Hello
The weekend finally arrived and I thought there was nothing better for it than to watch the tribute to Chester, put on by Linkin Park last night.
I’m a huge LP fan. When their first single came out, I was at uni. I was 17 years old. I’ve loved them for years, I’m now 34. I’ve seen them live a couple of times and thought they were incredible. Chester’s energy was always amazing.
When the news broke that Chester had died, it was the first time that I felt actual grief and sorrow towards someone I’d never met. I couldn’t get my head around it. I knew that he’d struggled with his demons on and off for years, but never in a million years thought he’d be someone who would end up taking his own life. I actually cried, so did my fiancé.
His lyrics and his passion fuelled many an emotional journey for me, and created an escape when things weren’t going quite right. Sometimes his aggression gave me the fuel I needed to stand up for myself and take things on that I’d usually shy away from.
The tribute was lovely. So many well known guests who did their bit to ensure there was a great atmosphere and pay respects. The lynchpin of the whole gig was Mike, of course. I don’t know how he did what he did without breaking down in tears… from talking about Chester, to singing his parts in songs and keeping everything going. It was a celebration, it was a party, and that’s what it should have been. Mike’s smiles lit up the venue.
It saddens me to know that the world will never hear a new LP song with Chester’s voice in it, or that I’ll never hear an old song live with him singing it and screaming it in the way only he could. It’s nice that there are so many memories of him all around and I have a recording of one of the London shows I saw about 10 years ago… I’ll never forget that night!
As I write this, I have one of their last gigs with Chester, playing on YouTube. It’s times like this that I am really thankful for this social media era that we live in.
Annie x
Annie's totally normal life 