Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington dies
Linkin Park’s vocalist Chester Bennington has died of an apparent suicide.
The body of the 41-year-old musician was discovered on Thursday morning by firefighters in Los Angeles County, who received a call about 9 a.m. regarding a cardiac arrest in the 2800 block of Via Victoria in Palos Verdes Estates.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ that Bennington was home alone at the time of the suicide. According to the site, his family was out of town and he was found upstairs by an employee.
Also, TMZ stressed that Chester was very close with Chris Cornell, who himself committed suicide by hanging in May. Today would have been Cornell's 53rd birthday. Chester wrote an open letter to Chris on the day of Chris' suicide.
Chester's Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda confirmed the reports, tweeting:
"Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one."
It’s reported that the singer had a wife and six children from the current and previous marriage.
Updated on July 24: According to Blabbermouth, referring to the spokesman for the L.A. County medical examiner-coroner, Bennington was found hanged on the door of his bedroom. A half-empty bottle of alcohol was detected in one room with the body.
Bennington struggled with drugs and alcohol for years. He had said in the past he had considered committing suicide because he had been abused as a child by an older male.