Bennington has also participated in
several other musical projects and bands,
including Dead by Sunrise with longtime
friends featuring members of Julien K
and Orgy, as well as the legendary Grey
Daze. In 2013, Chester gratefully accepted
the position as the lead vocalist for Stone
Temple Pilots (STP). The American
rockband was a major musical influence
for Chester and singing for STP was a
lifelong dream of his.
Music isn’t Chester’s only passion. He has
a great love for tattoo culture. A rebel at
heart, tattoos represent the rebellion that
resides within him. Tattoos, like music,
helped him through difficult times while
enabling him to express himself in a
meaningful way. “The beauty of tattooing is
that it’s yours, and only yours. Some things
in life are just meant to be experienced
and let go, not documented or recorded.
Tattooing is a cool, artistic form of that,”
Chester believes.
Longtime friends and former bandmates,
Sean Dowdell and Chester Bennington
played together in a few bands, including
Grey Daze and thus, the rock ’n’ roll
tattoo connection was born. In 1995, he
partnered with Sean and Thora Dowdell
to create what would become the industry
leading Club Tattoo, arguably one of the
most high profile and dynamic tattoo and
piercing collectives in the United States.
With several locations in Las Vegas,
Arizona, and San Francisco, these studios
host world famous tattoo artists, body
piercers, men’s and women’s fashion, and
high-end jewelry, including gold, platinum,
and diamonds. With patented interactive
tattoo touch screens to create your custom
tattoo design, Club Tattoo has quickly
become known as a sexy and cuttingedge playground for the body modification
enthusiast. “What’s special about Club
Tattoo is the culture and the experience.
Everything about it has evolved to make
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the experience less scary and more fun,
more artistically driven and emphasizes
appreciation of the lifestyle choice,”
Chester says. Not only are they setting the
standard in the tattoo industry, they are
revolutionizing the concept as the ultimate
studio.
In addition to fronting Linkin Park, touring,
side music projects, and his involvement
with Club Tattoo, Chester is also an
active participant in several charitable
organizations, initiatives, and fundraisers,
such as the annual Stars of the Season
event. He is on the board to facilitate
fundraising with other artists for Cardon
Children’s Medical Center in his home
state, Arizona. Linkin Park also founded
Music for Relief, originally created in
response to the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami. Since then, the organization
has raised over seven million dollars for
survivors of other natural disasters, such
as Hurricane Katrina, the Wenchuan
earthquake in China, a cholera outbreak
in Zimbabwe, earthquakes in Haiti
and Japan, and Typhoon Haiyan in the
Philippines. It is a collective of musicians,
music industry professionals, and fans on
a mission to bring the music community
together to generate awareness and funds
for those in need. Furthermore, they seek
to support disaster relief, and reduce the
negative effects of climate change, as well
as energy poverty. “With low administrative
costs, the money that is donated by people
go directly to the specific cause and efforts
they are seeking to support,” Chester
says. For more information, visit: www.
MusicForRelief.org.
The Phoenix born singer is getting ready
for the next Linkin Park record, further
rehabilitation of his foot, and looking
forward to touring with Stone Temple Pilots
in the future. True to form, Bennington has
several other epic projects in the works to
keep an eye out for.