Still having a hard time wrapping my head around the death of Chester Bennington. It pains and hurts my heart so much that he was in so much distress, something we never imagined from such a beautiful and compassionate person. The eye-opener was this interview I watched that Chester did with Los Angeles pop radio station KIIS-FM.
See, this is the tragedy. That we never realized he was calling it out right here for millions of people to hear. Now to mention this story my friend Jon Wiederhorn wrote for Yahoo on Chester. It is very heavy as Jon examines Chester’s lyrics.
And moments ago, I received this message from the guys in Linkin Park to Chester:
Dear Chester,
Our hearts are broken. The shockwaves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we come to grips with what has happened.
You touched so many lives, maybe even more than you realized. In the past few days, we’ve seen an outpouring of love and support, both public and private, from around the world. Talinda and the family appreciate it, and want the world to know that you were the best husband, son, and father; the family will never be whole without you.
Talking with you about the years ahead together, your excitement was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that can never be filled—a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing. We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display, and in doing so, brought us together and taught us to be more human. You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve.
Our love for making and performing music is inextinguishable. While we don’t know what path our future may take, we know that each of our lives was made better by you. Thank you for that gift. We love you, and miss you so much.
Until we see you again,
LP
Visit Chester.LinkinPark.com
Meanwhile, there have been many internet trolls who have been posting outrageous things about Chester’s death online over the weekend. Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan has slammed people who are making negative comments about Chester Bennington’s suicide.
Some have used the opportunity to criticize the Linkin Park vocalist and his music. And Donegan says he finds some of the online comments disgusting.
The guitarist wrote on Facebook: “I’m trying to figure out if the f—ing Internet trolls either haven’t been hugged enough as a kid or not smacked in the mouth by their parents and taught RESPECT!!!!!! How sad is it that we live in a society of so many hate-filled people! Every day we wake up and turn on the TV or go on social media to hear or read comments on politics or people’s battles against their personal demons and everyone is so quick to pass judgement.”
He went on to take up for Bennington’s wife and children who have also been the target hatred and said, “A man died and left behind a lot of people who loved him.” After his rant, he ended his post by saying…”I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and don’t forget to hug the ones you love a little bit tighter and maybe smile at a stranger today. It just may make their day!”
“I can’t believe how f—-ing disgusting the insane comments or rumors regarding Chester or his wife and people’s hateful remarks towards the band. Where is your f—-ing compassion? A man died and left behind a lot of people who loved him. Forget about if you were a fan of their music or not. Six children lost their father, a wife lost her husband, his parents lost a son, his band lost a brother, his colleagues lost a friend, his fans lost someone that inspired them and they looked up to.
“I am sick to my stomach reading the negative comments dissing him and the band. Where is your f—ing heart? I admit that when I was younger, I would think – how can someone be so selfish and take their own life, especially someone who appeared to have it all. Success, money, fans, love, from all around the world. I’m sure a lot of people think, ‘How bad is your life? At least you’re not shoveling horseshit for a living.’ Now I’ve grown to realize that depression does not discriminate against anyone — rich or poor, it does not matter. Money doesn’t erase whatever demons someone is battling.
“Most of us may never really understand why someone makes that choice to end it all, and I’m glad and hope that those thoughts never enter your mind. Most musicians, comedians, actors that I know have come from a very dark past and turn to their craft as a way of dealing with those demons and healing through their work. Unfortunately, not everyone can beat that struggle. I’m sure that probably everyone I know has had some pain in their life and we all look for the inspiration to give us reason to keep pushing forward and hope that tomorrow brings a better day! Life is full of challenges and money will not solve all your problems. Please, people, show some humanity and respect for one another. I’m tired of seeing so much hate on a daily basis in this world. I’m also guilty of fueling the fire with political debates and opinions, but there is so much division that we ALL seem to have lost a bit of our hearts these days.
“I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and don’t forget to hug the ones you love a little bit tighter and maybe smile at a stranger today. It just may make their day!”
Saw Guns N’ Roses on Thursday night in Harlem, NY at the world famous Apollo Theater. Man, what an event!!! Sirius XM gave us free drinks, a poster and two (TWO) t-shirts to boot! The band was off the hook, performing for nearly 3 hours performing every single hit and more. I have to say, the entire group was on their A game. It was truly a spectacular event and I was glad I got to be there to witness it. Check out the fan filmed video above and you will see what everyone there is still talking about!
Axl had three or was it four wardrobe changes. (It was really hot, the hottest day on record in NYC for that day actually.) But the rest of the band played on. We never sat down the entire time (although I took a couple of breaks.) Was surprised I didn’t see more celebs in the audience. I did see former tennis star John McEnroe (hung out with him one time in Bring Me The Horizon‘s dressing room) and Mets’ star pitcher Noah Syndergaard (what a fine male specimen), and I guess there were a bunch of models there, but the familiar faces were few and far between. But who cares! We were there to see the masters of the 80’s LA metal scene. Was bummed I didn’t get to say hey to my pals Slash and Duff, but whatever. A great time was had! And what was kinda cool, I saw a former Metallica bodyguard who is now working with the band. Wish I had known earlier! I definitely would’ve been allowed to say hey!
Didn’t get back to my hotel til nearly 3 AM. Which wiped me out for the rest of Friday! I was in the office to interview Shaun Morgan of Seether. He was in doing press of his 5th annual Rise Above Fest that took place over the weekend in Bangor, ME. We talked about suicide awareness and certainly Chester Bennington. We filmed the interview and you can check it out here and on the hardDriveRadio YouTube Channel. You’ll also get to listen to a podcast of a different interview with Shaun I did after the video. Be looking over on the hardDrive DL podcast plaforms over on iTunes, Stitcher and Blog Talk Radio.
Hollywood Undead are back and have announced they will release V (Five.) It will drop Oct 27th. The number five holds a deep significance. We have five senses. Five points adorn a star. Five represents man in theology. For the five members of Hollywood Undead—Johnny 3 Tears, J-Dog, Charlie Scene, Funny Man and Danny—the digit perfectly encapsulates their fifth full-length offering—FIVE [Dove & Grenade Media/BMG]. Fans can pre-order the new album from here: http://smarturl.it/HUFive
“We’re five brothers, and this is our fifth record,” affirms Johnny 3 Tears. “Nothing gets to the essence of the music like this number does. Numerology has a lot of power. When we said Five, it just made sense. The fact that we could all agree on one word codifies who we are. It also nods back to ‘No. 5’ from our first album, because it was our fifth song. Moreover, it hints at this secret society of fans supporting us for the past decade. The number is significant, and this is a significant moment for us.”
The band have just released the first single/video from their forthcoming album called “California Dreaming.” You can check out the world premiere of the video on Vevo here: http://smarturl.it/CaliforniaDreamingV