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Chester's birthday is 3/20/76.
Chester went to Greenway Highschool BUT graduated from Washington High School in 1994.
Chester and His Tattoos:
"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."
"The coy fish [Japanese Koi carp] on my upper right arm is by my friend Wookie who works at Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. It's an original that I drew. 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."
"The ring finger on my left hand, which is my engagement band, was done by a friend named Derrick and was designed by my wife. She also has the same tattoo. The reason we have those is because I was too poor to purchase a ring. I had a good friend who owned a tattoo shop so I got these for free which was pretty cool." They got those tattoos before Pamela and Tommy Lee did too.
"The pinkie 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."
"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." (His back piece is six arms spread out). Originally the placement of his backpiece was supposed to be around his diaphragm extending from his belly button but Samantha (his wife) didn't want to look at that every day of her life.
"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."
Chester is very picky when it comes to his tattooists, he got his first tattoo when he was 18. "I kind of want all my pieces to be a story. A lot of people have cool tattoos, but they're meaningless to them. Everything I have was either done for me by someone which has meaning or is a part of who I am."
"I was born in the year of the dragon so I want a dragon on my right calf. And I made a bet with Jeff Tilman that if we went platinum he had to do Linkin Park in old English across my lower back for free and we just went platinum." Chester does in fact have the 'Linkin Park' tattoo done already.
"Tattoos are permanent and a lifelong commitment, the same as marraige. I figure if I'm gonna make a lifelong commitment with a person then I need to respect their boundaries. I've actually discussed every piece I've had done except the first because that was done before I met her. But at the same time I'm still my own person and I wanted to get the album cover done and I didn't discuss that with her. She saw it and fell in love with it but she said 'Don't ever do that again!' I'd definately recommend tattoos for everyone, but just respect yourself and respect the idea of waht you're doing to yourself."
"Tattoos exude pain and pleasure all at the same time."
Before Linkin Park's success, Chester didn't want to go too overboard with tattoos because he knows that no matter how stupid it is for people to pass judgement on his tattoos, he knew it would happen and he needed to keep a job and make money. Now that he has money though, he will do what he wants, as long as Samantha is cool with it.
When Chester was young, he'd sing around the house, dreaming he was the fifth member of Depeche Mode.
Chester has been known to moon people :)
Chester says that Stone Temple Pilots had the most influence on his career. He first saw them when he was 14.
Chester is from Phoenix, Arizona. He lives in the LA area now.
Chester says he was a geek in high school.
Chester thought Aaliyah (RIP) was hot.
Thanks to his brother (who's 13 yrs older) Chester was influenced by bands like Loverboy, Foreigner and Rush.
Chester got married at the age of 20 to his wife, Samantha.
Chester announced his 4 yr anniversary to Samantha at the 10/31/00 Hollywood,CA show :) (They have got to be the greatest couple ever, both are so awesome and nice)
Chester used to enjoy the hip hop genre (acts like the Sugarhill Gang and Slick Rick) between the ages of 10 and 14 before delving into the punk rock scene.
The first album that made an impression on Chester was the Misfits.
Chester's first instrument was the piano.
Chester has his own "unique" thoughts on religion.
Chester's defining moment, early in his career, was when he vomited on himself and some fans to finish the show.
Chester's career highlight so far is making the "One Step Closer" video.
Chester's favorite albums are Black Celebration, Purple, Zeppelin #4.
Chester's musical role model is Robert Plant and Scott Weiland.
Chester's greatest obsession is his music, which he started at age 13. He kept practicing until it hurt and he could sing how good he does now.
Chester will never part with his guitar.
Chester can't imagine being on the road without lubricant.
Chester is a complete sucker for good beer.
The latest record (as of oct '00)Chester bought was STP #4.
The strangest request Chester ever got from a fan was to have his clothes.
The riskiest thing Chester has ever done was join the band.
If Chester could be someone for a day, he'd be Orgasmo.
If Chester could repeal one law it would be the legalization of marijuana.
If Chester wasn't a musician right now, he'd be "an Average American doing average American things."
Chester has two dogs: an Australian shepherd and a Rottweiller / Labrador mix.
Chester once road a snow saucer down a cliff and went headfirst into a brick wall. He had to get 47 stitches.
Chester had a couple of friends commit suicide when he was growing up. "I also lost a friend in a tragic freak skateboarding accident. He was skateboarding down this little hill, hit a pebble and hit his head just right, and it was over. It can happen to you a million times when you're a kid, you fall down and hit your head-he just happened to hit the wrong spot."
Chester owns every Madonna record on the planet.
Chester's top five albums are: 1)Fugazi, 13 Songs 2)Al Green, Greatest Hits 3)Led Zeppelin, IV 4)The Beatles, the White Album 5)Stone Temple Pilots, Purple
Chester is the only member that needs a carrying-kit cargo case for his wardrobe. He's got shoes that go with every outfit, his underwear has to match his outfits, his socks have to match his shoes and his pants-everything is a very big deal to him.
In airports Chester has to take off all his metal spike bracelets,etc and he has a little bag or something that he arranges them all on. They must be in the same place every time.
Chester likes the movie the "Fight Club".
Chester likes to cook.
Chester's previous day job was as a coffee barista
Chester has been reading the Anne Rice 'Vampire Chronicles' series and "Hannibal," which he says is "an amazing book."
Chester has become addicted to 'Tony Hawk II', the second Tony Hawk skateboarding game...while on the tour bus.
Chester's a fan of the Phoenix Cardinals football team.
A good night out for Chester, back in Phoenix, is to go to a place like Axis Radius for dancing or Club Rio on Thursdays, for 25-cent draught beers.
Chester says Mr Hanky the Christmas Poo is the cartoon character that represents him best.
Chester's most poignant moment was getting married.
Chester was sexually abused as a child and addicted to coccaine as a teen.
Chester has done some radio ads for something called CAPP, whose intentions are to help sexually abused boys.
Chester says he sees the fans as fans and not as an oppurtunity to hav an orgasm.
Chester says he gets a hard on when fans sing along so he has an erection for the whole show.
Chester's brother taught him to sing 'Hot blooded' when he was 2 and learning to talk and taped him when he was doing it. This tape is still somewhere but he says its lost. He told a kid about this because he had nothing clever to say and is amazed that everyone around the world now knows about it and everyone asks about it.
Chester needs glasses but takes them off on stage so they don't fall off. Without out them he can't actually see the front row.
Chester and Samantha have designed some clothes for Replicant Clothing, the company owned by Korn's Head and Orgy's Ryan Shuck. The website can be found here. "Basically, the idea of the business was to see if some of their friends might want to do some 'signature' stuff. Ryan asked me if I was interested a little while ago. I never had any prior experience in something like this, but I said I'd love to try. I started doing it, and now I'm crazy for it!" You can find these clothes on Replicant's site or at stores like Hot Topic.
Chester's first band was called Grey Daze in 1993.
(If you want more info on the actual cds, check the discography pg)
Grey Daze was actually pretty popular and getting airplay in the Phoenix,AZ area but they never got signed. Eventually Chester got tired and had to move on.
Chester was also upset that he was writing the lyrics by himself while all the band members took credit.
Awhile back someone posted on a mb and said they talked to Sean. He said Sean Dowdell from Grey Daze and Chester were supposedly best friends but parted because of personal differences. Both were too immature to reconcile.
Grey Daze NOW have a new lead female singer who replaced Chester and they go by the name: Waterface. Sean Dowdell has also left the band. If you'd like to check that band out, click here. They have nothing to do with Chester but I've heard they are pretty good.
In Greenway High School (Phoenix, Arizona), Chester was in Thespian Troupe number 3297. Chester was also in the thespian society. Outside of the green room (which the theatre teacher rebeliously painted purple) Chester painted a mural free hand of the 2 drama faces, on the side he wrote Chester Bennington '93.
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