The music industry was in deep shock following the tragic death of Chester Bennington. The Linkin Park vocalist committed suicide on the birthday of his late friend Chris Cornell. The latter also died of suicide, though.
Everyone, most especially the fans of Linkin Park, mourned with the death of Chester Bennington. This is so true with Mike Shinoda, one of the band’s co-founders and singers. He recently shared a photo of him and his boys, as he remembers the good old days with his friend.
The first photo they took together
According to Unilad, Shinoda posted a photo of him and the band as tribute to Bennington who was found dead last Thursday.
He iterated that this was the very first photo they took as a bad. They just even told Chester during this time that they wanted him to join the group. Soon after he agreed, they went for a pizza near UCLA “to hang out and talk about what to do next.” Shinoda revealed that they were called Xero back in the day, with only less than a dozen songs in their resume. “No flame tattoos yet, no red hair yet, most of us were still in college,” the last line of the caption reads.
@mikeshinoda shares old photo of @linkinpark. #RIPChesterBennington pic.twitter.com/KjXXst1sRY
— Alvin Albaciete (@alvin_albaciete) July 25, 2017
Linkin Park was founded in 1996, with all members being high school friends. Chester Bennington, on the other hand, later on auditioned and joined the band.
Unfortunately, 20 years later, Shinoda confirmed his untimely death via Twitter. Minutes after Shinoda’s Instagam post, supports and comments followed. Some were encouraging him to “stay strong,” while others reminding him that they are “always” with him. The band was scheduled to complete their “One More Light” tour, but was cancelled following Bennington’s passing.
Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) July 20, 2017
Bennington was battling depression
Chester Bennington was very vocal about the abuse he experienced when he was a child. He was reportedly molested by his uncle, something that caused trauma.
In fact, Shinoda and the rest of the group knew about his depression issues. Bennington’s mental health issue was magnified following the death of Soundgarden’s vocalist Chris Cornell, who was a close friend to him. Bennington even offered an emotional eulogy during Cornell’s funeral, singing “Hallelujah.” Shinoda revealed how Bennington was affected by Cornell’s passing and that this loneliness echoed in their songs and/or tours.
Many proposed that the “One More Light” album speaks of Chester Bennington’s battle against depression. Some even believe that he was already courting death and that he knew he was about to commit suicide. Whether or not these are true, only Bennington has the answers.
