I'm writing this still in disbelief. It's weird seeing his face on major news networks; all alive and well. And I listened to Hybrid Theory and Meteora shuffled together in the car recently and it felt surreal hearing the dead man's voice. That SCREAM. That scream man.... it's one of a kind!! I wanted to hear more from this man!!!! His scream from "Hit The Floor", "Faint", "Blackout", and all the other scream songs just give you some sort of high. Oh man it's been so long since I heard "Hit The Floor". ONE MINUTE YOU'RE ON TOP. MAKING YOUR HEART STOP. Gosh I wish he still did this....
I am having a lot of trouble understanding that process, because Chester had 6 kids, and all the reasons to keep fighting. I think I need to accept that this kind of act is beyond the understanding of a healthy brain. I'm asking myself so much questions since july 20th. Why did Chester do that ? Did he knew it was going to be on july 20th ? Since when ? It makes me scared, because this event has linked me even more to him, and to the band. It's like, even if I had the chance to see them twice live, it's like the first time those musics, those albums, and all those years are really connecting me to them, in a serious, and scary way. It's like I am part of it, part of this tragedy, like a family member, or a friend, or a colleague, has died. All this distance, between me and the band, those superstars, has disapeared, they are real, they are close to me now. I love how LP wrote that, this was all part of the deal. This sentence, alone, can help me accept this, to go on with it. It's true. If it wasn't part of the deal, LP would maybe not exist, and all what I loved about them, was meant to exist, because of this scary deal.
Beautiful statement from the band. "We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place." This part really got to me, couldn't have been said any better, so bittersweet Someone else came up with this idea on reddit but I didn't like how they did Chester's flames or the background so i redid it and sized it to fit facebook cover image. Feel free to use.
I wasn't going to make a comment on the whole situation, but then it really hit me. This band, and Chester have played such a huge part in my life. I've been a fan for 14 years and I really couldn't comprehend the level of importance that they have played in my life. I met my wife through our love of this band, our first date was a fucking Linkin Park concert, haha. It was their strong music videos that made me want to peruse my dream of becoming a filmmaker. Their music brought me and my brother closer together, when we had nothing in common at all. Like I said before, I wasn't going to say anything about this, but it's honestly the only way I can say thank you to Chester for making my life the way it is today. It's crazy what huge impact that someone can make on your life just though the power of music. I'm not much for the forum pages, but I've been coming here off and on for a long time now, and I'm extremely happy that this exist. I can't think of any other way to have closure in this event other than posting on here. Hope all is well with the rest of the LPA, and thank for having such an amazing site.
"We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal." This line hits so hard. Beautiful tribute.
So true that line. He's been fighting this battle for so long. Every year he lived was a year he stole from those demons. The only solice is the years given to us (his friends, family, bandmates and fans) through this theft. I'm sorry the battle was lost, but I'm happy he was able to fight for so long. He did all the right things, it just wasn't enough and that's sad. I hope at the very least, this terrible thing brings to light the seriousness of depression. Chester is a big example of the battle many fight that people don't take so serious. This isn't a just be happy situation. It's much more. And people need to know and understand this.
Who didn't feel their heart break or have the urge to cry when reading the letter? I was at work when I saw the band post it on Facebook. Shared it, of course. The part about the demons was so deep and sad.
This is how I'm choosing to look at it for now. Not to minimize the tragedy, but to recognize that he was able to fight longer with his band, with his family, with his fans. There's a scenario where he keeps fighting until he's 50 or 60, for sure, but there's also a scenario where he never even got this far.
I've been avoiding posting here and reading the threads because I don't want to add to the emotionally exhausting discourse surrounding this. But... Music has always been each and every member of this band's passion. I don't think people here should worry about them splitting up. The future may be different without Chester, but we as fans need to embrace that difference and support the guys no matter what they decide to do. The fire of a creative heart never burns out. But it may need to rest every now and then.
That was hard to read and I know is something the band never wanted to write, not yet anyway. I have to applaud them though for writing a very powerful, emotional and heartfelt message, it truly was beautiful and is the perfect message to honour and remember Chester. I am so proud to call myself a Linkin Park fan and that's down to the love and support from all of the fans as well as these guys, it's genuine and it's real. I'm still in disbelief about it but each day is getting slightly better, you just have to push on. However, every day I think about Chester first thing in the morning and before I go to bed at night, he had such an impact on my life and he will never be forgotten. These messages and tributes are really helping me and I'm finding I can listen to their music as well as the music videos. I just can't face watching any live footage yet of their shows, that is where it really starts to hurt again and I have to refrain from crying. It's time to remember the good times now and everything Chester and the band gave to us throughout our lives, time to celebrate a fantastic vocalist, musician, artist and really, a friend.
I second that, if every one of us were alone it'd be so much harder to overcome this. Talking, sharing and supporting each other made this tragedy a bit easier to handle and it will get better day by day.