Rock band Linkin Park has canceled its North American tour following the death of frontman Chester Bennington
"We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Chester Bennington. The Linkin Park One More Light North American Tour has been canceled and refunds are available at point of purchase. Our thoughts go out to all those affected,” tour promoter Live Nation said in a statement.
The lead singer of the American nu-metal band was found dead Thursday morning having apparently committed suicide.
Police in Los Angeles discovered Bennington, 41, at a private house.
“Shortly after 9am this morning, we were notified by law enforcement of a death in Palos Verdes Estates,” Brian Elias, chief of operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner told Rolling Stone magazine. “We responded to the scene and unfortunately confirmed that Mr Chester Bennington was deceased at the scene.”
The coroner’s department will be conducting an investigation into the singer’s death.
Linkin Park shot to fame when their debut album Hybrid Theory became a massive hit in 2000. Their blend of rap, electronica and heavy metal took the release to No 2 on the Billboard charts in America, and it went on to sell more than 10 million copies. Many of their follow-up albums went on to claim the top spot in the charts.
Bennington's powerful vocals were a counterpoint to co-frontman Mike Shinoda's raps on hits such as In the End and One Step Closer. He also sang the band's recent hit Heavy, which featured singer Kiiara and reached Number Two on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart.
Talking of the band’s music, he said: “We’re making music for us, that we like. We’re not making music for other people. We’re not thinking, ‘Let’s make a pie-graph of all our fans and find out how many people fit in whatever category and then make the perfect album for them.’ Like, that would be absolutely ridiculous.”
He also fronted Stone Temple Pilots between 2013 and 2015 and the side project Dead by Sunrise and supergroup Kings of Chaos.
Bennington struggled with addictions to drink and drugs throughout his life, and was a close friend of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died by hanging earlier this year. He sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at the Soundgarden singer’s memorial in late May and was also the godfather of Cornell’s 11-year-old son, Chris.
Reports suggest an autopsy is pending, and that toxicology tests were also likely to be carried out.