Chester Bennington was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He served as lead singer for the bands Linkin Park, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots. Bennington first gained prominence as a vocalist following the release of Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, in 2000, which became a commercial success. The album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, making it the best-selling debut album of the decade, as well as one of the few albums ever to hit that many sales. Linkin Park's following studio albums, from Meteora (2003) to One More Light (2017), continued the band's success. Linkin Park has sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California; his housekeeper discovered his body around 9:00 a.m. PDT on July 20, 2017. His death was ruled as suicide by hanging. On July 21, Brian Elias, the chief of operations for the office of the medical examiner-coroner, confirmed that a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found at the scene, but no other drugs were present. His final last words in his last interview before death: "I came to a point in my life where I was like, 'I can either just give up and f*&#!ng die or I can f*&#!ng fight for what I want.' And I chose to fight for what I wanted."