I got literally shocked by the loss of the frontman and lead singer of my most favourite band, Linkin Park, happened on July 20th, 2017, by confirmed suicide. I can’t fully believe it and realize it yet, but I know I will have to, somehow, at some point. Besides the unknown real reasons that lie behind this terrifying decision, I just want to share what this singer and Linkin Park have meant to me so far.
I started to constantly listen to Linkin Park from 2007, when I was 13. I already knew a few famous songs but until then I wouldn’t say I was addicted to them. When the album Minutes to Midnight was released in 2007, I got the official CD album as birthday present that year. I could say that moment officially set the beginning of a deep love. It was like I’ve been enlighted by something completely new. At that point I didn’t really know what exactly got me so addicted. Songs like What I’ve Done, Bleed It Out, Shadow of the Day, Leave Out All The Rest were my most favourite songs, and even now, if you consider each of them separately, you can’t really identify a common music style, it’s more like a strong desire of experimentation, That’s probably what I really liked at first: they were able to make me feel different emotions in such a natural way, and Chester’s voice has always been of course a crucial element of their music. The power he was able to transmit was uplifting to me.
Although it might sound unrealistic to many, I admit I better got to know Linkin Park as soon as they started diverging from their previous style, which clearly labelled them as a nu metal band. Of course I love lots of their elder masterpieces: In the end, From the inside, Faint, Somewhere I belong, Crawling, Breaking the habit, are the songs that made me appreciate their strong and powerful music that belonged to them before they started experimenting a new style with Minutes to Midnight.
I reached my peak of appreciation with the album A Thousand Suns, released in 2010. I don’t even know how many hours and days I spent listening to it, looping again and again like there was no end. It was simply so good, and its message is not trivial, you have to carefully listen to the songs and immerse yourself into them to understand it. I think the album’s best songs are The catalyst, Iridescent, When they come for me, Burning in the skies and Waiting for the end.
From that year, I was always waiting anxiously for the new albums, and I have to admit I was never feeling disappointed, regardless of the general sense of disappointment of the fans, who couldn’t accept Linkin Park were becoming something different than they were originally.
I had the great opportunity to see Linkin Park in live concert twice in my life. The first time in Milan, my hometown in Italy, on June 10th, 2014, as soon as The Hunting Party was released. That show was amazing, but my best experience was this year, just a few months ago, when I was just 10 meters away from Chester and Mike, in Monza, close to Milan. It was June 17th, 2017. That was simply amazing, my best suffered and thrilling experience ever! Besides all the sacrifices to gain that spot in front of the stage, the whole concert was so beautiful, and in the end I was so satisfied that I was always repeating to myself “They’re definitely my most favourite band”. Chester was so full of energy, happy and proud of his beloved fans… What a shock to see the same Chester on the front page of the news when he committed suicide. It’s hard to find the words to express my sensation, also because for many days I kept refusing to believe that what happened was true.
I don’t know what will Linkin Park be from now on, but what is sure is that they’ll always have a place in my heart. Thank you for everything.
#RIPCHESTER
