Although nearing the end of the day, it has been two years since the passing of Chester Bennington, lead singer of rock band Linkin Park. Today, I’ll be discussing my experience listening to Linkin Park (who will be referred to as LP throughout this) and their influence on me.

When I was younger, most of my friends were older than me, at least 5 years older, so I know most of the music I listen to now because of them. I don’t remember the first time I heard LP, although I do remember that the first song I heard by them was “In the End”. When I was 9, I was searching for rock music to listen to, which is how I rediscovered LP. The first song I had by them on my iPod was “Bleed It Out”, and the first album I had in full was Minutes to Midnight. This was my biggest LP phase, from 9 to about 12 years old.

I listened to them constantly. I was big into fanfic writing and role-plays, as well as writing my own pieces, so I drew a lot of influence from them. This coincided with my Hunger Games phase, so I’m sure you can imagine what I was writing. I remember I wasn’t a huge fan of “One Step Closer”, of all songs, because I wasn’t huge into screaming (yet).

Chester was one of my first role models. He was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to get into singing, why I wanted to try and lead my own band. For the longest time, I dreamt of meeting them and telling them how much they influenced me, and telling Chester how much he inspired me to learn how to sing. This is how most of us want him to be remembered. We should not remember him for his last days, we should remember him for his inspiring words, his talent, and his musicianship.

Chester Bennington remains one of my biggest influences today, even two years after his passing. I’ve spent my night after work listening to Minutes to Midnight, reminiscing and thinking about the music and how much the words meant to him. Remember Chester for his impressive screams (“Given Up” will always remain one of my favorite songs of theirs, and it will always have one of the most amazing screams in rock), his beautiful vocals (“One More Light”), and his love for music. Let “Shadow of the Day” and “One More Light” rattle your soul. Let Chester live on through what you listen to.

Thank you for being an inspiration Chester. Keep singing wherever you are.

“Who cares if one more light goes out? Well, I do.”

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