RIP Chester Bennington

I had just come out of a movie with my phone off. It's amazing how much one can miss in a mere two hours. I'm not pardoning people who use their cellphones in movies, no way, I think those folks should be jailed, but I'm just saying that sometimes it is stunning how the world can change in two hours. In the two hours today, the news broke that Chester Bennington, lead vocalist of Linkin Park, had taken his own life. As I sat in the car, having just turned my phone on, I was devastated.

I had only just been listening to the band a day or so ago. Linkin Park is one of those acts who may fade from one's memory, but all it takes is a few seconds of any song, and one remembers and realizes what an amazing construct they are. I had heard just a clip of "In the End" the other day, and was soon listening to Hybrid Theory on my laptop on continuous for a bit. They were amazing.

I am old, waaay old, but the emergence of Linkin Park reenergized me in a way that is hard to describe. I've mentioned it here before, but in high school I was the kid who always carried a radio around with me, I was always on top of what was new and 'cool' in music. I had made a promise to myself way back when, that if I got old, I would never lose that. Ah, to be young and naïve.

Sometime in the 1990s however, I did get old, and my interest in new music waned. I figured, oh well, it came with the thinning hair and the crow's feet, just deal with it. Then came a music channel called MTVX. I immediately gravitated toward it, and in its heavy hard rock rotation I found new bands that I connected with - like Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Korn, System of a Down, Disturbed, and Linkin Park.

For someone like me who had always liked the hard rock aspects of some rap, Linkin Park's blending of metal with hip hop was a dream come true. I became a big fan. Chester Bennington's melodic howls and lead vocals contrasted with Mike Shinoda's crisp casual raps over a metal tapestry of sound. Yeah, I dug these guys. "Faint," "In the End," and "Bleed It Out" remain my all-time favorites.

Over the years Chester has also worked on side projects such as fronting Dead by Sunrise, and attempting to fill the late Scott Weiland's shoes in Stone Temple Pilots for a couple years, and left shortly before Weiland himself passed. Chester apparently died by his own hand, hanging himself, but details are still forthcoming. He was only 41.

Quiet Riot Silenced

Kevin DuBrow 1955-2007


From E! Online:

Quiet Riot Silenced
by Josh Grossberg
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:36:17 PM PST

Quiet Riot is marking a moment of silence for its fallen frontman.

Kevin DuBrow, the zebra-pantsed singer for the hit-making heavy metalheads, was found dead in his home in Las Vegas Sunday. He was 52.

News of DuBrow's death was announced on Riot drummer Frankie Banali's Website.

"I can't even find words to say," he wrote. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend, Kevin DuBrow."

Police and paramedics were alerted by a concerned neighbor Sunday afternoon.

"We got a call to do a welfare check," a Las Vegas Metro Police spokeswoman told E! Online, adding that there were no signs of foul play.

The rocker was pronounced dead at approximately 5:20 p.m.

The cause of death has not been announced. The Clark County coroner will conduct an autopsy and toxicology tests this week, but the official results won't be known for several weeks.

In a statement posted online, Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni asked fans to reserve judgment until the coroner issues a report.

"I ask that no one here offer any speculation or opinions, theories or other things that could be construed as negative or, and I'm sorry for this, even sympathetic, right at this immediate time," Garni wrote on a tribute Website dedicated to Riot cofounder Randy Rhoads.

"I am already, within hours of this, having to deal with untrue rumors and speculation and that only adds fuel to that. There is a tendency for the subject of Kevin to incite flames on every board, and now is not the time for that. I will explain to everyone here the facts and the truth in the next 24 to 48 hours as I realize this will affect us all. So please, until then be patient."

According to MTV.com, DuBrow appeared to be in good health and was in New Orleans just before Halloween to celebrate his birthday.

With DuBrow on vocals, Quiet Riot became the first hair metal band to score a Top 5 hit with its cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize" off the monster 1983 LP Metal Health, thanks to heavy video airplay on MTV. The album itself made history as the first metal release to top the Billboard album charts, supplanting the Police's Synchronicity.

Quiet Riot was formed by Rhoads and Garni in the mid-1970s, with DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth. The band broke up when Rhoads left to play guitar for Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. After Rhoads died in a 1982 plane crash, DuBrow relaunched Quiet Riot without any of the founding members.

The rebooted band reached its zenith with Metal Health, which sold 6 million copies and spawned the Top 40 singles "Slick Black Cadillac" and "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)."

While the follow-up Condition Critical was certified platinum and scored two hit singles, "Party All Night" and another Slade cover, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," the band was eclipsed by other hair bands.

After a succession of lineup changes, Quiet Riot disbanded again in 1989, with the other members actually firing DuBrow after the end of a tour.

The metal mavens reunited in the mid-'90s and continued to play the club circuit. After a brief breakup in 2003, DuBrow issued the 2004 solo album In for the Kill, before the band once again reformed for a 2005 tour with Cinderella, Ratt and Firehouse.

In October 2006, the band released its final studio album with DuBrow, Rehab, on Chavis Records.

"As I mourn his death with a heavy heart, I will remember hearing his voice and the music for the very first time on the radio back in 1983," said label boss Bill Chavis. "I will remember all the great music Kevin and Quiet Riot gave to so many of us over the years, and I will say, 'Thank you, Kevin. May you rest in peace.' "

Funeral plans have not yet been finalized.