Linkin Park's Chester Bennington has passed away at age 41.

The iconic Nu Metal performer was found dead on Thursday (20 July) at the Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles in what law enforcement officials are initially investigating as a possible suicide, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office confirmed to The AP.

Bennington is believed to have died on what would have been the 53rd birthday of his close friend and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who tragically died from suicide back in May.

Bennington leaves behind six children from his relationships with his wife Talinda Bentley, ex-wife Samantha Olit and ex-partner Elka Brand.

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Fellow Linkin Park band member Mike Shinoda also confirmed the heartbreaking news, tweeting: "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one."

"Chester Bennington was an artist of extraordinary talent and charisma, and a human being with a huge heart and a caring soul," Warner Bros Records chairman Cameron Strang added in a press statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his beautiful family, his bandmates and his many friends. All of us at WBR join with millions of grieving fans around the world in saying: we love you Chester and you will be forever missed."

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Bennington was certainly best known as the frontman and one of the principal songwriters for Linkin Park, the Grammy Award-winning group who influenced a generation of aspiring hard rock bands.

Linkin Park reached the top of the US charts with their albums Meteora, Minutes to Midnight, Living Things and this year's comeback record One More Light.

For One More Light, the group teamed up with grime superstar Stormzy and hip-hop favourite Pusha T to release a brand new rap metal anthem 'Good Goodbye'. You can listen to that track below:

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However, Linkin Park was not Bennington's only creative outlet. He also fronted the heavy-metal supergroup Dead by Sunrise alongside Orgy guitarist Ryan Shuck, Julien-K guitarist Amir Derakh and Sum 41 drummer Frank Zummo.

On top of that, during the late Scott Weiland's forced hiatus from Stone Temple Pilots, it was Bennington who stepped in to fill the alternate rock legend's shoes on the 2013 EP High Rise. He left the group in 2015 to re-dedicate himself full time to Linkin Park.

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Only two weeks before his tragic death, Bennington was on stage with Linkin Park for two headlining gigs at the O2 Academy Brixton in London and Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.

One of many remembering Bennington today is fellow music icon Rihanna, who credited him with having "literally the most impressive talent" of any artist she'd ever seen in concert. Below, we include tributes to the late star:


Suicide is preventable. Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.


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From: Digital Spy