Few musicians can claim to cross over Music genres, let alone with as much success as Linkin Park and their lead in Chester Bennington. Throughout his short life, Chester had a talent for the extraordinary, not just through music but through a desire to reach for levels of artistry not performed before. Linkin Park and Chester's meteoric rise came from their first two rock albums. However Linkin Park was interested in more than just being a rock band, they wanted to break the norm of music, they branched out and performed collaborations with the likes of JAY-Z, and then introduced different music styles in the last two albums in The Hunting Party and One More Light.
The very renowned Q Magazine conducted an interview with Mike Shinoda in 2012, one of the co-founders of Linkin Park, during which he was asked about the recovery of Chester from drug problems and other personal demons, he responded saying he saw Chester as being in a very great place and happy, while talking up the fifth Linkin Park album.
More recently in June this year, Chester and Linkin Park were performing in France, as one of the lead acts of the very famous heavy rock festival of Hellfest. Chester seemed to be his usual self entertaining the fans and even tweeting out after the show about fan receptions. While Chester Bennington had played a great deal in the success of Linkin Park over the years, the band shared a lot together.
The rise of Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the two albums that defined what Linkin Park was all about, a combination of sheer passion matched with lyrical genius. These two albums went on to achieve multi-platinum status in countries across the world and announced the arrival of a band that was not afraid to mix things up.
In 2006, it was reported that the band were focusing on legendary progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd to explore different avenues in music while more recently their new album features vibes of pop-music.
The cross-genre music
"I always say that our journey musically is a journey, it's not a destination and one of the things that we've always done is we've always tried to add to what we know how to do already." Chester commented, during an interview reported on Loudwire, on the polarising fan reaction to the release of a new song titled 'Heavy' this year.
This quote gives out an idea of the musical world of Chester Bennington. He was unfazed by critics in moving away from what many considered as his and the band's expertise in rock music, his idea was to develop music that appealed in terms of its substance and not just the style.
Although Linkin Park will forever live on for many as a rock band, 41-year-old Chester Bennington will be remembered as an artist who was not afraid to dive into the unknown to satisfy his love for music.
Rest in peace Chester Bennington.
