Chester Bennington, the lead singer of metal band Linkin Park, who was dealing with depression, committed suicide on Thursday morning. With heavy hearts, his fans write their personal obituary for him

Aditya Lenka

Any youngster born in India in the ‘90s needs no introduction to Chester Bennington. His voice pierced through the music, clear, crisp vocals without a dialect or accent was what he delivered to the youth sitting in every part of the world. If you were or are a rock music enthusiast, there isn’t a chance you would have missed this band. Linkin Park, because of Chester, was like the guide for beginners for listening to rock music. I remember being introduced to the band and getting hooked on to their music in no time. Fans of the band have seen Chester throughout and know of the bravery and courage he showed until the last of his days. From them I moved to much more legendary bands with time, but Linkin Park’s music remains as the base you began with.

Raul David

What did Chester truly mean by ‘In the end, it doesn’t really matter’? It did matter, you and the band. You meant the world to us, your music raised us, your music moved us while we were stepping into this dark world. Bennington was a cult hero, the voice of a generation screaming out what they really felt in the most emotional lyrics possible. Songs like Crawling that spoke about the fight with drug abuse, or What I’ve Done that spoke about how we’re destroying the environment.

He cared about our planet, about children, his own and others. He adopted his ex-wife’s son to give him a good home and life. How many men would have the heart to do that? Amidst all the glory of being a rockstar, he still cared about the little things, things that I cared about too.

He survived drug abuse and alcoholism. He dragged himself out of that vicious pit. He testified about that through his songs, teaching us about perseverance. Every time one of us sang or screamed along to Linkin Park’s songs, we felt our innerselves bursting out, banging against the walls of the façade we put up each day.

My fondest memory of Chester Bennington though, was that he was the prime aspect my brother and I bonded on. His songs brought us closer every time we would sit in our room listening to them.

I will not remember Chester as the man who killed himself, but as the man who survived the darkest moments of human life.

Reena Joy

I will never forget the first time I heard Crawling by Linkin Park. I was in school and my jaws dropped. Chester Bennington’s voice tugged at my heartstrings and spoke to my dark side that I often prefer concealing with a smile. I could effortlessly remember his lyrics since it felt so real at that time, I felt the pain and anger in his voice as my own. LP inducted me to rock and metal music and I developed a liking towards harsh vocals because of Chester Bennington’s powerful deliveries, song after song, album after album!

Had it not been for LP, I wouldn’t have turned out to be the metalhead I am today. I owe it to the band for teaching me how to express myself through music. Hybrid Theory and Meteora influenced my musical sensibilities at a very early age and I am glad that happened. They were my go-to band for Karaoke nights even today and somehow hitting Shinoda’s rap is simpler than hitting Bennington’s high notes.

It pains me to see people mocking his suicide on social media. Everybody’s fighting a battle the others know nothing about. Nobody will ever be able to fully understand his struggles or his reasons for choosing to die on what would’ve been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday. I don’t understand what makes people think they had any kind of authority over him to judge his story.

For me, he will always be my hero! I will forever be grateful to him for everything he’s done for me without even knowing it. His music has pulled me through some really dark days.

Tanvi Seth

To many, Chester Charles Bennington was just a singer in a rock band. He was a singer, a father, a best friend, a son, a humanitarian and so much more. To many others and to me, he was the voice of a generation. His voice gave solace to every fear, to every tear that stress brought out, to my conflict with peer pressure and my unhealthy self-abuse. His lyrics and his voice reminded me that there were others around me and that there were people who went through this. This was normal, this was life, and I too would turn around and be okay at some point. To me, he was the voice of a brother or a counsellor who stopped me from doing more because I found myself in his songs.

Chester was more than just a singer. He was so human — he had been broken and abused and he moved on. He picked up drugs and alcohol, only to drop them again to find comfort on stage, around the music he made. He reached out to people through his music, breaking records across the world. Linkin Park became synonymous for hope for the lost, the confused and the dreamers.

As someone who grew up hero worshipping him and the group, I hope he knew what a difference he made to millions. He was our first rock-star. Thank you, Chester. We remember you by working to be the support and comfort to those who need us, just like you did.

Sushmita Jha

I heard the In The End by Linkin Park when I was 13 and it got engraved into my soul. The band Linkin Park gave all the ‘90s kids some major teenage goals. I had written all their lyrics down. Add his voice to those words, and it made you feel like you’re strong enough to conquer the world, come what may. His songs gave us hope, and the courage to face our fears. He was all over the music industry after the release of his first album Hybrid Theory. The band gave us some outstanding albums like Meteora, Minutes to Midnight, A thousand Suns. They made electrifying, boundary-pushing and undeniably vital music. And now the saddest thing has happened, we lost our source of motivation, we lost Bennington. It’s an end of an era.