Who?

• Name: Chester Charles Bennington
• Nicknames: Chazy Chaz, The Chemist, Chester the Molester
• Date of birth: 20 March 1976
• Place Of Birth: Phoenix, Arizona
• Profession: musician, clothing designer, actor, producer
• Instrument: guitar, keyboards, vocals

Young years

Chester is already at a young age, influenced by Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots. He got so much interest in the music and he wanted to be like rock singer. He grew up in the poor neighborhoods in Phoenix and his youth was not really with it. When he was 11 years old, he got his stepparents to hear that they not his real parents were. After this he became addicted to the drug methamphetamine and cocaine. Before he broke through musically he worked in the Burger King and sat on the Greenway High School. He graduated from Washington High School.
In October 1996, he married Samantha Olit, with whom he had a son in 2002.

Breakthrough

Chester was lead singer of Grey Daze from 1993 onwards, the local grunge group. By Chester left the band in 1998 and disagreements followed a tough time with looking for a new band.
Chester wanted to beeïndigen his musical career, but when Jeff Blue who offered him an audition at rang the band Xero. Jeff Blue was a friend of Chester and Mike Shinoda. He called Mike on and auditioned over the phone, he was immediately adopted. He moved with his family to California.
Changed the name Xero to Hybrid Theory and they took the ep (extended play) on The album contained only six Hybrid Theory. numbers and was still not really successful. In 2000 she signed a contract with Warner Bros.

24 October 2000 Linkin Park’s debut album was released, this also was called Hybrid Theory. This album was a huge success and was sold more than 10 million times. After their new album, Meteora. This album was also sold very well.
There was a misunderstanding about the song Breaking the Habit. It would have been written about the singer, Chester, but Shinoda worked already to this song since 1997. The reason for the misunderstanding is the past of Chester.

Chester divorced in 2005 and he hit back in Samantha his drug and alcohol addiction. He got called the full custody of his son Trot. 31 December 2005 he married Talinda Bentley, with whom he had a son in 2006. Chester now has four children, two of which originated from a previous relationship.

Minutes to Midnight was the next album that was released in 2007. Linkin Park’s latest album is released In 2010, A Thousand Suns. Here many comments about his fans because it’s a totally different album than the vorigen. Nevertheless, the album scored very high in the charts.

Chester is also a great tattoo-and piercingfan. He cooperates with a tattoo shop in Tempe, Arizona. He left his first tattoo turn when he was 18. Chester has the famous flames in blue and red on his wrists, koi-fish on his shoulders, dragons on his back, Hybrid Soldier (Soldier pictured on the cover of the album Hybrid Theory) on his left leg, poking fun at his leg and Linkin Park on his lower back.