UPDATE: The Los Angeles County coroner confirmed Friday that Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died by hanging.
Coroner’s office spokesman Ed Winter says the 41-year-old rocker hanged himself from a bedroom door in his home near Los Angeles. Bennington was found dead Thursday.
Winter says a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found in the room, but no drugs were evident. A suicide note was not found. An autopsy has not yet been scheduled.
ORIGINAL STORY: Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington has died at the age of 41, the Associated Press confirms.
Coroner spokesman Brian Elias said authorities are investigating Bennington’s death as an apparent suicide but no additional details are available.
News spread on July 20 after TMZ first reported the death of the singer.
Bennington reportedly hanged himself at a private residence in Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles County, according to TMZ. His body was discovered Thursday.
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Mike Shinoda, member of Linkin Park, tweeted that he is “shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true.”
Dave Phoenix Farrell, Linkin Park’s bassist, tweeted “heartbroken” after news spread.
Bennington was close to Chris Cornell, who committed suicide by hanging in May. He also spoke at Cornell’s funeral. Bennington’s body was found on what would have been Cornell’s 53 birthday.
Bennington struggled with drugs and alcohol addictions throughout his life.
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In a 2009 interview with Noisecreep, he revealed how he struggled to deal with the breakdown of his marriage to his wife of nine years.
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He said: “My life was falling apart in many ways that I was writing about on this record in terms of getting divorced, in terms of diving very hard into alcohol and drugs throughout this process.”
He also said that Linkin Park’s hit song Crawling was “about feeling like I have no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol. That feeling, being able to write about it, sing about it, that song, those words sold millions of records, I won a Grammy, I made a lot of money.”
He continued: “It’s not cool to be an alcoholic — it’s not cool to go drink and be a dumba**. It’s cool to be a part of recovery. This is just who I am, this is what I write about, what I do, and most of my work has been a reflection of what I’ve been going through in one way or another.”
READ MORE: Chris Cornell cause of death is suicide, says medical examiner
Celebrities began to pay tribute to the late star following the news on social media.
READ MORE: Eddie Vedder delivers emotional tribute to ‘older brother’ Chris Cornell
Bennington was married with six children from two different marriages.
The band formed in 1996 and has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and has two Grammy Awards.
When he got his big break in 1999, Bennington was an assistant at a digital-services firm in Phoenix. A music executive sent him a demo from the band Xero, who needed a lead singer. (He had been recommended by his attorney.) Bennington wrote and recorded new vocals over the band’s playing and sent the results back. He soon got the gig and the band then changed its named to Hybrid Theory, then Linkin Park.
Bennington told The Associated Press in 2010 that because of the sound the band is known for, it’s virtually impossible to satisfy their many kinds of fans.
“We’re making music for us, that we like. We’re not making music for other people,” he said. “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.”
Linkin Park has had a string of hits including Faint, In The End and Crawling. They also collaborated with rapper Jay-Z on, Numb/Encore.
Linkin Park’s most recent album, One More Light, was released on May 19.
The band was set to perform in Toronto on Aug. 8 at the Budweiser Stage.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Depression Hurts and Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 all offer ways of getting help if you, or someone you know, may be suffering from mental health issues.
—With files from The Associated Press
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