Outpouring of emotions after death of Chester Bennington

Jul 21, 2017

I was eight years old when I first heard Chester’s high-pitched, tortured growls on the radio. It was unlike anything I’d heard before. Visceral and in-your-face. Yet calm and cool when Mike Shinoda came in with the rap verses. After waiting for the DJ to announce the band name when the song was finished, I immediately began pestering my mom to take me to Tower Records. Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park’s debut album, was the first music I discovered and then bought on my own.

Cover photo via Rich Fury/Getty Images