Good-Bye Chester

I was a 12 year old kid when I first stumbled upon “In the End” while going through my friends computer. Till date, I am very grateful to him. It was my entry into the world of English-language songs. I would get goosebumps whenever it played. I was obsessed with Linkin Park for months and that fever never really came down. Linkin Park was all I would talk about. I’ve practically inhaled-exhaled Hybrid Theory. When Hunting Party came out I was still young at age not knowing how to buy an album and the least I thought I could do was to avoid downloading any songs illegally.
My hands tremble and my mind boggles as I try to scrawl some of my grief in this piece as it is my idea of mourning your death. Mourning is a grim arduous task, I realize.
“Music be healin’ everybody but the one who makes it.”
I proudly say I’ve spent umpteen number of hours listening to LP and better part of it listening to Chester’s famous screams. The internet is flooded with confessions of how your music helped them survive high school and so many lows in their lives. Your rhythms inspired so many artists to music, to excellence. You’ve contributed so much to the mental states of fans around the world and therefore it is only ironic you would bid us adieu the most morbid way.
Attending Linkin Park was a dream I thought I would be able to achieve in my lifetime. Listening to you scream, Mike Shinoda rapping, watching Rob on the drums. Seeing an “In the End” performance live was always my idea of redemption. I remember how ecstatic I felt when I saw David Guetta playing “Titanium” and I could only imagine what I would feel when experiencing you guys. Once every week I would Google your tour dates and hope that I would attend you in July at Europe or in August at Canada. Hell, I always prayed along with some friends that a producer calls you for a gig in India.
All those dreams and thoughts are shattered now. Your death is a reality check I didn’t need. It’s as they said, “If depression can consume Robin Williams, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington.. It is fucking real”. You died upsetting millions of fans and leaving so many loved ones in grief. Your songs will now become odes in your name to which people will weep. Your music will resonate through eternity.
I hope your death doesn’t go to waste and our society starts making serious address to the problems of depression.
In the end, it does matter.
Mike Shinoda: Shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true.
Pharrell Williams: Chester… You and the guys all influenced an entire generation. You went so hard and set so many kids free of their environments and situations. You let NERD open for you in Germany, we’ll never forget that show; YOU CRUSHED IT. The last time I saw you, you gave us chills. Your essence is amongst the stars. Rest now, 🙏🏾
Gabby Sidibe: RIP Chester Bennington. This feels like a kick in the chest. My December has pulled me through many times. Depression is a real monster.
Matthew Santoro: Today is an incredibly sad day. Chester Bennington from Linkin Park took his own life. Out of any celebrity death, this has me the most shook. Partly because LP was my favorite band for years growing up. They were for many of us. But mostly because it shows just how little recourse there still is for those battling with depression and mental health problems.
This is yet another sobering reminder of the importance of talking honestly and openly about mental health.I’m broken… I’m broken because I’ve never met him, I’ve never heard his voice live, and I won’t have opportunity to do it anymore. I’ve been waiting for few years to go the concert due to prohibition from my parents… Oh God, why did you take to the heaven such a great man?
It’s hard to explain how you could feel connected to a person that you don’t even know, however his music and passion in life was always something I relate to since i was a child.
Rest in peace my childhood legend.“When my time comes, forget the wrong that I’ve done.
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.
Don’t resent me
And when you’re feeling empty keep me in your memory.
Leave out all the rest.
Leave out all the rest”RIP Chester Bennington. Now “In the end” your body is “Numb” but you have “No more sorrow”. “Breaking the Habit” was difficult for you but you were always “One step closer”. Your voice will be always “Crawling” on me “From the Inside” till the day I “Bleed it Out” and “Faint”.
When a successful person commits suicide only one thing comes up to my mind, what is real happiness.