  • the post-mortem urine dipstick method essentially tests urine for ”biochemical and toxicological markers like glucose, ketones, blood, and pH. It helps quickly detect conditions like ketoacidosis or hyperglycemia, aiding in cause-of-death determination.”
    • Alex says that ”DKA” or “diabetic ketoacidosis” (same thing as hyperglycemia essentially) is essentially a diabetic coma, so doesn’t seem relevant for our purposes but just fyi

Toxicology
tl;dr

  • important to note that the person conducting the autopsy report (Christopher Rogers) did NOT check off “homicide” or “drugs of abuse” when requesting their lab screens
  • zolpidem = ambien

Laboratory Analysis Summary Report
tl;dr

Positives:

  • blood alcohol levels were 0.054 g%
    • is this high?

Negatives:

  • NO: Zolpidem (a.k.a. “Ambien”) detected (as per the autopsy tech’s request)
  • NO: Barbituates, Cocaine, Fentanyl, Opiates (such as Codeine, Morphine, Hydrocodone, or Hydromorphone), Phencyclidine, Amphetamines, Methamphetamines he only popped a “presumptive positive” for the ELISA-Immunoassay Methamphetamine/MDMA result, but tested negative for the Sympath. Amines-GC/MS lab, MDA or MDMA detected in Chester Bennington‘s BLOOD labs
    • look more into the MDMA/Meth thing
  • NO: Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, MDA or MDMA detected in Chester Bennington‘s URINE labs
Specimen Service Drug Result
Blood, Femoral Alcohol-GC/FID-HS Ethanol 0.054 g%
Blood, Heart Alcohol-GC/FID-HS Ethanol 0.053 g%
Blood, Heart ELISA-Immunoassay Meth & MDMA “Presumptive Positive”
Vitreous Alcohol-GC/FID-HS Ethanol 0.059 g%
Special Procedures
Photography
Radiology

Witnesses

tl;dr

  • is this common???

Opinion

tl;dr

  • there was more space (about half a page) to add additional notes, but this is all that’s written
  • The medical examiner’s signature is redacted
    • is that common?

Diagrams/Attachments

tl;dr

Diagram 20 - Full Body

  • only notable things are the rare conjunctival petechia (“bloodshot eyes”) and protruding tongue

Diagram 22 - Head & Neck

  • 14 inch wide black leather belt on neck “Boss 85-32”
    • Investigator Cholakians describes this as a “black leather belt with a metal buckle engraved with “Hugo Boss”
  • 2 inch abrasion without vital reaction across the front of his neck
  • The point of suspension was behind his right ear

Chester Bennington Autopsy Diagram 20.jpeg
Chester Bennington Autopsy Diagram 22.jpeg

Medical Report

Case Report

tl;dr

  • He was last known alive the night of 7/19/2017 before he was found dead on 7/20/2017
  • Housekeeper found him
  • added my thoughts on TOD to the timeline of Chester Bennington‘s death

Chris Cornell

Pulled on 2-25-26
Chris Cornell (1964-2017) was a modern innovator who transcends genre. He was the chief architect of the 90s-grunge movement and remains one of the best voices of all time. Achieving multi-platinum success with three legendary bands – selling over 30 million records worldwide – he forged his own unique identity over three decades as a Grammy® Award-winning, Golden Globe nominated singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer and lyricist.

His career began with Seattle trailblazers Soundgarden, whose wild soundscapes combined visceral punk attitude with artistic depth. Powerfully original, they were the first of their generation of Seattle bands to sign to a major label in 1989 and their work continued to evolve over the course of seven groundbreaking albums. Soundgarden made a historic return to the live stage in 2010 and have since toured the world, releasing the all-new studio album, KING ANIMAL, to widespread acclaim.

Cornell continually redefined his sound and vision. In 1990, side project Temple of the Dog saw him experiment with a more soulful style alongside the future members of Pearl Jam. Later in the decade, his critically acclaimed solo album EUPHORIA MORNING combined lush melody and instrumentation with lyrics which spoke of alienation and despair. And as the millennium turned, he joined with three other musical pioneers from Rage Against the Machine to create supergroup Audioslave. The multi-platinum band released three albums and toured stadiums around the world, becoming the first American rock group to perform a massive free concert in Castro’s Cuba. Cornell has also collaborated with many different artists, most recently the Zac Brown Band on their single “Heavy Is The Head”, which peaked at #1 on rock radio in the US. He also recorded a song for Johnny Cash Forever Words: The Music to be released in 2018.

Cornell‘s solo acoustic ‘Songbook’ tour attracted sellout crowds and critical acclaim worldwide. Jim Farber of the New York Daily News observed, “sometimes you don’t recognize the full power of a voice until you strip everything away from it.” The tour’s reinterpretations of classic Cornell songs are featured on his 2011 live album of the same name.

HIGHER TRUTH, his fifth solo album, reflects an expressive intimacy similar to that of SONGBOOK, while also displaying his evolution and growth as a master craftsman songwriter. Following the album’s release Cornell embarked on a critically acclaimed worldwide sold out tour which was followed by a tour with Temple of the Dog, marking the first time the band has toured since they released their storied and groundbreaking self-titled album over 25 years ago. All dates sold out immediately.

Cornell‘s soundtrack work spanned both big budget and independent cinema. He was the first male American artist to write and perform the theme song for a James Bond movie (“You Know My Name” for Casino Royale). He wrote the end title song “Live to Rise” for The Avengers, the third highest grossing film of all time. He duetted with Joy Williams on his song “Misery Chain” which appeared on the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave and his song “The Keeper” from Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2012.

In 2017, he released the title song he wrote and recorded for the Terry George feature film The Promise of which he donated all of his proceeds to the International Rescue Committee. The I.R.C. responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. In March, Cornell and his family toured refugee camps in Greece where he vowed to continue to use his music to support causes that help foster change.

Cornell and his wife founded The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to raise funds and partner with charitable organizations to mobilize support for the world’s most vulnerable children facing issues including education, homelessness, poverty, abuse and neglect. In addition to the aforementioned program with the I.R.C., Chris and Vicky have worked with many different organizations through the years including Stuart House, an internationally recognized, model program created by The Rape Foundation and others to serve the special needs of sexually abused children and their families. They have also supported the Fulfilment Fund which empowers youth through education via the Vicky and Chris Cornell Scholarship Fund; the Rock4EB! to benefit the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation; MusiCares which provides support and community services to musicians in need of medical, personal & financial assistance as well as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Los Angeles’ Five Acres, and Seattle’s YouthCare. In 2009 Chris co-wrote a song, “I Promise It’s Not Goodbye,” with Rory de la Rosa, a fan dying of brain cancer. The words were written by Rory for his six-year old daughter, who passed before him, to help raise funds to support his family who were all afflicted by terminal brain stem cancer. Chris went on to mentor his 13-year old son, Zavier who died of the same cancer in March of 2017 at the age of 21.

Since Cornell‘s passing, Vicky Cornell has vowed to keep the promise and build on Chris’ commitment to raise awareness and assist at risk children around the world. She recently returned to the refugee camps in Greece with the I.R.C. where she is exploring ways in which the foundation can support education programs for refugee children forced to flee war, and missing out on critical time in their education. Additionally, the foundation donated a $100,000 for a music therapy program at Childhaven, a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides intensive therapeutic mental health and developmental services for children and their families with the belief that early intervention, education, and targeted professional services help children heal and families thrive.

Important People

Chris Cornell

Vicky Cornell

Martin Kirsten

Investigator Charles Weaver

Timeline of Events

11:30pm
Around 11:34pm
11:35pm
Hour before his death this section may need to be moved up once the timeline is more complete
12:15am
12:30am
12:56am
12:58am (time confirmed in Communications Event Report)
12:59am (time confirmed in Communications Event Report)
1:00am
1:01am (time confirmed in Communications Event Report)
1:05am (time confirmed in Communications Event Report)
1:30am
1:40am
2:30am
Investigator Weaver’s homicide unit description of the scene:

Original Run Info: “suicide attempt”
Original Run Synopsis: Casino 1 and Casino 70 received dispatched police run to the MGM hotel room 1136 regarding a suicide attempt. Upon arrival, officers observed Medic 41 conducting life-saving protocols on an unknown white male. Medics subsequently terminated protocols and pronounced subject “Dead on Scene” (D.O.S.) Officers spoke to Martin Kirsten who ID’d the decedent as Christopher John Cornell

  • they did NOT recover Chris Cornell‘s cell phone at the scene wouldn’t he have JUST been holding it if he was talking to his wife/bodyguard?!
  • There was NO SUICIDE NOTE found at the scene
  • Clothing: torn gray t-shirt, black underwear shorts, a yellow metal band was present on the left ring finger (this was removed and turned over to Martin Kirsten at the scene – along with the metal chain & pendant that were on the nightstand – for safekeeping after being photographed)
  • Wounds: Ligature mark on neck, blood spatter on face
  • Blood: Blood stains are present on the floor next to and beneath Chris Cornell‘s head
  • First impressions by the investigator: Chris Cornell is cool to the touch and there is slight rigidity present in the jaw, but the remainder of his body is limp. There is lividity that blanches to pressure on the front of his body. The skin of the hands appear blueish and dusky. A small shallow defect is present to the skin at the base of the right thumb. There is a furrowed ligature mark around his neck. No other defects or trauma were observed.
  • Police impressions: Medical Examiner forensic examination will determine the cause of death
  • Next of kin impression: Next of kin were not present at the scene. (whoever wrote this report) spoke with Investigator Weaver & Martin Kirsten
  • Chris was found lying on his back on the flor of the suite’s bedroom area having been moved there to facilitate resuscitation efforts prior to the homicide investigation team’s arrival on scene
  • Chris’ gray t-shirt is raised above his upper chest area
  • He has an endotracheal tube present as well as monitoring & defibrillation patches
  • He has a catheter present on his right lower leg
  • There were apparent attempts to establish IV access
  • According to the Case Registration Summary, “EMS attempted resuscitation efforts for approximately one hour to no avail.”
Observations of the scene:
  • Forced entry is apparent: Upon entry, on the brown carpeted floor is a broken locking latch bolt that has been forcefully detached.
    Chris Cornell’s hotel room door & broken latch.png
  • The room is an open area. The entire suite appears to be well-kept. The room is curved and leads to a seating area with glass dining table and 4 large leather chairs, a flat screen TV, cocktail table, and burgundy couch. There is a door that leads to the bedroom area.
    General layout of Chris Cornell’s hotel room.jpeg
  • Upon entry into the bedroom area, you immediately observe Chris Cornell on his back, wearing a torn gray t-shirt and black underwear shorts. His face is covered with blood spatter, he has an intubation tube in his mouth and secured with medical tape. Chris has a well-defined ligature mark present on the neck/throat area. He also has defibrillation patches on his torso and an IV tube inserted and taped to his right knee.
  • His body is found on the floor at the foot of a king sized bed and at the entry of the doorway to the bathroom.
    • the bed appears to have been slept in at some point
    • a similar resistance band is lying on the bed
    • also on the bed are a pair of eyeglasses and what appears to be a TV remote
  • On the nightstand next to the bed, there’s a partially full water bottle, a glass, a pack of chewing gum, and a white metal pendant on a white metal chain
  • There is a guitar in a chair next to the bed
  • Inside of the bathroom there is a burgundy rubber resistance exercise band with a metal carabiner on one end and a black handle on the other.
    Bed & chair area of Chris Cornell’s hotel room.jpeg
  • The door to the bathroom is opened. On the floor of the bathroom is a large drag mark of blood with a red rubber resistance band with black handles laying across the gathered blood. One end of the resistance band is fashioned with a loop. There’s blood spatter on the side of the bathtub.
  • There is a small amount of blood spatter present on the outer surface of the bathroom just above the floor
    Chris Cornell’s hotel bathroom room, blood & noose.jpeg
  • Further investigation indicated a small notch in the top of the bathroom door. This notch appears to be indicative as to where the resistance band was positioned when used as a tool for hanging.
    The notch in the bathroom door caused from the “noose” in Chris Cornell’s death.jpeg
  • although Chris Cornell was prescribed Omeprazole & Prednisone, there were no other medications, illicit substances, alcohol, or tobacco products observed by the homicide dept. at the scene
2:41am (time confirmed in Communications Event Report)
3:00am
3:30am
3:53am
4:20am – 4:27am: Reporting officer’s narrative of events

This time refers to WHEN the officer wrote this statement for the death investigation report
Reporting Officers:

4:49am

Summary of Chris’ Autopsy (Post-Mortem) Report

Autopsy Files: Chris Cornell’s autopsy report

Summary & Opinion:

It is my opinion that death was caused by hanging.

Per the investigative report and the police report, Chris Cornell was found partially suspended by a resistance exercise band in his hotel room by his security guard on May 18th, 2017. The security guard had to kick in Chris Cornell‘s locked hotel room door and locked bedroom door. The security guard found Cornell on the bathroom floor with a resistance exercise band around his neck which was looped around itself using the resistance exercise band handle. Th opposite end of the resistance exercise band was attached to a metal clip device, which was placed over the top of the bathroom door. The security guard released the resistance exercise band from the top of the door, loosened the end of the resistance exercise band around the decedent's neck, and began resuscitative efforts. Despite resuscitation, the decedent was pronounced dead at the scene on May 18, 2017.

These drugs did not contribute to the cause of death.

Based on the circumstances surrounding this death and the autopsy findings, the manner of death is suicide.

Cause of Death: HANGING
Other Significant Conditions: (BLANK)
Manner of Death: Suicide

Narrative Summary

External Examination:
Evidence of treatment/therapeutic intervention
tl;dr

  • there appears to be MANY attempts to save his life (he was intubated, defib pads on his chest, looks like multiple attempts to get an IV line in his left arm, broken ribs likely from CPR, etc)

Evidence of external traumatic injury
EVIDENCE OF INJURY - HANGING: (Duh! We knew this lol)
tl;dr

  • EXAMPLE image of what his head probably looked like (ignore the nail scratches, this is just a random image I found on google!!):
    EXAMPLE image of what Chris Cornell probably looked like post-mortem.jpg
  • basically, his head and neck above the strangulation line were pretty swollen due to blood being partially trapped
    • Description from Google: In many cases, especially incomplete hangings where the body's full weight is not applied, the veins are compressed while the arteries remain partially open. This allows blood to continue entering the head but prevents it from draining, leading to a rapid increase in intracranial pressure and visible swelling.

Internal examination

Except for the previously described injuries, the internal systems were as follows:

tl;dr

  • no brain tumors, tissue damage, or brain bleeding
  • however, there WAS evidence that blood was having difficulty draining out of the brain and returning to the heart
Neck:
  • he had no “abnormalities” in his hyoid bone, thyroid cartilage, trachea, or spinal cord
    • fractures to the thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone, particularly in victims over 30 y/o, are common – fractures are reported in up to 50-70% of cases
Cardiovascular system:
  • no blood clots
  • veins in lungs were congested
Respiratory system:
  • swollen windpipe
  • no evidence of pulmonary embolisms
Digestive system:
  • his tongue was swollen, particularly in the back of his mouth
  • Stomach contents: approx. 10 mL of tan-brown fluid & NO pills
Musculoskeletal system:
  • all his muscles & skeleton were free from abnormalities (note: not necessarily free from INJURIES)

Post-Mortem Toxicology
tl;dr

this combo is giving “perfect storm” and seems highly likely it contributed to his death, although that apparently was NOT the case and he indeed only died of hanging

Tested positive for…

FOIA Report: Cause of Death

Conspiracies, Controversies, and Disputes

The Conspiracy Timeline

2011

August 19th, 2011
  • the promo video for “The Silent Children” documentary is released on YouTube

2017

January 9th, 2017
  • Official documents from the California Secretary of State show that the production company responsible for the documentary, JellyBeane Productions LLC, was dissolved on January 9, 2017 (here).
May 18th, 2017
  • Chris Cornell passed away on May 18, 2017 in Detroit, meaning the project was abandoned and the production company was disbanded before his death, not after, as the post claims.
  • Avicii, Bennington, Cornell and Bourdain all took their own lives. The autopsy report for Cornell (here), and for Bennington, who died July 20, 2017 in California (here), were made public.
July 20th, 2017
  • Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington, sadly died in 2017, leaving a large estate.
  • Chester Bennington left a Will, making it clear that his estate would be divided between his six children and his wife, Talinda Bennington.
  • Chester was married to his ex-wife, Samantha Olit from 1996 to 2005 and they had one son together. Samantha was unhappy that she had not received anything from Chester's estate and, as such, proceeded to make a claim against the estate. It was reported that she made a total claim of $502,500 (equating to £376,000).
  • The matter settled out of Court and it was reported that Samantha received 50% of all Chester's royalties.
  • It is important to note that the claim brought by Samantha was made in the American Courts.

How would this claim be dealt with by the English Courts?

Former spouse/civil partner

Under English law, as an ex-spouse, Samantha would have been able to make a claim for reasonable provision under Section 1(b) Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, provided that:

  1. She had not remarried or entered into a new civil partnership; and/o
  2. There was no bar to her making a claim under the Inheritance Act contained within the terms of her divorce.

2018

April 20th, 2018
  • Avicii passed away on April 20, 2018 in Oman. His family released a statement saying he struggled with life and “could not go on any longer” (here).
June 8th, 2018
  • The local prosecutor in France confirmed that Bourdain took his own life on June 8, 2018 (here). There is no evidence to suggest that the deaths, which all took place at different locations and different times, were related.

2020

August 7th, 2020
  • Facebook user John Corleone Scarlioli publishes THIS viral collage of Chester Bennington, Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cornell, and Avicii stating that they all “committed suicide while working on a documentary called ‘THE SILENT CHILDREN’ about widespread pedophilia/trafficking…”
  • One post reads: “These four men pictured below were working on a documentary called The Silent Children. The project, initially founded by LeRoi Moore (Dave Matthews Band) and his fiancée Lisa Beane was cancelled after Cornell's death. The documentary was about the child sex/human trafficking industry and would have exposed high profile people for terrible crimes against children. All four men were found hanging from door knobs in apparent suicides. It is more likely they were silenced”.
August 19th, 2020

The Silent Children

The Silent Children promo screenshot.png
Principal Consultant on the film: Paul Myhill

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