Chester Bennington was laid to rest in a private funeral in California on Saturday (29Jul17).
The Linkin Park frontman’s closest friends and family members including Dead By Sunrise, former Of Mice & Men singer Austin Carlile, and hip-hop artist Blackbear gathered at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes to pay tribute to the rocker, who committed suicide at the age of 41 earlier this month (Jul17).
According to TMZ, a couple hundred people attended the memorial and a stage was set up for musical tributes.
Fans were not able to attend the funeral on Saturday, but devotees are putting together events in Los Angeles, New York, France, Denmark, and Japan. The band has listed the public memorials online, suggesting it’s fully behind the plans to take over venues, some of which were earmarked for Linkin Park’s now-cancelled world tour.
“One week. Feels like forever,” bandmate Mike Shinoda wrote on Instagram on Friday (28Jul17). “If you need a (local) place to celebrate Chester, look to tiny.cc/lpmemorial and all the amazing fan sites I’ve previously mentioned.”
The rocker hung himself on 20 July (17). Bennington ended his own life on what would have been his close pal Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday. The Soundgarden star committed suicide in a similar manner in his Detroit, Michigan hotel room on 18 May (17).
Earlier this week (ends30Jul17), Chester’s widow Talinda poured her heart out to the late rocker in an emotional statement.
“One week ago, I lost my soul mate and my children lost their hero – their Daddy,” a statement to E! News read. “We had a fairytale life and now it has turned into some sick Shakespearean tragedy. How do I move on? How do I pick up my shattered soul? The only answer I know is to raise our babies with every ounce of love I have left.”