chester bennington - Chester Charles Bennington (born March 20, 1976)[1] is an American musician. He is currently Linkin Park's lead vocalist and frontman. Biography [edit] Early years Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] He took interest in music at a young age, citing Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as early inspirations.[1] Bennington's parents separated in the late 1980s, while he was still a child.[1] He was sexually abused during his youth, and later struggled with cocaine and methamphetamine addictions.[1] Bennington eventually overcame his drug addiction, and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews.[2] He worked at a Burger King restaurant before starting his career as a professional musician.[1] [edit] Professional music career Before joining Linkin Park, Bennington was a vocalist in Grey Daze, a now-defunct grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona.[3] He left Grey Daze in 1998, but struggled to find another band to play in.[3] After nearly quitting his musical career altogether, Jeff Blue, then the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with the future members of Linkin Park.[3] Bennington quit his day job, and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called 'Hybrid Theory.'[3] Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal.[3] After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.[3] Despite having prodigious success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had medical issues outside of the limelight. He suffered a severe bite from a recluse spider while touring with the OzzFest in 2001, which caused his arm to swell.[4] Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the album’s record sessions.[5] He fell ill during the summer of 2003, and eventually underwent surgery.[6] Bennington sustained a wrist injury in October 2007 while attempting to jump off a platform during a show in Melbourne, Australia. Despite the injury, he continued to perform, and went to the emergency room after the show.[7] [edit] Personal life Bennington married his first wife, Samantha, on October 31, 1996.[8] They had one child, named Draven Sebastian, who was born on April 19, 2002.[8] Bennington’s relationship with Samantha declined during his years with Linkin Park, leading to their divorce in 2005.[9] After divorcing his first wife, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former Playboy model, [8] with whom he has since had a child, Tyler Lee. [8] He and his family live in a 6,000-square-foot house in Newport Beach Orange County when he is not on tour.[10] Bennington made a cameo in the film Crank.[11] He is also an avid tattoo enthusiast.[10] In addition to sporting many tattoos and piercings all over his body, he has done work with Club Tattoo, a tattoo parlor in Tempe, Arizona. The parlor has received recognition from many magazines such as College Affair and Skateboard Mag, while also spawning an art show in New York City.[12][13]