Chester Charles Bennington - Vocals

Gear:
Audio Technica Wireless Mics
Yamaha SPX 990
Takameme guitars

Born March 20, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona

Married to Samantha and has one son

Has two dogs: an Australian shepherd and a Rottweiller/Labrador mix

First instrument was the piano

First band was Grey Daze

After 9 years of solo and band singing he joined Hybrid Theory (LP) to start a new group with the guys

Influences: Depche Mode, Stone temple pilots, Rage against the Machine, Minestry, Lava Boy, Foreigner

His top five choice albums are: Fugazi: 13 Songs , Al Green: Greatest Hits, Led Zeppelin: IV, The Beatles: the White Album, Stone Temple Pilots: Purple

Tattoos:

Description of tattoos:
(Clockwise from top

"My first piece ever was the sleeve of my left arm, which is my Pisces. That was an original piece done by Jody at the same shop in Arizona. The color was done by Wes at that shop."

"My backpiece was also done by Derrick in Arizona and it's his interpretation of me on stage. He claimed that I have an overwhelming power to take over the audience and pull them in and he thought that I needed more then two arms to do that so he gave me six more."

"The pinky on my right hand is my birthstone in a gold ring, that's the birthstone for March and was given to me as a gift on my birthday, my 21st I think."

"The coy fish [Japanese Koi carp] on my upper right arm is by my friend Chewbacca who works at Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. It's an original that I drew."

"The piece on my calf which is my most recent piece was done by a gentleman named Dee who works at a shop in Jacksonville, Florida. I don't know the name of the shop, but he's an amazing artist and a very cool guy. He's become a good friend and did this piece for free...my most recent piece which is the cover of our record 'Hybrid Theory' was done on a whim and it's the only tattoo I've had done on a whim, but it's turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. It was done in the dressing room of the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida."

"My favorite piece, which is the flames, was done by a good friend of mine named Jeff Tilman who owns a shop in California called Tattoo Deluxe. He's a very talented artist and he's been tattooing for about 16 years. The inspiration for the flames coincides with my upper arms which are based on fish and ocean creatures and represents my sign Pisces. I was born on March 20th which is the cusp of Aries, a fire sign, so they symbolize both sides of my personality, fire and water."

Quotes:

What do you like about being in the band?
"What I enjoy most about being in the band is having the opportunity to create and perform music with amazing musicians who have also become closest of friends. I would like to thank all who support us and make all of this possible."

"I'm very passionate. I do release a lot of my own anger from life when i'm singing. I'm a pretty high strung, hyperactive kind of dude and i'm definitely the livewire of the band. I'm the guy who's ready to go out and get in a fist fight at any given time."

"..we have a real connection with are fans, and are fans are the best fans in the world"

"We try to meet as many fans as possible. If we could meet everyone at the venue, that would be great, but sometimes it's impossible. I hope that they walk away thoroughly enjoying the band. And just become fans and enjoy the music that we make."

"We don't flaunt who we wre and don't walk acting like we're a platinum selling band and u better treat us like that".

“It’s ridiculous to turn on the people who make you what you are, and that’s the people who buy your records.”

“Naturally, if you have all these different styles of music thrown at you every day, people are going to start combining them.”

"The word 'hybrid' is derived from when scientists started cross-breeding different plants and animals to make a new species. Since we were a cross-breed of different styles, it seemed right for us."

“It's ridiculous to think that someone could hear lyrics to a song and take those lyrics to a level of violence. I think that if that person is going to act that way, they're going to do that without the music. There is obviously something that happened to that kid in his life that affected him a lot deeper than our lyrics.”

“If you give everything about yourself up, then it kind of destroys the experience for yourself and it takes away a little bit of the mystery.”

"I don’t think you should ever be ashamed or afraid of who you are, or anything that’s happened to you. Life is good, man. You can either feel like a victim all the time, or you can get off your ass and do what you want to do."

“We’re pretty straight guys: we’re not boozers, we’re not fucked up on drugs.”

“People see us after a show and it’s like, ‘Wait a second - you’re supposed to be this scary guy, and you’re not.’"

When did you really start considering singing as a career?
When I was born!

"I always wanted to be a rock star. That was my childhood dream. That's what I told everybody I was going to be when I grew up."

"We'll chew our legs off to satisy people who want to see us."

"Everyday when I get ready, I look in the mirror and say, over and over again, ‘must become an action figure, must become an action figure."

"You can't deny the people who've put you where you are. You're not successful because you're a star; you're successful because people made you a star."

Favorite song to play is Papercut ...so I guess thats my favorite song

My favorite movie that I have seen recently is Vanilla Sky.

My favorite stone temple pilots song off their new album .. shangri-la di da.. is WONDERFUL

I want to tatoo my entire body.. but.. unfortunately.. Im so skinny.. that wont be too hard

"Move over guys. Make room for Avril Lavigne, she's a big star. We're only a little rock band (being sarcastic)"

"I don't wanna see any more girls who look like they've had the shit kicked out of them, What happened to chivalry? You see someone fall down, you pick 'em up!"

“I've never been one of those kids that waits to hang out with the band - I've always been too afraid. There's no way in hell I would ever walk up to somebody's bus and ask for an autograph, no way would I ever do that. I would be afraid that one of the crew would come out and beat me up.”

“My favorite jellybean is the pink one with the flavor inside.”

"I probably shouldn't admit this but I own every Madonna record on the planet."

"You know those snow saucers? I rode one down a cliff once and went headfirst into a brick wall. I had to have 47 stitches but thankfully I'm here to tell the tale."

Chester, Will The Morning After be on your new CD
Probably not. That was a song that I wrote about 6 years ago and I just play every once and
a while .. just for fun.

"The mullet is making a comeback. Will we be seeing a red mullet on Chester Bennington at any point during Ozzfest?"
Chester: Personally, I hate them. I think it's a disgusting haircut. I think parents who force their young boys to wear mullets should be institutionalized. There's no reason to ever have a mullet...Unless you're doing it just to be a dork.
" So would you ever do that?"
Chester: Of course.

"It was nice smelling all of you."