Chester Bennington Dies: Was He a Christian?

By Timothy Yap Jul 21, 2017 03:45 AM EDT

Frontman for the rock band Linkin Park, Chester Bennington died of an apparent suicide by hanging at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California yesterday. An employee discovered his body around 9 a.m. PDT on July 20, 2017. Bennington's death occurred on what would have been his late friend's Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday. Cornell, who was a close friend of Bennington, had also died of suicide by hanging two months prior.

Though Bennington has never talked publicly about the specifics of his faith, he did sing Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" at Cornell's funeral. The "Crawling" singer even wrote an open letter to Mr Cornell after his death. "I'm still weeping, with sadness, as well as gratitude," Bennington wrote, adding that Mr Cornell "inspired me in many ways you could never have known." He wrote, "I can't imagine a world without you in it."

Moreover, the songs of Linkin Park's have been known for their search for spiritual truths. The band has toured with P.O.D. and Project 86, prompting many to wonder if Linkin Park has some tie to Christianity. In an interview with Shoutweb, lead emcee and vocalist Mike Shinoda revealed that he "was raised in a really, really liberal Protestant church. Two of the guys are Jewish. [Sample master] Joe [Hahn] was raised in a little more conservative Christian church and [lead vocalist] Chester Bennington has his own really unique views on religion. In general, we are all over the place."

Since Mike writes most of the lyrics with Chester, it's not surprising then that spiritual themes show up. Like their debut, Meteora generally alternates between themes of severing broken relationships and searching for answers. Songs in the first category include "Don't Stay," "Faint," "From the Inside," and "Hit the Floor." "Lying From You" can be interpreted on a lot of different levels, though it's essentially a rejection of living a lie.

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