Remembering Chester Bennington (1976–2017)

Ashley Grant66 said:It’s honestly 😢
sad.
😁 I was right in the middle of the early 2000s, and I don't even need to mention how every single locker in my high school was covered in handwritten lyrics from LP songs.

As one of four siblings, thinking about that era just... gives me this heavy lump in my throat.

I can't even begin to describe how much envy I feel toward anyone who made it through high school in the early 2000s... I was stuck in the trenches from 2008 to 2012, and I certainly won't dwell on what kind of "music" was dominating basically everyone's playlist back then.
If bands like LP had been hitting their peak during my time, high school would have actually been a dream.

Carl Young5 said:I can’t even begin to describe how jealous I am of anyone who went to high school in the early 2000s... I was there from 2008 to 2012, and I don't even have to mention what kind of "music" was basically the anthem for my entire class...
If bands like LP had been huge back when I was in school, it would've been the dream...

I don't know about you, but in my friend group, I was literally the only one listening to them. Back then, not everyone had high-speed internet, so we were stuck watching whatever random foreign music videos actually made it to our local channels.

It's been two weeks since we lost Chester Bennington 😢 I managed to snag a copy of Rolling Stone, though the actual feature is only a few pages long.

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I don't personally know anyone who actually listened to them—or even listens to them now—so my only option was to go hunting online just to find some kind of connection. It’s honestly depressing that it took this long for us to finally link up.
I came across an article today suggesting that everything traces back to that damn alcohol and his struggle with addiction 😠 It's been two weeks, and I'm still thinking about him every single day 😢
I was scrolling through Rolling Stone earlier too, and the most striking thing was this piece by a journalist claiming that during an OML presentation, Chester Bennington told everyone he’d been having suicidal thoughts recently 😢

Lately, his songs have just felt so heavy, you know? Like, pure depression. It was pretty obvious he was pouring all that pain into his music, but I guess the people around him just didn't realize how much he was actually struggling.

Rachel Davis said:I don't know anyone who actually listened to them back then or even now, so my only option was to look someone up online just to feel some kind of connection. It’s depressing that this is how we're finally connecting.
I read an article today suggesting that everything traces back to his struggle with alcohol and addiction 😠 It’s been two weeks, and I’m still thinking about him every single day 😢
I also saw the piece in Rolling Stone, and the most jarring part was from a reporter saying that during the OML presentation, Chester Bennington told everyone he had recently been contemplating suicide 😢

That part of the article shocked me too! He kept telling people he was planning to end it, that he’d tried before, yet somehow they still ended up leaving him alone. I honestly don't get that part... It was just really hard to read.

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I honestly don't know if they just didn't take him seriously or if they genuinely thought he was doing fine—which is what we all assumed since he looked so much better at the start of the year—even though they had to know alcohol had taken over his life again last year. But maybe this is just a string of terrible coincidences. It makes you wonder why his family and the rest of the band didn't see the warning signs. Why didn't his friend Ryan—who he’d been opening up to just a few weeks ago about the hour-by-hour struggle to stay sober—step in? Why wasn't there another intervention like the one ten years ago? I mean, it's pointless to speculate now. It’s just a tragic human fate, and I imagine his family and the band are hurting the most right now because they're stuck asking those exact same questions. We can debate the "why" a thousand times over, but it won't change the fact that he's gone 😢

Carl Young5 said:I can't even begin to express how much I envy anyone who was in high school back in the early 2000s... I was there from about 2008 to 2012, and I don't even have to mention what kind of "music" was basically the anthem for almost my entire class...
If bands like LP had been mainstream during my time, high school might have actually been something of a dream..

I suppose it isn't really a matter of it being specifically the early 2000s. Even then, I imagine ninety percent of people were listening to that same generic stuff. In my own class, maybe two other people besides me actually listened to LP. But it’s true that back then, absolutely everyone knew who they were and they were everywhere. Everyone knew the singles from those first three albums regardless of their usual taste. Eventually, that massive hype started to fade, and while many people stopped following them, those first three records built such a loyal fanbase that they were essentially bulletproof, no matter what direction they took. They seemed to realize they could use that leverage to experiment with every new album, which I guess resulted in both delighting and frustrating a huge portion of their fans 😁.

Do you think LP can actually move forward without Chester Bennington, and would any of us even want that to happen?

I think it’s way too early to jump to conclusions—I can only imagine what they're going through right now. Mike looks like he hasn't slept in days in that photo, and he looks like he's lost a ton of weight. In that letter they sent out to the press after Chester Bennington passed, they mentioned that their hunger for music would never die, but honestly? I don't see how they can keep going without Chester Bennington's voice—at least not live. Sure, they could bring in guest vocalists for studio albums, but how do you even attempt those old classics? All in all, I’m not expecting anything this year—no new releases, and probably no decision on whether they even move forward at all.

Richard Barrett53 said:I don't think it was quite like that back in the early 2000s. Back then, like 90% of people were listening to, you know, whatever was on the radio. In my high school class, besides myself, maybe two other kids were actually listening to LP. But it’s true that absolutely everyone knew who they were and they really managed to break out of the mold. Everyone, regardless of their musical taste, knew the singles from those first three albums. Eventually, that massive hype died down, and plenty of people stopped following them, but they had already built such a loyal fanbase from that initial trilogy that there was no way they could ever truly fail, no matter what direction they took. They actually used that leverage quite effectively, using every new album to experiment with something different, which inevitably delighted some fans while driving others absolutely crazy 😁.

Do you all think LP can actually move forward without Chester Bennington, and would you even want them to?

Personally, I find myself somewhat open to two different paths here... If future LP records sounded at least remotely similar to Hunting party—assuming nu-metal isn't officially dead and buried—then perhaps finding a replacement might be an interesting endeavor. However, if they decide to just chase whatever the current mainstream trend happens to be, then honestly, the best move would be to just call it quits. It would be better to let the band close its doors with a modicum of dignity and remain in our memories as a legendary supergroup 🙂

I’m still holding out hope that there’s a future for this band. It would be such a damn shame if they just called it quits; honestly, I feel like they owe it to the fans to at least try and find a way forward. I've been listening to various covers in Chester Bennington's honor, but none of them really hit the spot for me...

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The only performance that actually moved me to tears was from C. Cornell's daughter 😢
I’m really hoping they keep going—whenever that happens—because it’ll be months before things even start looking up. I just don't know which way they'll go, though... honestly, replacing Chester is a nearly impossible task.