Dave Farrell posts tribute for Chester Bennington on singer's first death anniversary

Web Desk

July 20, 2018

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park performs at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Reuters

Exactly a year ago the world lost Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington.

While many had given up on the rock-rap band after the release of their 2007 album Minutes to Midnight calling them "sold-out", thousands continued to support the band that had changed their lives.

Bennington’s band mate bassist Dave “Phoenix” Pharrell took to Instagram to post a tribute to the late singer.

Accompanied by a picture of Chester, he wrote, "In the past year, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought of you. I miss you, and it still hurts to not have you here."

A year ago, Bennington, 41 had been found hanging by a belt in his southern California home in an apparent suicide. Photo: AFP

He continued, "I chose not to speak at your memorial because I couldn’t formulate the words to adequately express how I felt... I chose not to speak at the Celebration of Life Concert honoring you because I knew I’d struggle to even be able to speak at all. And today, a year after your passing, I still struggle to try and eloquently express what you mean to your family, your friends, your fans... and to me."

Chester, In the past year, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought of you. I miss you, and it still hurts to not have you here. I chose not to speak at your memorial because I couldn’t formulate the words to adequately express how I felt... I chose not to speak at the Celebration of Life Concert honoring you because I knew I’d struggle to even be able to speak at all. And today, a year after your passing, I still struggle to try and eloquently express what you mean to your family, your friends, your fans... and to me. There is so much that I feel, and that I could say, and that I would want to say, and that I don’t know how to say... but one thing I know for certain, is that you are loved, and you are missed. Be Well My Friend, Dave

A post shared by Dave Phoenix Farrell (@phoenixlp) on Jul 19, 2018 at 5:09pm PDT

A year ago, Bennington was found dead in his southern California home in an apparent suicide.

An employee at his Los Angeles home had found him hanging by a belt on the morning which would have been the 53rd birthday of his friend Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, another celebrated rock singer who took his life earlier that year.

A coroner's report had later confirmed that Bennington had committed suicide.

Bennington, 41, had been open about his struggles to overcome drug and alcohol abuse and low self-image, caused in part by being molested as a child.

The Arizona-born singer brought his raw rage into Linkin Park, which blended metal with pop song structure and rapping by guitarist and songwriter Mike Shinoda.

Members of rock band Linkin Park (L-R) Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, Joe Hahn, Brad Delson, Dave Farrell and Chester Bennington put their handprints in cement as they are inducted into Guitar Center´s RockWalk in Los Angeles, California June 18, 2014. Photo: Reuters

Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory launched the band into mainstream popularity, with hits such as "In the End," "One Step Closer," and "Crawling," which won a Grammy award in 2002 for best hard rock performance.

Following the success of Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park's released Meteroa which went onto become one of the biggest alternative albums in music history.

The band experimented with rock, metal, and rap, most notably teaming up with Jay-Z in 2004 on the Collision Course album, which was a mash-up of the latter's hits with Linkin Park's songs. It included "Numb/Encore," which won a Grammy award in 2006 for best rap/sung collaboration.

To date, Linkin Park has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.

Their bands latest studio album One More Light was released in May 2017