Домой United States USA — mix Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington was the cathartic voice of a generation

Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington was the cathartic voice of a generation

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At the turn of the century, mashup of heavy metal and rap arose in rock music, after the brooding angst of grunge went lukewarm. It was the new wave of American heavy metal, or “Nu-Metal, ” melding aggressive rock with alternative,
By
Vanessa Franko, The Press-Enterprise
Posted:
07/20/17,6: 07 PM PDT | Updated: 44 secs ago
At the turn of the century, mashup of heavy metal and rap arose in rock music, after the brooding angst of grunge went lukewarm.
It was the new wave of American heavy metal, or “Nu-Metal, ” melding aggressive rock with alternative, funk and rap.
On its throne was alt-rock heavyweights Linkin Park. And at the core of Linkin Park was singer Chester Bennington, with a distinctive voice that was contemporary catharsis embodied in laments, regrets, screams and growls.
Bennington was an alternative-rock renaissance man — with projects and styles that stretched far beyond the 19 million albums Linkin Park sold in the U. S. alone.
The 41-year-old singer committed suicide at his Palos Verdes Estates home, survived by his wife, Talinda Bentley, six children and millions of fans.
Linkin Park was born in the mid-1990s in Agoura Hills, as high school friends became bandmates.
Bennington, who hailed from Arizona, joined later, in 1999, as the group established itself on the Los Angeles rock scene.
A year later, Linkin Park released its debut album, “Hybrid Theory, ” which propelled the band to stardom on the radio and still music-centric MTV. That album alone sold 10 million records with such instant FM radio staples as “One Step Closer, ” “In the End” and “Crawling.”
Los Angeles-based alternative-rock radio station KROQ helps break out a major band every decade or so — and, in 2000, it was Linkin Park. That relationship continued, with the band headlining the station’s local events years later, even as the group became a worldwide sensation.
“Chester and Linkin Park headlined many of our shows over the years, entertaining audiences and pushing the boundaries of music along the way, ” said KROQ’s programming director, Kevin Weatherly, in a statement. “We are without words to describe how terribly saddened we are today. RIP friend, KROQ will miss you.”
Arguably, Bennington’s voice is what lifted the band above its contemporaries, as his growls and howls intertwined with rapper Mike Shinoda.
“Chester, he’s just on fire every night, ” said Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz in 2013. “His vocal range and his pipes are just so strong.”
Bennington’s songs often reflected darker themes in his life — including drug and alcohol abuse.
After the breakthrough of “Hybrid Theory, ” the band’s 2003 followup, “Meteora, ” sold another 4 million records and spawned more rock radio staples, including “Numb” and “Somewhere I Belong.”
The band’s 2007 album, “Minutes to Midnight, ” marked a departure from that Nu-Metal sound, venturing into classic rock-inspired tracks.
“I think people are opening up to that idea that we are a band that’s not afraid of extending ourselves and spreading our wings and pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. Our fans, they stick with us through this process, and it’s pretty awesome, ” Bennington said in an interview with a group of reporters in 2008.
As the band’s sound evolved, so did its approach to music distribution, bending with the commercial times.
Linkin Park’s rise was concurrent with the changing tides of such peer-to-peer sharing networks as Napster.
The band embraced technology, even launching a digital souvenir package for fans who attended, included photos from the specific show and a high-quality MP3 recording on a 2008 tour.
Linkin Park continued to release music, with its latest recording, “One More Light, ” coming out in May. The band had planned a tour, which was scheduled to start July 27, and included a date at the Hollywood Bowl in October with Snoop Dogg.
Linkin Park wasn’ t the only multiplatinum band for which Bennington took up the microphone.
The singer joined Stone Temple Pilots in 2013 after the remaining members fired singer Scott Weiland, who later died of a drug overdose.
Bennington had met Stone Temple Pilots members while on Korn’s Family Values Tour in 2001 and Bennington had been a longtime fan of the band, which had monster alternative rock hits of its own with “Plush, ” “Interstate Love Song” and “Sex Type Thing, ” among others.
“He was part of the family instantaneously. His twisted sense of humor fits in with ours, ” Stone Temple Pilots’ Kretz after the band released a critically acclaimed EP, “High Rise.”
Other projects included the moody rock of Dead by Sunrise, which Bennington formed with musicians that included Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh of Orgy. The band released its debut album in 2009.
Bennington also performed with Kings of Chaos, a supergroup of a rotating cast of rock stars that plays covers of classic rock songs. Bennington performed in the current lineup alongside Billy Idol and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons at the Long Beach Grand Prix in April.
Reach the author at vfranko@scng.com
or follow Vanessa on Twitter: @vanessafranko .

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