Chester Bennington Opens Up About His Past Addictions

Posted on Jul 16th 2009 10:00AM by Steve Baltin Comments
As part of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington writes lyrics that both he and his band mates can relate to and feel comfortable singing. But in his own project, Dead by Sunrise, a collaboration between himself and Julien K that Bennington is fronting while on some down time from LP, the vocalist is holding nothing back, especially lyrically.

Among the themes he explores heavily is his own battles with addiction. "My life was falling apart in many ways that I was writing about on this record in terms of getting divorced, in terms of diving very hard into alcohol and drugs throughout this process," he confessed to Noisecreep.

In 'My Suffering, which he describes as a song "literally about [how] being an alcoholic and a drug addict has paid off for me in many ways," he discusses how his addiction has helped him creatively. "I have been able to tap into all the negative things that can happen to me throughout my life by numbing myself to the pain so to speak and kind of being able to vent it through my music," he said. "'Crawling,' for example, by Linkin Park, is probably the most literal song lyrically I'd ever written for Linkin Park and that's about feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol. That feeling, being able to write about it, sing about it, that song, those words sold millions of records, I won a Grammy, I made a lot of money. I don't think I could've been inspired to create something like that by watching someone else go through that. So in a lot of ways that's been very constructive for me."

A lot of artists would never be that frank about their addiction, but Bennington said that's not his style. "I'm not one of those guys who thinks being anonymous is all that great," he said. "I don't have a problem with people knowing that I had a drinking problem. That's who I am and I'm kind of lucky in a lot of ways cause I get to do something about it. I get to grow as a person through it. It's kind of a cool thing. It's not cool to be an alcoholic, meaning it's not cool to go drink and be a dumbass. It's cool to be a part of recovery. This is just who I am, this is what I write about, what I do, and most of my work has been a reflection of what I've been going through in one way or another."

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Filed under: Interview

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36 Comments

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krch

y do those of u with the negative comments twist every single thing that he says and make them mean exactly the opposite of what hes actually saying? is it that hard to understand simple words put together in an accurate, meaningful fashion? if he were actually saying that then he'd really seem like a selfish jerk but that isnt what hes saying! & for those of u with a problem with his music, there's no need to diss it. what u like is what does make up part of you but the worst thing to do is openly put down their ways of life.

July 22 2009 at 3:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
big

what a loser...another tatooed side show freak

July 20 2009 at 1:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
A Normal Person

No it wasn't you ass! It was about Willy Wonka.

July 19 2009 at 7:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
A Normal Person

I think he's over estimated how much it's helped him.

July 19 2009 at 7:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kimberlyking7

I connect with Linkin Park's music more than any other band and I don't think Chester is recommending addition as a means to get rich to anyone. His talent is endless and he and the other guys in the band would've written hits whatever his circumstances had been.
Their music helped me want to better myself and I will love them forever.

July 19 2009 at 6:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sin D

Artist is a term used way too much these days for folks underserving. Like him. He is a mediocre musician at best....sorry. Yea this is typical...do the dope and drink and become "relevant". Great message for the kids jackhole.

July 19 2009 at 6:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
godworld0688

that so cool

July 19 2009 at 5:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
depoz inc.

what a shame he doesn't know he has that creativity in him without alcohol... he just didn't learn to tap into it in a healthy way... he took the short cut.. and didn't believe in himself enough to get there any other way...

July 19 2009 at 4:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dontakitpersonal

if your inspiration is fueled by alternative means then its not true hey steviehendrix are you my brother?

July 19 2009 at 4:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
fivemillion

this guy is a twit.
recovery is a sissy term. either you drink or you dont.
either you do drugs or you dont. recovery is a sissy term for sissy people. this guy is a twit. oh woe is me i have sooooo many problems....wah wah.
what a twit.

July 19 2009 at 3:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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