Chester Bennington

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Chester Bennington
Bennington performing in Houston, Texas.
Bennington performing in Houston, Texas.
Background information
Birth name Chester Charles Bennington
Born March 20, 1976 (1976-03-20) (age 33)
Origin Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Genre(s) Nu metal, alternative rock, rap rock, grunge (early)
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, keyboard
Years active 1993-present
Associated acts Grey Daze, Linkin Park, Dead by Sunrise, Z-Trip, Camp Freddy

Chester Charles Bennington (born March 20, 1976) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead vocalist in the rock band Linkin Park, and was previously associated with the band Grey Daze, among others. As of 2008 Bennington has released three studio albums with Linkin Park and is planning to release his debut album with Dead By Sunrise in 2009.

Bennington's first release with Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, was a commercial success, and he has released several major albums and singles since then. He has worked with Jay-Z, Jonathan Davis, Z-Trip, Young Buck, Slash, Julien-K, Busta Rhymes, Stone Temple Pilots and Aaron Lewis[citation needed]. In 2007, Bennington was placed at 46th on Hit Paraders list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".[1]


Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona.[2] He took interest in music at a young age, citing Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as early inspirations. Bennington's parents separated in the late 1980s. He later struggled with cocaine and methamphetamine addictions.[2] Bennington eventually overcame his drug addiction, and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews.[3] He worked at a Burger King restaurant before starting his career as a professional musician.[2]

Before joining Linkin Park, Bennington was a vocalist in Grey Daze, a post-grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona.[4] He left Grey Daze in 1998, but struggled to find another band to play in.[4] After nearly quitting his musical career altogether, Jeff Blue, then the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with the future members of Linkin Park.[4] Bennington quit his day job, and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called "Xero".[4] Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal.[4] After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.[4]

[edit] Linkin Park

Main article: Linkin Park
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On October 24, 2000 Linkin Park released their debut album through Warner Bros. Records. Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics to Hybrid Theory based on some early material.[5] Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as “everyday emotions you talk about and think about.”[6][7] Bennington later described the songwriting experience 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. ”

—Chester Bennington, Rolling Stone Magazine, 2002[5]

Hybrid Theory was released in the United States on October 24, 2000 following the debut of "One Step Closer" on the radio.[8] It entered the U.S. Billboard 200 charts at #16 in late 2000,[9] and was certified gold by the RIAA five weeks after its release.[10] In 2001, Hybrid Theory sold 4.8 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the year,[11][12] and it was estimated that the album continued selling 100, 000 copies per week in early 2002.[5] Throughout the following years, the album continued to sell at a fast pace and was certified diamond by the RIAA in 2005 for selling 10 million copies in the U.S.[13] It has sold 16 million copies worldwide as of 2007,[14] including over 10 million in the U.S. which makes it the band's best-selling album and the best-selling debut album of the 21st century.[15]

Bennington appears on the band's behalf at MTV Asia Aid

The follow up to Hybrid Theory would ultimately become Meteora. The band began to work on new material amidst their saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.[16] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing their new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.[17] Meteora featured a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.[18] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,[18] going to #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in Australia.[19]

Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.[20] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.[21] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from their previous nu metal sound.[22] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.[23] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.[24] Minutes to Midnight sold over 600,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.[25]

In an interview with Q101's Kevin Manno at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, Bennington stated Linkin Park will be returning to the studio sometime in November to begin recording for their next album, In May the band released New Divide for the new Transformers film and a music video in June, the song is likley to be a part of their new album, Bennington recently announced that the band are now working on their fourth studio album that will be released in early 2010.[26]

[edit] Health

Despite having prodigious success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had medical issues outside of the limelight. He suffered a severe bite from a recluse spider while touring with the OzzFest in 2001.[27] Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the album’s record sessions.[28] He fell ill during the summer of 2003, and eventually underwent surgery.[29] Bennington sustained a wrist injury in October 2007 while attempting to jump off a platform during a show in Melbourne, Australia. Despite the injury, he continued to perform the entire show with a broken wrist, before heading to the emergency room.[30]

[edit] Solo work

Chester Benninton joined Z-Trip in 2005 for the single "Walking Dead", released on Z-Trip's major label album Shifting Gears. "Walking Dead" was a Top Ten Single in the US. Bennington also made a surprise appearance during Z-Trip's performance at Coachella 2005.

Chester Bennington teamed up with original Orgy guitarists Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh, who perform together as Julien-K, for a solo project. Chester's band is called Dead By Sunrise, formerly known as Snow White Tan. Dead By Sunrise is said to release their debut album in 2009. According to Chester's message on Twitter the album is called "Out of Ashes". It will be released in September 2009.[31] "Both bands are the same. The one where Chester sings and writes is Dead By Sunrise, but when I sing, and Amir and I are the primary writers, it becomes Julien-K and it's more electro and much darker...Julien-K and Dead by Sunrise are basically a creative collective, we're sort of a Warhol-style factory in that sense[32]," explains Ryan Shuck. "Dead by Sunrise is Chester's Julien-K if that makes any sense."

He has also played minor roles in the movies Crank and Crank: High Voltage and sang for a couple of gigs with "Camp Freddy".[citation needed]

A tour with Eric Burdon is scheduled for late 2009.

[edit] Singles

[edit] Featured vocals

[edit] References

  1. ^ RoadRunnerRecords.com, Rob Halford, Robert Plant, Bon Scott, Ozzy Are Among 'Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists' - December 1, 2006, Retrieved on December 5, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Apar, Corey, Chester Bennington |Biography, mtv.com, Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  3. ^ Bradenton Herald, Bradenton: Mo' Money Mo' Problems (August 13, 2004), Linkin Park Association; retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rolling Stone Magazine, Linkin Park - Biography (March 14, 2002), The Linkin Park Times; retrieved on June 24, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Fricke, David. “Rap Metal Rulers”, Rolling Stone No. 891, March 14, 2002
  6. ^ BBC Radio 1, Evening Session Interview with Steve Lamacq, June 13, 2001
  7. ^ "BBC Session Interview". LP Times. http://lptimes.com/article/BBC_061301.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-19. 
  8. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "All Music review". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:hifqxqq0ldke. Retrieved on 2007-09-16. 
  9. ^ "2000 charts". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3039830&cdi=7650691&cid=11%2F11%2F2000. Retrieved on 2007-09-16. 
  10. ^ "Everybody loves a success story.". The LP Association. http://www.lpassociation.com/bios/band. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 
  11. ^ "MUSIC; New Ideas From the Top of the Charts". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E3DA133BF932A05750C0A9649C8B63. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. 
  12. ^ "Hybrid Theory tops best-sellers of 2001". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451664/20020104/linkin_park.jhtml. Retrieved on 2007-09-16. 
  13. ^ "Gold and Platinum: Diamond Certified Albums". RIAA. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 
  14. ^ "Hybrid Theory total sales". Live Earth. http://www.liveearth.org/?p=45. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 
  15. ^ "Sputnikmusic review". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=173. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 
  16. ^ Warner Bros. Records, "The Making of Meteora" (2003) [DVD], Released on March 25, 2003.
  17. ^ MTV.com, Linkin Park Get Their Tempers Under Control To Complete New LP Retrieved on June 10, 2006
  18. ^ a b AskMen.com, Linkin Park – Biography Retrieved on March 20, 2007
  19. ^ "Linkin Park - band history and biography". http://www.popstarsplus.com/music_linkinpark_history.htm. Retrieved on December 23 2007. 
  20. ^ MTV.com, Mike Shinoda Says 'No New Linkin Park Album In 2006 After All', Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  21. ^ MTV.com, Mike Shinoda Says Linkin Park Halfway Done With New Album, Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  22. ^ MTV.com, Linkin Park Say Nu-Metal Sound Is 'Completely Gone' On Next LP, Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  23. ^ Warner Bros. Records, Fans Counting the 'Minutes' as Linkin Park Reveal Album Name and Release Date, Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  24. ^ MTV.com, Linkin Park Finish Apocalyptic Album, Revive Projekt Revolution Tour, Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  25. ^ Billboard.com, Linkin Park Scores Year's Best Debut With 'Midnight', Retrieved on May 28, 2007
  26. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbc_xdKAh9Y
  27. ^ USRN, Linkin Park's Bennington Suffering From Bite (August 13, 2001); retrieved on June 24, 2007.
  28. ^ Warner Bros. Records, "The Making of Meteora" (2003) [DVD]; released on March 25, 2003.
  29. ^ USRN,Linkin Park's Chester Bennington Doing Fine (July, 11, 2003), Yahoo! Music; retrieved on June 24, 2007.
  30. ^ The Official Linkin Park YouTube Channel, Chester's Broken Arm (October 17, 2007), YouTube, Retrieved on October 17, 2007.
  31. ^ http://twitter.com/ChesterBe/status/1849994133
  32. ^ "Julien-K". SuicideGirls.com. 19 March 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Julien-K+/. Retrieved on 2009-03-19. .

[edit] External links

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