![linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/nintchdbpict0003402369611.jpg)
Most curious of all, however, is that one time in 2009 when Chris Cornell released a dance album. There is nothing wrong with an artist wanting to experiment, but Cornell’s dour reimagining of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” only proved that no matter how talented the artist is, few can cover Michael Jackson as effectively as (um) Alien Ant Farm. While Cornell did pen the second-best Daniel Craig-era Bond theme and still contributed a long line of unexpectedly-fascinating pop songs for everything from the Singles soundtrack to his solo efforts, sometimes his earnestness lead him too far astray. So following the loss of Cornell, I was fascinated by a unique narrative that was coming up on social media posts: how boundary-pushing the former Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman was. Reaching out for help or offering an ear can often be much harder.” Each time these kinds of tragedies strike, it’s a stark reminder to love those around us and talk to each other, even when it’s painful and uncomfortable. I can still vividly remember hearing Chester’s cries on the chorus of “Somewhere I Belong” for the first time that day.
![linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/07/21/arts/21bennington-obit-2/21bennington-obit-2-jumbo.jpg)
A few years later, I cried in my car on a campus parking lot after purchasing Meteora from a local Wal-Mart on the day of its release. Those words and that voice encapsulated feelings that I hadn’t been able to vocalize. Chester’s screams weren’t grating - they were comforting in their familiarity. Our dear friend and former PopMatters scribe Kiel Hauck summed it all up for It’s All Dead: “Linkin Park would prove to be a gateway for me into heavy rock music.
![linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note linkin park discography is chester bennington suicide note](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/LinkinParkIntheEnd.jpg)
Both critics and casual fans had written of Linkin Park’s later efforts as too pop-oriented and radio friendly, but the group still racked up album chart-toppers by the bushel, and in the wake of Bennington’s passing, some did some hard reconsiderations of Linkin Park’s stature and influence. Months later, Bennington would also take his own life at the heartbreaking age of 41, and despite being one of the most popular rock groups of the 2000s, only after we lost him did the magnitude of his accomplishments come to the fore. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. Perhaps the best summation of his talent came from Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, who not only performed at Cornell’s funeral but also, in a social media post, noted that “You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. To say that the passing of Chris Cornell’s was seismic would be underselling it, as after spending the last few years losing everyone from David Bowie to Prince to Scott Weiland, Cornell’s death was almost too much for some as the 52-year-old generation-defining rock voice still had a lot more to say. Their death often feels like we’ve lost a part of ourselves, leaving that spark that artist ignited in us now dormant. We connect with songs and movies and books and (yes) even sports on an emotional level, so to lose someone that affected so much of our lives means we suddenly feel cut off from someone whose public persona helped challenge and shape our creative minds. We get constant reminders of it all the time, but sometimes losing a pop culture icon opens our psychic wounds in unexpected, profound ways. Sawdey: Time is finite, we are mortal, and death is inevitable.