Main
Media
Info
More Info
Tour
Other
Fans-Interact
join lp's fanclub


[Back to Info]


Chester Bennington
** Any Info to add or correct? Email Galoipo@aol.com **

  • Chester's birthday is 3/20/76.

  • Chester got married at the age of 20 to his wife, Samantha.

  • They were married on Halloween... Chester announced his 4 yr anniversary to Samantha at the 10/31/00 Hollywood,CA show :)

  • Chester has one child, a boy, named Draven. As mentioned on linkinpark.com : "Chester and Samantha had their son on April 19th, 2002 at 1PM. He's happy, healthy, and cute as can be. The baby and parents are doing great. They thank you for being so interested and they love you guys! The whole family will be on the road during the next Linkin tour!"

  • Chester went to Greenway Highschool BUT graduated from Washington High School in 1994.

  • Chester's Tattoos
    As of 8/03, Chester has 12 tattoos:

    1) Upper Left Arm - (Pisces)
    An original done by Jody from Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. The color was done by Wes from Club Tattoo as well. This was Chester's 1st piece ever.

    2) Upper Back - (Six arms spread out)
    Done by his friend, Derrick, in Arizona. It was Derrick's interpretation of Chester on stage. He said that Chester had an overwhelming power to take over the audience and pull them in and he thought that Chester needed more then two arms to do that so he gave him six. The placement of his backpiece was orginally supposed to be around his diaphragm extending from his belly button but Samantha didn't want to look at that every day of her life.

    3) Lower Back - (Linkin Park lettering in old English)
    Done by Jeff Tilman from Tattoo Deluxe in California. Chester made a bet with Jeff that if Linkin Park went Platinum he would do his lower back for free. Supposedly this tattoo is not done, it's also supposed to have dragons as well.

    4) Upper Right Arm - (Japanese Coi Fish)
    Done by another friend, Wookie, from Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. It's an orginal that Chester drew.

    5) Lower Left Calf - (Hybrid Theory Soldier)
    Done by Dee from Jacksonville, Florida. You can watch Chester getting this tattoo done in his dressing room of the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida on the Frat Party DVD. Dee has become a good friend of Chester's (he's a guy by the way) and did this piece for free. Chester did this tatoo on a whim and didn't discuss it with Samantha first. She saw it though and "fell in love with it" but said "Don't ever do that again!"

    6&7) Left and Right Arms - (flames)
    Done by Jeff Tilman from Tattoo Deluxe in California. This is Chester's favorite piece and the inspiration for the flames coincides with his upper arms (which are based on fish and ocean creatures) and represents his Pisces sign. Chester was born on March 20th, the cusp of Aries, a fire sign, so they symbolize both sides of his personality: fire and water.

    8) Right Calf - (dragon)
    Chester was born in the year of the dragon so he wanted a dragon on his right calf. Chester said that this was the same dragon that "is on [his] wife's ass, only 42 times the size."

    9) Right Finger on Left Hand - (engagement band)
    Done by Derrick and designed by Samantha. She also has the same tattoo on her finger. The reason for the tattoo rings was that Chester was too poor at the time to purchase a real ring and since his friend, Derrick, owned a tattoo shop he did the tattoos for free. They had those tattoos done before Pamela and Tommy Lee had theirs done.

    10) Pinkie Finger on Right Hand - (birthstone in gold ring)
    That's Chester's birthstone for March in a gold ring, given to him as a gift for his 21st birthday.

    11 & 12) Two dragons on his back on the left and right side.

  • Chester is very picky when it comes to his tattooists.

  • Chester got his first tattoo at the age of 18.

  • Chester's tattoos tell a story and have meaning to him.

  • "Tattoos are permanent and a lifelong commitment, the same as marraige. I figure if I'm gonna make a lifelong commitment with a person then I need to respect their boundaries. I've actually discussed every piece I've had done except the first because that was done before I met her. But at the same time I'm still my own person and I wanted to get the album cover done and I didn't discuss that with her. She saw it and fell in love with it but she said 'Don't ever do that again!' I'd definately recommend tattoos for everyone, but just respect yourself and respect the idea of what you're doing to yourself." - Chester

  • "Tattoos exude pain and pleasure all at the same time." - Chester

  • Before Linkin Park's success, Chester didn't want to go too overboard with tattoos because he knows that no matter how stupid it is for people to pass judgement on his tattoos, he knew it would happen and he needed to keep a job and make money. Now that he has money though, he will do what he wants, as long as Samantha is cool with it.

  • When Chester was young, he'd sing around the house, dreaming he was the fifth member of Depeche Mode.

  • Chester has been known to moon people :)

  • Chester says that Stone Temple Pilots had the most influence on his career. He first saw them when he was 14.

  • Chester won a bet that if Hybrid Theory went gold in the US by Christmas 2000, he would get the Stone Temple Pilots Platinum display. He slept with it in his bunk when he won it.

  • Chester is from Phoenix, Arizona. He lives in the LA area now.

  • Chester says he was a geek in high school.

  • Chester thought Aaliyah (RIP) was hot.

  • Thanks to his brother (who's 13 yrs older) Chester was influenced by bands like Loverboy, Foreigner and Rush.

  • Chester used to enjoy the hip hop genre (acts like the Sugarhill Gang and Slick Rick) between the ages of 10 and 14 before delving into the punk rock scene.

  • The first album that made an impression on Chester was the Misfits.

  • Chester's first instrument was the piano.

  • Chester has his own "unique" thoughts on religion.

  • Chester's defining moment, early in his career, was when he vomited on himself and some fans to finish the show.

  • Chester's career highlight so far is making the "One Step Closer" video.

  • Chester's favorite albums are Black Celebration, Purple, Zeppelin #4.

  • Chester's musical role model is Robert Plant and Scott Weiland.

  • Chester's greatest obsession is his music, which he started at age 13. He kept practicing until it hurt and he could sing how good he does now.

  • Chester will never part with his guitar.

  • Chester can't imagine being on the road without lubricant.

  • Chester is a complete sucker for good beer.

  • The latest record (as of oct '00) Chester bought was STP #4.

  • The strangest request Chester ever got from a fan was to have his clothes.

  • The riskiest thing Chester has ever done was join the band.

  • If Chester could be someone for a day, he'd be Orgasmo.

  • If Chester could repeal one law it would be the legalization of marijuana.

  • If Chester wasn't a musician right now, he'd be "an Average American doing average American things."

  • Chester has two dogs: an Australian shepherd and a Rottweiller / Labrador mix.

  • Chester once road a snow saucer down a cliff and went headfirst into a brick wall. He had to get 47 stitches.

  • Chester had a couple of friends commit suicide when he was growing up. "I also lost a friend in a tragic freak skateboarding accident. He was skateboarding down this little hill, hit a pebble and hit his head just right, and it was over. It can happen to you a million times when you're a kid, you fall down and hit your head-he just happened to hit the wrong spot."

  • Chester owns every Madonna record on the planet.

  • Chester's top five albums are: 1)Fugazi, 13 Songs 2)Al Green, Greatest Hits 3)Led Zeppelin, IV 4)The Beatles, the White Album 5)Stone Temple Pilots, Purple

  • Chester is the only member that needs a carrying-kit cargo case for his wardrobe. He's got shoes that go with every outfit, his underwear has to match his outfits, his socks have to match his shoes and his pants-everything is a very big deal to him.

  • In airports Chester has to take off all his metal spike bracelets,etc and he has a little bag or something that he arranges them all on. They must be in the same place every time.

  • Chester likes the movie the "Fight Club".

  • Chester likes to cook.

  • Chester's previous day job was as a coffee barista

  • Chester has been reading the Anne Rice 'Vampire Chronicles' series and "Hannibal," which he says is "an amazing book."

  • Chester has become addicted to 'Tony Hawk II', the second Tony Hawk skateboarding game...while on the tour bus.

  • Chester's a fan of the Phoenix Cardinals football team.

  • A good night out for Chester, back in Phoenix, is to go to a place like Axis Radius for dancing or Club Rio on Thursdays, for 25-cent draught beers.

  • Chester says Mr Hanky the Christmas Poo is the cartoon character that represents him best.

  • Chester's most poignant moment was getting married.

  • Chester was sexually abused as a child and addicted to coccaine as a teen.

  • Chester has done some radio ads for something called CAPP, whose intentions are to help sexually abused boys.

  • Chester says he sees the fans as fans and not as an oppurtunity to hav an orgasm.

  • Chester says he gets a hard on when fans sing along so he has an erection for the whole show.

  • Chester's brother taught him to sing 'Hot blooded' when he was 2 and learning to talk and taped him when he was doing it. This tape is still somewhere but he says its lost. He told a kid about this because he had nothing clever to say and is amazed that everyone around the world now knows about it and everyone asks about it.

  • Chester needs glasses but takes them off on stage so they don't fall off. Without them he can't actually see the front row.

  • Chester and Samantha have designed some clothes for Replicant Clothing, the company owned by Korn's Head and Orgy's Ryan Shuck. The website can be found here. "Basically, the idea of the business was to see if some of their friends might want to do some 'signature' stuff. Ryan asked me if I was interested a little while ago. I never had any prior experience in something like this, but I said I'd love to try. I started doing it, and now I'm crazy for it!" You can find these clothes on Replicant's site or at stores like Hot Topic.

  • Chester's first band was called Grey Daze in 1993.
    (If you want more info on the actual cds, check the discography pg)

  • Grey Daze was actually pretty popular and getting airplay in the Phoenix, AZ area but they never got signed. Eventually Chester got tired and had to move on.

  • Chester was also upset that he was writing the lyrics by himself while all the band members took credit. There were other personal differences between Chester and Sean Dowdell as well. Sean is no longer in the band; he is a tattoo artist.

  • All issues put aside, Chester was going to reunite with Grey Daze on September 7, 2002 at Dodge Theatre in Arizona to raise money for his friend Bobby Benish, who has a brain tumor. Other bands that were going to play as well were Phunk Junkeez, Pokerface, and Gift. However due to linkin park's new album recording schedule, this show was postponed. Here is a comment that Chester made in regards to this: "It’s very unfortunate that we are having to postpone this concert, but our management has pulled everyone back from vacations or other various activities in order to meet our recording obligations. However, I will continue to help Bobby and his family during this difficult time. I’d also like to thank the fans in Phoenix that were willing to support me in this endeavor."

  • In Greenway High School (Phoenix, Arizona), Chester was in Thespian Troupe number 3297. Chester was also in the thespian society. Outside of the green room (which the theatre teacher rebeliously painted purple) Chester painted a mural free hand of the 2 drama faces, on the side he wrote Chester Bennington '93.

  • Chester did a song with DJ Lethal (Limp Bizkit) as well as the Visionaries. As of 4/18/03 they have still not been released anywhere. Chester also did a song with Cyclefly, called 'Karma Killer' which is on Cyclefly's cd and sang a song written by Jonathan Davis called "System" which is on the Queen of the Damned Soundtrack (See discography pg).

  • Poor sick Chester:
  • On 8/8/01 during Ozzfest he was bitten by a recluse spider at a hotel in the Boston area. A portion of Bennington's arm swelled and he ran a fever, but he finished the whole tour. Most people require hospitalization after a recluse spider bite.
  • Chester continues to struggle with acid reflux disease, an ailment that forced Lp to cancel their show in Evansville, Indiana (April 11, 2003) due to an infected pharynx in his throat.
  • In 2003, Lp was forced to cancel their European tour in June due to a viral infection Chester developed. He was sent to intensive care at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre when he lost feeling in his body and collapsed.

    Here is a post from lp.com:
    Posted on June 3: Chester was admitted to a Los Angeles area hospital last Friday afternoon after an attack of severe back and abdominal pains. Bennington remains hospitalized as doctors are still trying to determine the cause of these ailments
    - All touring and video shoot plans in Europe have been put on hold this month as we make sure Chester fully recovers, states a spokesperson for the band "we wish him the best, and will keep everyone posted as to his condition. The following European dates are being postponed or cancelled: June 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22 and 23.

    Here are some things Chester said during that time about his illness:
    "First of all I'd like to thank everyone from fans & bands to my friends, and the hospital staff who have been very supportive and understanding of my situation. I finally got out of the hospital over the weekend after 9 days, and the doctor instructed me to rest for the next 2 - 3 weeks. Right now it seems like it was some bacteria or virus that spread throughout my intestines and body, putting me in intense pain. It also would not let me eat for a week. My doctors and nurses were amazing, and very helpful during my stay. We are working on when we will be making up the missed European headline dates, and I am really bummed we had to miss the festivals. I plan on playing our warm up show in Las Vegas on June 27th, and ripping everyone's face off this summer on SUMMER SANITARIUM. I also wanted to say I truly appreciate the tens of thousands of get-well emails I got from fans. Our fans really are the best in the world."

    Mike also commented on the illness at the time:
    "They did an MRI. It’s not in his head, it’s not in his brain," he said. "They’ve tested everything and narrowed the area down to his lower abdomen they say that that’s a place where it’s hard to get a diagnosis by." He added, "You know they can put cameras to check your stomach, they can check your lower areas, but that lower abdomen is a place where they can’t really send anything in there so they have to just do these scans and tests." Mike also said that Chester will face surgery once the cause of his problems is discovered.

  • Chester auctioned off his car on ebay for the animal charity, "Take Me Home". Click [here] for pics.

    		•