Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, was found dead in his home Thursday morning at the age of 41, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office confirmed.
At 8:56 a.m., local police responded to an address in the 2800 block of Via Vittoria in Palos Verdes Estates in L.A. County. The Coroner's office responded shortly after 9 a.m. and is current at the scene conducting a full investigation.
The death is being treated as an apparent suicide.
TMZ first reported the news.
Bennington was good friends with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who was found dead in May. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Today, July 20, was Cornell's birthday.
Linkin Park was founded by the band's primary songwriter and vocalist Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, and lead guitarist Brad Delson when the three were in high school. Later they recruited Bennington, who along with Shinoda, created a hybrid style of rap and vocals that became the band's signature.
Linkin Park hit the alternative music scene in 2000 with the Grammy award-winning album "Hybrid Theory," but skyrocketed to fame with their second studio album "Meteora" in 2003, which featured tracks such as "Somewhere I Belong" and "Numb." Both albums hit the Billboard Top 200 charts.
A remix of the song "Numb" featuring samples from "Encore" by Jay Z also won Linkin Park a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
The band released a total of seven studio albums. Its latest, "One More Light," where the sound moved away from its nu-metal roots and into pop territory, was released back in May. The band just released a new music video on Thursday for its song "Talking To Myself" off "One More Light."
Linkin Park was scheduled to play Aug. 15 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It's not clear what the status of the band's tour is in the wake of Bennington's death.
The band's reps have not responded to requests for comment.
But Shinoda posted this tweet soon after the news of Bennington's death:
While Bennington was performing with the band until his death, he embarked on a number of side projects, including his own band Dead by Sunrise. In 2013, when the Stone Temple Pilots parted ways with lead singer Scott Weiland, Bennington stepped in as his replacement. He became the band's main frontman until leaving amicably to rejoin Linkin Park.
The singer leaves behind six children with two wives.
