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On This Day in 2017, Rock Lost the Grammy-Winning Voice That Defined Nu-Metal’s Biggest Era

News of Chester Bennington’s death came barely two months after Chris Cornell’s suicide, shocking an already grieving rock world.

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July 20, 2017, marked two sad occasions in the rock world. First, it would have been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday had he not died by suicide that May. But more shocking still was the news that Chester Bennington of Linkin Park had taken his own life at age 41.

For a community of family, friends, and fans already reeling from one huge loss, this was unimaginable. The news broke on July 21, the day after Bennington was found dead in his Los Angeles home. Just barely two months earlier, he’d performed a heart-wrenching rendition of “Hallelujah” at Cornell’s memorial service. Taking cues from Jeff Buckley’s cover version, it served as a tribute to Cornell, with whom Bennington was close, but also to Buckley, who was close friends with Cornell.

Bennington poured a lot of his pain into his raw, emotional vocals with Linkin Park. He didn’t hide his struggles with depression, substance abuse, and childhood trauma. After his death, his widow Talinda Bennington said there were signs that he might attempt suicide.

“I am now more educated about those signs, but they were definitely there: the hopelessness, the change of behavior, isolation,” she told CNN. She also admitted that these behaviors weren’t uncommon,........

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