A year has now passed since our world was forever shaken by Chester’s passing. Words still fail to describe how much Chester meant to us and how deeply we miss his bubbly, kind-spirited personality and his incredible talents. The shockwaves of his death still ripple through our fanbase as we continue to process our grief and reconcile that our friend is actually gone. Throughout this journey we have learned a lot about ourselves: about our resilience, about how amazing a family this community is, and about the importance of mental health awareness. And above all, we have strived to #MakeChesterProud in honour of his legacy. A piece we wrote earlier in the year talked about how grief comes in waves: how the waves will keep coming, but we can learn to surf. Over the span of the last year, it feels like we’re starting to find our balance on top of that board. A lot of this can be owed to how we have banded together as a community to hold each other up at times we no longer felt we could stand. But we would be remiss if we did not mention the efforts of Mike Shinoda over this last year to help our community heal. Mike, it has been incredibly inspiring watching you power through and channel your grief over the last year, from helping to put together the Hollywood Bowl celebration, to chaperoning us through that difficult night, to having the courage to candidly pour your broken heart out for us through an EP and then an album, to pouring it out again up on stages all over the world, to becoming a mental health advocate, to hosting live chats with your followers to check in with everyone… it’s been way more than we ever could have expected. You could have decided to keep your experience private and we totally would have understood. But instead you emerged a leader and truly what our community most desperately needed. Chester is so proud. To the entire band: you are ever-present in our thoughts. We cannot imagine how hard this has been for all of you over the last year. The love, support and kindness you've shared with us is appreciated by everyone in the community. Just know that this community is here for you, as you have been for us these last two decades. We’re not going anywhere. To Chester's family and friends: we wish you continued strength during these unimaginably difficult times. And thank you, Talinda, for being such a driving force for mental health awareness. Your commitment to changing lives and improving the conversation around mental illness is inspirational. To Chester: We will keep you in our memories forever. Thank you for singing us through our hard times and lifting us up with your warm and generous spirit. You are greatly missed, friend. We love you. ------- If you or anyone you know needs mental health support: https://www.changedirection.org/help-line-resources/ #320ChangesDirection #FuckDepression
Can't believe it's 1 year. Your Epic voice will always give me goosebumps, the way you sang and screamed about your pain and struggles left a huge impact on me more than any other Music Artist. You and the band made feel like I wasn't alone during the hard times of life, your lyrics help me on a daily basis, you taught me it was okay to be different, and to never give up and continue to fight. You are free and your demons can't hurt you anymore. Thank you for your music R.I.P Chester We will miss you forever
Great tribute, and a great reflective piece. I'm not sure if this type of post is allowed here, but I want to reflect myself: I spent today going through every studio album back-to-back on vinyl; an important thing to me for multiple reasons: 1. The band got me deep into music; they opened my mind to so many different kinds of music, and this passion would drive me to purchase a record player. 2. A Thousand Suns was the first record I spun on my record player; I remember it vividly because of how important that moment was to me. They not only introduced me to music but also into the world of vinyl. 3. It allowed me to reconnect with all of their music; I haven't listened to their early stuff fully in years. And it allowed me to revisit some specific moments. In general, I haven't felt truly sad about it in quite a long time. I guess I tend to grieve fast. There were a lot of moments where I felt an emptiness, a weird kind of uneasiness. I still do. Listening through everything brought the feelings of sadness back, and it made me think of the darkness he battled. It also helped me understand he is in a better place now. I just wish I didn't remember that whole day so strongly. To top this off, I opened LPA for the first time in hours as Sharp Edges played. Reading this while it played was...cathartic. I feel guilty for not being sad over today, for not being sad in a long time. I just hope I'm in some way making him proud. With a minute until midnight now, I want to remind everyone we'll be ok. It'll get better. If Mike or any of the band is reading this: we love you, stay strong. This was a lot more soul-bearing than I expected, maybe too much so, but I thank you if you read this far. R.I.P Chester
Can`t believe it*s already been a year. A year, where I have not been as active here, rather than lurking and reading comments and discussions. Friday at work they had a 5 minute piece of Infos and rememberance on the radio, which really hit me hard. I sat in my office, just wheeping and shaking uncontrolably, while one more light and heavy were being played. So long, old friend. I miss you.
Well said Mark. Thanks to everyone on here especially in the shout box and the twitch streams, it was incredibly comforting to talk to and be around people that truly understand the loss of Chester. Internet hugs for all.
This was the one place I'd come to during album release speculations times....and after Chester's death, that will never happen again.
I think it's just odd phrasing. I think he's saying he doesn't think LP will ever release a new album, therefore we won't have album release speculation anymore.
Don't lose hope yet. Both Mike and Dave said in the most recent Member Guest podcast that they genuinely do want LP to continue, and would bet that they "will do something" because "it's too much fun". And Dave even replied to someone on IG that the band wants to be be back, but that it's just a process. So sure, while they could ultimately still decide that continuing without Chester is just too hard and not a possibility, it truly does seem like they have been weighing the option of continuing, but just are taking things one step at a time so that they don't rush the process. They want to do things right, and I don't blame them. Chester was their frontman for nearly 20 years.
Yeah, and even if "Linkin Park" might not continue, I have a feeling the group behind it still around might reform under a different name. That might wind up being the only way they feel they could continue without Chester's voice, but that's just speculation on my part.
I think that's a good point. Mike's solo stuff is giving the rest of the band some extra buffer room and time to think about things.
It honestly seems like Mike, Dave, and Joe are all ready to at least try making new music. All three of them have started putting themselves out there more, especially Mike and Dave. I wonder if Brad and/or Rob just aren't ready yet, or maybe they are, but are just waiting till Mike's touring ends. Hard to know with those two since they aren't ever active on social media and haven't made much if any direct statements. We'll just have to see.
Interesting point. When was the last time we heard any words from Brad or Rob? I think Brad had some sort of Guitar World feature?
As I recall from numerous interviews, Mike has stated that getting back in the studio and writing new music would be the easiest thing in the world for them. That's not the difficult part. The difficult part is once the music is done, once an album is done, then what? Do they play live? What do they do for all the fans who want to hear the popular songs that had Chester on it? That's the question they're taking their time to try to answer.
Yeah, this is the big thing. Mike has also stated on multiple occasions that it would be exhausting to perform shows where the crowd sung Chester's parts the whole time - but simultaneously, no one can replace him. Mike has stated too that after the tribute show, it had really dawned upon the group just how unique and talented Chester was - no one could do what Chester could. I think an album or even EPs are definitely viable, and likely in the long run, but man live shows seem tough. Because truthfully, I don't think any person in the group will ever 100% all the time would be okay with going without a singer but also going with guest singers or finding another singer outright. The issue is so challenging that anything would be a personal or group-wide compromise. So, I can appreciate that they're taking their time. It's not easy at all, and I think we will be happy so long as they are.
I would be totally okay with them moving on and performing what they could. There are softer Chester songs that Mike could do, but I would honestly be okay with them not performing songs like say, One Step Closer. Perform what they can + new material in smaller venues. That's really the only way I can see it happening. I'd be okay with whatever happens, though.