Music
Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington Commits Suicide
Mortifying news Thursday afternoon as TMZ is reporting that Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington has committed suicide by hanging. He was 41.
Law enforcement sources told the site that the singer hanged himself at a private residence in Palos Verdes Estates in L.A. County. His body was discovered Thursday just before 9 AM.
Chester was married with 6 children from 2 wives.
The singer struggled with drugs and alcohol for years, according to TMZ. He had said in the past he had considered committing suicide because he had been abused as a child by an older male.
This news is particularly upsetting as Chester was very close with Chris Cornell, who himself committed suicide by hanging in May. Today would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday. Chester wrote an open letter to Chris on the day of Chris’ suicide.
While Bennington was known as the frontman of Linkin Park, he also appeared in Lionsgate’s Saw 3D, making him part of our horror family. This news hits extra close to home as I was the friend in my circle to discover Linkin Park prior to the release of their debut album, Hybrid Theory, in 2000. The album is part of what shaped me and millions of others. He will be dearly missed as we send our prayers and blessings to his friends and family.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.