To Chester Bennington - Rest in Peace

Aashish
Aashish
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

For the first few minutes, the news did not really register in my mind. But then, it almost immediately did — of the ill-timed death of Chester Bennington, lead singer of American Rock bands Linkin Park and Dead by Sunrise, among others.

Everything about the life of Chester seems to me, the ultimate act of foreshadowing. Right from so many of his famous and memorable lines to even the name of the ‘other band’, he fronted;

Dead by Sunrise. And he was.

In an emotional letter to late singer and friend/colleague Chris Cornell of Audioslave and Soundgarden following his death, Chester had mentioned how multi-faceted Chris’ voice was. He said,

“You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one”

Image Courtesy: Linkin Park Official

Chester Bennington was no different. The appeal of Linkin Park to so many of a certain generation cannot be overstated by any means. To me, it served music and in many ways, art’s ultimate purpose; facilitate human liberation, offer a getaway — a gateway to a different time and place, where we could be free of our self-imposed shackles and appreciate the world around us in spite of all its unavoidable complexities.

And he was the voice of it all. His was the sound of angst and joy blended into one.

His vocal range may have stretched across both ends of our emotional spectrum — the highs and lows of it and everything in between, for all we know and care.

And we cared. So much that, the idea of showing discontent and at times, palpable anger even, towards the changing, more MTV-friendly tone of the band, did not seem irrational at all.

That, he had to actively defend their music against the backlash from us, is the only memory I want to wipe out in a treasure trove of moments, for he has, albeit indirectly, been a part of so many — in my early years of figuring out, who I really was.

Rest in Peace, Chester.

In the end, it does matter, it always has.

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