Happy Heavenly Birthday to Chester Bennington! He was born March 20th, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona – he would have been 47 today. We all know Chester from his days in Linkin Park, he also spent some time as the singer and frontman of Stone Temple Pilots from 2013-2015 following Scott Weiland’s dismissal from the band. Chester also fronted the bands Grey Daze & Dead by Sunrise.
Bennington and Linkin Park released their debut album, ‘Hybrid Theory’, in 2000, and was a worldwide commercial success launching Chester & his Linkin Park bandmates into the rock n’ roll stratosphere. ‘Hybrid Theory’ was certified Diamond for selling over 10 million copies here in the United States alone, making it the bestselling debut album of the entire decade – as well as one of only a few to ever achieve that many sales.
Prior to his death in 2017, Bennington was featured on every single studio release from Linkin Park. He also released one EP with Stone Temple Pilots, ‘High Rise’, in 2013. I am super excited for the 20th anniversary edition of Linkin Park’s sophomore album ‘Meteora’ to be released in April, which will feature 6 previously unreleased songs from that era of Linkin Park that were recorded over 20 years ago, including the song “Lost”, which we are currently playing on ‘MMR. If you purchase the deluxe edition boxset, you will get all sorts of extra content, including Linkin Park’s entire concert at Veteran’s Stadium here in Philadelphia on DVD, part of Metallica’s ‘Summer Sanitarium’ tour in 2003 – the year LP released their critically acclaimed 2nd album ‘Meteora’.
Linkin Park is among the best-selling bands of the 21st century, having sold well over 100 million records worldwide. They have won 2 Grammys along with countless other awards.
We sadly lost Chester on July 20th of 2017, and to say we all miss him every day, is an understatement. His outstanding talent and music will forever live on in all of us.
Happy Birthday Chester! -bp
