NEW YORK — Linkin Park said their hearts are broken following the death of lead singer Chester Bennington, who died by hanging last week.
The rock band said Monday that the “shock waves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we come to grips with what has happened.”
Bennington, who was 41, hanged himself from a bedroom door in his home near Los Angeles.
The band said Bennington “touched so many lives, maybe even more than you realized.”
Bennington was one of two lead vocalists for Linkin Park, which became one of the most commercially successful acts of the 2000s. They won countless awards, including Grammys, and their hits include “In the End,” ”What I’ve Done” and “Numb.” The group also includes Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, Joe Hahnand and Rob Bourdo. They said Bennington’s “absence leaves a void that can never be filled — a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing.”
Linkin Park had planned to launch a tour this week, but canceled it following Bennington’s death. Their hits include “In the End” and “Numb.” The tour included a stop at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on Aug. 14.
The statement was released via Twitter:
https://t.co/CkwWKW25et pic.twitter.com/364B8vHRmf
— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) July 24, 2017
Billboard says the band’s latest effort, “One More Light,” re-entered Billboard’s Top 200 album charts at No. 17 on the most recent chart. The band’s popular debut, “Hybrid Theory,” checked in at No. 27. “One More Light” topped Amazon’s list of best-selling albums Monday, while “Hybrid Theory” was fifth.
More than 11 million copies of “Hybrid Theory” have sold since it was first released in 2000. The band’s 2003 follow-up, “Meteora,” was at No. 41 on the Billboard list, while 2007’s “Minutes to Midnight” was at No. 115.
Bennington died on the birthday of his close friend Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, who who died by hanging earlier this year.
MESFIN FEKADU, AP Music Writer; Contributing: Sun-Times staff reporter Miriam Di Nunzio
