Celebrities share thoughts and prayers after Chester Bennington reported dead0:40
Celebrities are sharing their thoughts and prayers to Chester Bennington and his family after the Linkin Park front man has reportedly taken his own life.
Los Angeles memorial of Chester Bennington is stopping traffic in the city
IT’S been two weeks since the suicide of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington and news of his death is still being felt around the world.
Los Angeles muralist Jonas Never, who “grew up listening to Linkin Park”, recently finished a memorial for the 41-year-old singer with the emotional painting having a huge impact on anyone driving past it.
The mural was painted on the wall of Rock n Pies Pizza Co, a pizzeria bordering the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles and has already garnered a huge amount of interest.
The owner of the pizzeria Jim Conners told Variety: “I was leaving the kitchen last night at 11:30, and I was greeted by flashing lights, people taking pictures”.
“When Jonas was working on it, everyone in their cars on the 101 were beeping their horns and cheering him on. It was pretty cool. Now there’s something to look at while you’re stuck in traffic,” he added.
Bennington was famous for his intense onstage performances but the mural is vastly different to the persona he presented on stage.
“I stumbled across this publicity still of him, smiling, very recognisable, with all his tattoos visible,” Never told Variety. “I thought it would be better than having him up there screaming.”
The 41-year-old singer committed suicide on July 21 with thousands of celebrities taking to Twitter and the stage to mourn his death.
Linkin Park also saw a number of their albums reappear in top music charts around the world as fans rushed to buy the band’s music after Bennington’s death.
Three of Linkin Park’s albums surfaced in the ARIA Top 5 last week, with their 2000 debut Hybrid Theory at No. 2, bumping Ed Sheeran to No. 3, with Lana Del Rey at No.1.
The US rock band’s latest album One More Light re-entered at No. 4 (it peaked at No. 3 earlier this year), while 2003’s Meteora is at No.5.
In all 11 Linkin Park albums returned to the Top 100, with fans buying up what stock was left in stores, as well as downloading and streaming the music.
Bennington reportedly struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and had previously talked about suicide as the result of childhood trauma and abuse. He leaves behind six children from two marriages.
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Originally published as Bennington memorial stops traffic
